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 …
Provincial Budgets
Have your say on Ontario’s 2020 Budget / donnez votre avis sur le budget de l’Ontario 2020
** Français ci-dessous ** Time for Justice: Have your say on Ontario’s 2020 Budget Ontario’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs is conducting Pre-Budget Consultations. ISAC appeared at the Standing Committee’s hearings and provided a . Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, we make the following recommendations for the 2020 budget: …
Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) budget cut by 25%: Provincial government’s cut to legal aid will hurt the most vulnerable
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 …
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 …