This document lists several income support programs that may be available to Ontario residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. This information is changing rapidly and we recommend that you check with the relevant government’s website for updated information. – La version française de ce document est disponible en téléchargement ici – Introduction COVID-19 is a …
Updates
Income Security Advocacy Centre and Parkdale Community Legal Services welcome the Supreme Court’s landmark decision for gig workers
Media Release Toronto: In a ground-breaking decision released this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada made it easier for workers to challenge unfair contractual terms imposed by companies that hire them, whether or not they are in a formal employment relationship. The court sided with Uber drivers and reached a decision that addresses the concerns …
Open Letter addressing protections for injured workers during COVID-19
On June 3, 2020, ISAC sent a letter to Minister Monte McNaughton, who is Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. The letter expresses concerns about the inadequate level of protections for injured workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative impacts this will have on the health of people in Ontario. To view this …
Virtual townhall on issues affecting people with disabilities during COVID-19
On April 7, 2020, Ontario Autism Coalition hosted a virtual town hall on COVID-19 hardships and its impact on the community of people with disabilities. Yola Grant, Executive Director of ISAC, presented on the federal and provincial governments income security programs that could assist during the pandemic. Yola also highlighted some deficiencies in the programs …
Virtual Press Conference: Income Security During COVID 19
On April 8, 2020 Arash Ghiassi, lawyer at Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC), hosted a press conference on ISAC’s open letter addressing income insecurity and assistance during the COVD-19 pandemic in Ontario. The letter demanded that social assistance rates be raised and that federal benefits be exempt from clawbacks from social assistance recipients. It has …
Open Letter from 150 community organizations / Lettre ouverte de 150 organismes communautaires
Download this letter in PDF format. Téléchargez cette lettre au format PDF. – Français ci-dessous – Income Security in the Time of COVID-19 Dear Minister Smith, We are an umbrella group of low-income Ontarians, health care providers, and other organizations. We call on you to ensure the most vulnerable members of our Province have meaningful …
Have your say on Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy / donnez votre avis sur la Stratégie ontarienne de réduction de la pauvreté
** Français ci-dessous ** The provincial government is conducting consultations for a new poverty reduction strategy for Ontario. Have your say! ISAC has provided a . Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, we make the following recommendations: Connecting people to good jobs: Recommendation #1: Ensure sufficient funding, inter-ministerial collaboration …
OW and ODSP Rates and the OCB March 2020 / Les taux d’OT, du POSPH et de la POE Mars 2020
– la version française suit dessous – Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates have not increased this year. However, the Ontario Child Benefit (OCB), for people who have children, has been increased slightly with inflation. The increase to OCB came into effect in July 2019. As in past years, we have …
ISAC Annual Report / Rapport annuel 2018-2019
– la version française suit dessous – The past year has seen many development in the income security and employment landscape, with many more to come in the near future. 2018/2019 has been a year of tremendous legal success for ISAC’s test case work with ground breaking public interest and constitutional cases. ISAC’s casework is …
Employment Services Transformation / Transformation des services d’emploi
** Français ci-dessous ** What the coming changes mean for Ontario’s social assistance recipients The Ontario government is changing how employment services are provided in the province. The most concerning aspect of the proposed changes is that organizations providing these services will be paid according to how many social assistance recipients they connect to jobs. These changes …
