ISAC was advised this morning that our budget will be cut by 25% over the next two years. We have been directed to de-prioritize law reform and community development work. This cut is a direct attack on low-income people in this province, including the social assistance recipients and low-income workers that ISAC serves. The cuts …
Provincial Budgets
Ontario Budget 2019 Announces $1 Billion in OW and ODSP Cuts
– Massive Cuts to Legal Aid Funding Also Announced – The 2019/2020 Ontario Budget was announced today, and creates even more uncertainty for people who receive benefits from the Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) system. While the Budget is short on details about changes to social assistance, it confirms many of …
Ontario 2019 Pre-Budget Consultations: Have your say!
The provincial government has asked for input into the upcoming 2019 provincial Budget. There are currently two pre-budget consultation processes that you can plug into: The Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs is conducting hearings across the province and accepting written submissions until 5:00pm on January 29. The Minister of Finance is hosting …
Ontario Budget 2018: ISAC Analysis and Budget Details
Important First Steps to Transformation but No Meaningful Progress on Rates The 2018 Ontario Budget introduced today proposes to make a number of critically important changes to social assistance and other benefit systems, which would start to move the system away from the punitive, intrusive system that currently exists and toward the supportive approach that …
Ontario Budget 2018: Take Action on Income Security / Passons à l’action pour la sécurité du revenu
– la version française suit dessous – It’s pre-Budget time in Ontario. As we noted recently, now’s the time to tell the Government and the Opposition parties that they must take bold steps on income security in Ontario. These steps must include major investments in transforming social assistance, starting with raising the rates, and employment standards enforcement. …
2017 Pre-Budget Submission – Investments Needed in Employment Standards Enforcement / Il faut investir dans l’application des normes d’emploi
– la version française suit dessous – ISAC has completed a second submission to Ontario’s 2017-18 Budget public consultation process. Our first submission focused on investments that are required in social assistance. This submission makes recommendations on investments that the province should be making to protect and enforce the rights of all workers in Ontario. …
2017 Pre-budget Submission: $1 billion for OW & ODSP / 1 milliard de dollars pour OT & le POSPH
– la version française suit dessous – ISAC recently spoke to the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, to support the call from the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC) to invest $1 billion in social assistance in the 2017-18 provincial budget. $1 billion won’t resolve the poverty of people on social …
Bold steps on social assistance reform in Ontario Budget 2016, but incomes still grossly inadequate
Ontario’s 2016 Budget makes some significant commitments to social assistance reform as well as changes in other areas that will impact low-income Ontarians, including those on Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). But below-poverty incomes for people on social assistance continue to leave them in dire circumstances, particularly as food costs …
Ontario Budget 2016: ISAC Submission to Pre-budget Consultations
Ontario is wrapping up its pre-budget consultations this week. ISAC has made a submission to both the Minister of Finance and the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. Our submission includes recommendations on: Making social assistance incomes adequate, especially given rising food costs and other costs of living, and paying for identification …
Budget 2015: Not Much Assistance for Social Assistance
Ontario’s 2015 Budget provides very little assistance to people relying on the low incomes provided by the province’s two social assistance programs, Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). “For most people on social assistance, benefits will continue to be eroded by a rate increase that is below the rate of inflation,” …
