TORONTO – Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) calls on the federal government to make funds available immediately for low-income seniors who lost their Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) due to CERB and CRB. Today’s Economic and Fiscal Update includes an announcement of a $742.4 million fund for one-time payments to low-income seniors who lost their GIS …
Policy Advocacy
Recommendations on Reforming Canada’s Employment Insurance Program: Submissions to the Federal Government
– la version française suit dessous – This year the federal government launched consultations on reforming Canada’s Employment Insurance Program. It represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve EI and address the EI program’s longstanding failures to support low-wage and precarious workers. Over the last two decades, unemployed workers have faced serious and increasing barriers to …
Ontario’s 2021 Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Inadequate for Low-Income Ontarians
2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Inadequate for Low-Income Ontarians The 2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review was released on Thursday, November 5. It does not include meaningful investments or immediate action on programs or policies which would improve income security for low-income Ontarians. The government claims that it is “saying yes” to …
Min. Qualtrough: Restore the GIS for low-income seniors now! / Rétablir le Supplément de revenu garanti (SRG) pour les aînés à faible revenu!
Today, ISAC, along with over 100 organizations from across Canada, called on Minister Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion, to address the issue of CERB-GIS benefits interaction which has resulted in low-income working seniors experiencing a reduction or complete loss of their GIS benefit. Specifically, we are calling on Minister Qualtrough …
Trapped Behind the Welfare Wall on Disability Assistance: Podcast Episode
Non-partisan, candid, and thought-provoking, the Daily Bread Food Bank’s The 2030 Project tackles some of the biggest and most social pressing issues facing Canada today, from universal basic income, to digital access, disability rights, the future of work, and more. The 2030 Project is an educational tool as well as a call to action for how people can …
ISAC 2022 Federal Pre-Budget Submission / Présentation prébudgétaire 2022 de l’ISAC
ISAC made the following five recommendations for the 2022 Federal budget: Recommendation #1 – Legislate 7 employer-paid sick days under the Canada Labour Code and an additional 14 days of paid sick leave during declared pandemics. Recommendation #2 – Reform Employment Insurance into a fair and accessible program for all workers by: setting a cross-Canada …
Ontario’s strategies to end poverty will make life worse for low-income people post-pandemic | The Star
Low-income Ontarians entered the pandemic in distress and have disproportionately borne the brunt of the pandemic’s impacts. This would be the perfect time for Ontario to ensure a successful and complete recovery by making permanent changes to alleviate poverty. Instead, in the middle of the second wave, the province delivered two strategies that will fail …
Immediate deferral of overpayment collection for social assistance recipients is needed.
ISAC calls for the government to defer all overpayment collection for social assistance recipients. Social assistance recipients are under unprecedented pressure because of the ongoing pandemic and emergency measures. They have plunged deeper into debt, increased costs due to the pandemic, difficulty accessing services due to lockdown measures and deteriorated in their physical and mental …
2021 Federal Budget: ISAC response/analysis
Version française à suivre bientôt Budget promises childcare, some income supports, but fails to focus on systemic poverty ISAC prepared a submission as part of the 2021 Federal Pre-Budget Consultations in February of 2021. We made several recommendations including the following: legislate 7 employer-paid sick days under the Canada Labour Code; reform Employment Insurance (EI); …
ISAC Submission regarding Bill 276 / Mémoire au Comité permanent des affaires gouvernementales au sujet du projet de loi 276
Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, we make the following six recommendations for Bill 276, Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021, specifically Schedule 21, which amends the Ontario Works Act, 1997. Recommendation 1: Immediately raise the Ontario Works single rate to $1086.32 per month. Recommendation 2: Clearly …
