Income Security Advocacy Centre

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

Indigenous Justice

Blue arc which is part of ISAC's logo

Federal Budget 2025: ISAC’s Pre-Budget Submission to the Department of Finance

Building a strong, thriving economy requires improving affordability for all Canadians, especially the most vulnerable. With record-high income inequality, the affordability crisis is hitting low-income households the hardest. Now is the time for bold social…

Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Employment Insurance (EI), Federal Budgets, Indigenous Justice, Workers' Rights
Blue arc which is part of ISAC's logo

Federal Budget 2025: ISAC’s Pre-Budget Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance

As we submit our budget recommendations to the Standing Committee on Finance this year, Canada stands at a critical crossroads. Low-income households are teetering under the weight of record-high income inequality, while escalating tariff wars…

Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Employment Insurance (EI), Employment Standards, Federal Budgets, Indigenous Justice, Migrant Workers, Policy Advocacy
Blue arc which is part of ISAC's logo

Budgeting Our Way Into More Inequality: Ontario Spends Billions on Rebates While Social Safety Nets Crumble

The Ontario government’s record high $232.5-billion 2025 Budget bills itself as “A Plan to Protect Ontario” from the threat and impacts of U.S. tariffs on the province’s economy. Ontarians struggling with low incomes and living…

Disability Justice, Housing, Indigenous Justice, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works (OW), Policy Advocacy, Poverty Reduction, Provincial Budgets, Public Education, Social Assistance Rates, Workers' Rights

Robinson Huron Treaty Settlement: The History of the Treaty, the Legal Case and Settlement, and the Impact on Social Assistance Recipients

The Robinson Huron Treaty Settlement is a settlement agreement between different levels of government and several First Nations, which has come out of a unique and important court case on treaty obligations. The settlement agreement…

Indigenous Justice, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works (OW), Public Education, Supreme Court of Canada, Truth and Reconciliation
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There’s still time to submit comments on how to improve the Canada Disability Benefit. Our Submissions Guide is here!

The Canada Disability Benefit Act was passed in the House of Commons in Spring 2023, but the details of the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) are still being worked out by government staff. We are currently…

Access to Justice, Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Disability Justice, Federal Benefits - General, Indigenous Justice, Policy Advocacy, Poverty Reduction, Public Education, Social Assistance

2024 Federal Budget Reaction

Since its announcement, the 2024 Federal Budget has continued to generate much conversation, speculation, and expectation. Now that the dust has settled, let’s look at what the Budget offers and misses from an income security…

Canada Child Benefit (CCB), Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Disability Justice, Employment Insurance (EI), Federal Benefits - General, Federal Budgets, Indigenous Justice, Migrant Workers, Poverty Reduction, Refugee Law, Workers' Rights
Simple graphic icon which includes an outline of a piece of paper with the top left corner folded in, and two star shapes on the right side of the piece of paper. These elements are in dark blue, and they are placed inside a light blue circle.

Federal Budget 2024: ISAC’s Pre-Budget Submission (February 2024)

Every federal budget cycle includes a period for public submissions well in advance of budget deliberations. The federal government first solicited submissions for Budget 2024 in August 2023 (you can read our August 2023 submission…

Canada Child Benefit (CCB), Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Employment Insurance (EI), Federal Budgets, Indigenous Justice, Migrant Workers, Poverty Reduction
Simple graphic icon which includes an outline of a piece of paper with the top left corner folded in, and two star shapes on the right side of the piece of paper. These elements are in dark blue, and they are placed inside a light blue circle.

Federal Budget 2024: ISAC’s Pre-Budget Submission (August 2023)

Every federal budget cycle includes a period for public submissions well in advance of budget deliberations. ISAC submitted recommendations to the Standing Committee on Finance during the first 2024 Federal Budget pre-budget submission period which…

Canada Child Benefit (CCB), Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Disability Justice, Employment Insurance (EI), Employment Standards, Federal Budgets, Indigenous Justice, Migrant Workers, Policy Advocacy