Income Security Advocacy Centre

ISAC works to address issues of income security and poverty in Ontario

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Litigation

Test-case and appellate litigation are key tools that we use to advance our strategic plan. We work closely with caseworkers in community legal clinics across the province to identify issues and potential legal cases, and apply an equity framework and a human rights lens to guide our decision-making around which cases to take on and which legal arguments to make. Our litigation efforts focus on resolving systemic problems in provincial and federal income security programs.

Click on the links below for information about the cases we are currently working on and have worked on in the past. Our Case Selection Criteria is available here. Our policy advocacy and community organizing pages have information on other areas of our work.

  • Legal clinics challenge CPP-D deductions from insurance payments: Reilly v. Ford hearing starts June 18 June 15, 2018 - The Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) is partnering with the HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic of Ontario (HALCO) and the ARCH Disability Law Centre to intervene in an important human rights case. Our coalition will argue that it is discriminatory for insurance companies and employers to to reduce the amount of long-term disability benefits they pay to disabled ...
  • Trusts and Access to Social Assistance: Supreme Court Case April 25 April 23, 2018 - On April 25th, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear a case that asks whether money held in a trust affects eligibility for social programs, even if the recipient cannot access that money. In this case, a person referred to as “S.A.” was denied a rent subsidy in Vancouver social housing because of inheritance monies ...
  • Supreme Court to decide on striking down the Mandatory Victim Surcharge: Watch the Hearing Live April 13, 2018 - On April 17-18, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear four cases challenging the mandatory victim surcharge under the Charter. The cases will decide whether the mandatory victim surcharge violates the Charter rights of poor people who are convicted of crimes because it is “cruel and unusual” (s. 12 of the Charter) and/or violates the ...
  • Protect the Privacy of Individuals at Administrative Tribunals: Court Case April 4-6 April 4, 2018 - An important case concerning the privacy of individuals who seek to enforce their rights at administrative tribunals will be heard this week. This case could directly affect the privacy of individuals at the Human Rights Tribunal, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, and the Landlord and Tenant Board, among other administrative tribunals. It could also set ...
  • Government should be held accountable for discrimination: Court case Feb 28 February 27, 2018 - In a landmark case at the Human Rights Tribunal, Sheryl Abbey was successful in proving that the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) discriminated against her. But the Tribunal refused to award her compensation for the injury that she experienced as a result. She has asked the Divisional Court to review that decision. A coalition made ...
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