It has been almost a year since the Ontario government announced a number of proposed changes to our social assistance programs on Nov. 22, 2018. Many of these changes have been cancelled or postponed as a result of community resistance. This fact sheet explains where we are today. Proposed changes that have been cancelled The …
Public Education
New data shows Ontario to deny basic needs to approximately 32,000 children
The Ontario government has introduced a law that will cancel the Transition Child Benefit on November 1, 2019. With Ontario’s changes, families living in poverty who are ineligible for child tax benefits will experience a significant loss of up to $230 per month per child. A typical two-parent households with two children, for example, will …
Changes coming to Employment Insurance Appeal Process
The Government of Canada has announced that it is making changes to the way that workers appeal Employment Insurance (EI) decisions. Starting in April 2021, workers will appeal to a new Employment Insurance Boards of Appeal that includes decision-makers that reflect the interests of workers. The announcement is a victory for the workers and advocates …
Benefit for Children To Be Cut from OW/ODSP
We have recently learned that the Ontario government plans on eliminating a benefit that allows some parents on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Program to feed and clothe their children. The Transition Child Benefit provides up to $230 per child per month to parents on OW or ODSP who are not eligible for the …
Take Action! Community Legal Clinic Services Under Threat
The provincial government’s recent budget made cuts to a number of public programs and services, which will hurt low-income people in Ontario. This includes cuts to social assistance, public health, library services, prescription coverage for children and youth, public education, and many others. It also includes a massive 30% cut to legal aid funding. And …
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 …
File Your Taxes: New federal tax credit this year
It’s almost tax time again! For low-income Ontarians, filing your income tax return is important as you may be able to benefit from tax credits that will either increase your income or reduce the amount of taxes you have to pay. Even if you don’t owe any money, you can get refundable credits that will …
End Employment Insurance discrimination against women / Mettre fin à la discrimination
* La version française suit * End Employment Insurance discrimination against women In the mid-1990s, Canada’s unemployment insurance system underwent a massive change. At that time, whether or not an unemployed worker qualified for payments was based on the number of weeks that they had worked before they lost their job. Although there were lots …
Changes Ontario is Proposing to OW and ODSP
Note: This information may now be out of date, as some of the announced changes have since been canceled. For an update, see this fact sheet. On November 22, 2018, Minister Lisa MacLeod announced a number of proposed changes to the Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) system. We have prepared several …
OW & ODSP: What is a “Health Spending Account”? / OT & POSPH : Qu’est-ce qu’un « compte gestion-santé »?
What a “Health Spending Account” might mean to people on OW & ODSP On November 22, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services announced a number of proposed changes to the social assistance system in Ontario. Among these proposed changes is the creation of something called a Health Spending Account. While there are currently …
