Several proposals have been made in the last few years about how to change the way income supports are delivered to people in Ontario. Why are people proposing a different “delivery architecture”? What problems would a different system help to resolve? What are some of the options for different kinds of systems? What do they look like, and how would they work?
Many people in Ontario agree that Ontario Works needs to be fixed. One of the ways it could be fixed is to give people more help to get a job, so they can get out of poverty…
Yesterday’s 2011 provincial budget did nothing to free people relying on Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) from the poverty traps built into those programs. Given skyrocketing food prices and continuing…
On November 30, 2010, the Ontario government announced they decided to keep the Special Diet Allowance program instead of cancelling it. But, they said, they were going to make some changes to the program. If…
The Social Assistance Review Advisory Council issued a report on June 14, 2010. In this report, the Council calls on the provincial government to conduct an Ontario Income Security Review.
The Council’s report is important, because it gives the government a roadmap for how to review social assistance and other income security programs in Ontario. But it’s also important because it expands the focus of the discussion.
Toronto – Ontarians on social assistance have every right to be concerned about today’s provincial government decision to create a new “nutritional supplementation” program to replace the current Special Diet Program. “The government has given…
People with addictions to drugs and / or alcohol may now be eligible for benefits from the Ontario Disability Support Program. Background: Until now, people who have disabling conditions caused only by drug and /…
The McGuinty government’s budget has taken important steps to reduce poverty in Ontario. However, fundamental reform of social assistance remains a necessity, particularly as growing numbers of Ontarians lose their jobs.