ISAC made the following five recommendations for the 2022 Federal budget: Recommendation #1 – Legislate 7 employer-paid sick days under the Canada Labour Code and an additional 14 days of paid sick leave during declared pandemics. Recommendation #2 – Reform Employment Insurance into a fair and accessible program for all workers by: setting a cross-Canada …
Policy Advocacy
Ontario’s strategies to end poverty will make life worse for low-income people post-pandemic | The Star
Low-income Ontarians entered the pandemic in distress and have disproportionately borne the brunt of the pandemic’s impacts. This would be the perfect time for Ontario to ensure a successful and complete recovery by making permanent changes to alleviate poverty. Instead, in the middle of the second wave, the province delivered two strategies that will fail …
Immediate deferral of overpayment collection for social assistance recipients is needed.
ISAC calls for the government to defer all overpayment collection for social assistance recipients. Social assistance recipients are under unprecedented pressure because of the ongoing pandemic and emergency measures. They have plunged deeper into debt, increased costs due to the pandemic, difficulty accessing services due to lockdown measures and deteriorated in their physical and mental …
2021 Federal Budget: ISAC response/analysis
Version française à suivre bientôt Budget promises childcare, some income supports, but fails to focus on systemic poverty ISAC prepared a submission as part of the 2021 Federal Pre-Budget Consultations in February of 2021. We made several recommendations including the following: legislate 7 employer-paid sick days under the Canada Labour Code; reform Employment Insurance (EI); …
ISAC Submission regarding Bill 276 / Mémoire au Comité permanent des affaires gouvernementales au sujet du projet de loi 276
Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, we make the following six recommendations for Bill 276, Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021, specifically Schedule 21, which amends the Ontario Works Act, 1997. Recommendation 1: Immediately raise the Ontario Works single rate to $1086.32 per month. Recommendation 2: Clearly …
2021 Provincial Budget Consultation / Présentation des consultations sur le budget de 2021
ISAC has made a submission to the Minister of Finance. Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, our submission includes recommendations on: Investing in Justice for Workers: • Recommendation #1 – Legislate paid sick leave: Legislate 10 Personal Emergency Leave days in the Employment Standards Act, 2000, including …
2020 Fall Provincial Budget Consultation / Présentation des consultations sur le budget de l’automne 2020
Please note that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, submissions to the Minister of Finance were delayed until the Fall 2020 Budget consultations. Our submission to the Ontario’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in January 2020. Read ISAC’s Fall 2020 Budget Consultation Submission below: English / French
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 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 …
