As of July 2025, Ontario Works (OW) rates remain frozen for the seventh year, with no adjustment for inflation. As household costs continue to rise, this marks yet another year where the real value of…
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…
TORONTO – The Ontario government has announced it will exempt the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) as income, which will allow people receiving social assistance to keep both provincial social assistance income and CDB income. This…
Note: Shortly after this Update was posted to our website, on May 27 the Ontario government announced that they will not claw back social assistance from individuals who will also receive the CDB. This is…
This op-ed was first published in Policy Magazine on May 19, 2025. We have published the entirety of the piece below with permission. The original post can be viewed on Policy Magazine‘s website at this…
Note: This Guide was updated towards the end of March 2025 to include new information about Canadian Dental Care Plan eligibility. This new information was added to p. 22 of the Guide, and ‘Table 2.…
The Ontario Court of Appeal has declined to revisit the Divisional Court’s finding that the strict training and accreditation requirements for the Ontario Disability Support Program’s (ODSP) Guide Dog Benefit are discriminatory, on the basis…
On Friday, January 24, 2025, ISAC was invited to provide a deputation on our priorities for the 2025 Ontario Budget at a Ministry of Finance budget consultation in North York. Members of the panel included…
A lot has happened with the CDB in the last few months! The Federal Government released proposed CDB rules: A lot of new information was released about the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) in the federal…
The Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services (MCCSS) first launched Centralized Intake for Ontario Works in 2020 under the Social Assistance Renewal (SAR) plan, which is part of the government’s multi-year social assistance “modernization”…
The Ontario Government’s 2024 Fall Economic Statement (FES) has revealed that the province is in an improved fiscal position compared to earlier projections in the 2024 Budget. This is mainly due to an overall deficit…
ISAC is launching a survey on social assistance today, aimed at gathering data and stories from individuals who are receiving or who have recently received provincial social assistance (OW and ODSP specifically.) We intend to…