Ontario’s 2026 Budget arrives with a familiar promise of protection, but for whom? The province faces compounding pressures, including a deficit that has nearly doubled to $13.8 billion, ongoing U.S. tariff threats, and the ripple…
Nearly one million Ontarians rely on social assistance programs like Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) for survival. These are programs of last resort, a lifeline for those with nowhere else…
TORONTO, ON – On Thursday, October 23, at 11 a.m., a coalition of organizations focused on disability justice, food security, workers’ rights, renters’ rights, income security, poverty reduction, and improved social services will arrive at…
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…
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…
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…
This op-ed piece was written by Robin Nobleman and Claudia Calabro Last week, Doug Ford told people living in homeless encampments to “get off your a-s-s and start working like everyone else”. Premier Ford was…
TORONTO, ON – Social assistance rates for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) recipients will increase today, but Ontarians struggling to get by on Ontario Works (OW) will see no increase to their social assistance incomes…
As of July 2024, Ontario Works (OW) sees no increase or inflation-based adjustment. For the sixth year and counting, OW rates have remained the same despite the ongoing impacts of high inflation on the cost…
Last week, the Ontario government tabled a $214 billion budget for 2024-25, the largest in the province’s history. But if you are among the hundreds of thousands of low income working age Ontarians struggling to…
On November 2, the Ontario Government released the 2023 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, titled “Building a Strong Ontario Together”. Aside from a provision for low‐income seniors, the Review contains glaring omissions in recognizing…