The Divisional Court has found that the strict training and accreditation requirements for the Ontario Disability Support Program’s (ODSP) Guide Dog Benefit are discriminatory, on the basis of disability, contrary to Ontario’s Human Rights Code. On June…
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…
The federal government has announced the next step in the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) rollout. ISAC attended a public meeting on June 26, 2024, where Economic and Social Development Canada (ESDC) staff shared that they…
Nothing Without Us: An Action about the Canada Disability Benefit Join us at Matt Cohen Park (across from Chrystia Freeland’s Office) for a Community Gathering in Toronto to talk about the low proposed rates, access requirements,…
ISAC staff members Anu Bakshi and Asif Khan recently co-authored an article published in Policy Options, the digital magazine for the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), about a small change with big implications…
The Ontario Divisional Court granted the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) intervener status in Ministry of Community and Social Services v. Robinson-Cooke. This legal challenge concerns whether the strict training and accreditation requirements for the Guide…
To receive a post-secondary education, students living with disabilities require support and accommodation that costs more than what abled students need. Accordingly, students living with disabilities in Ontario rely on various grants to help finance…
On Friday March 18, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Yatar v. TD Insurance Meloche Monnex. The Income Security Advocacy Centre intervened in this case to highlight the perspective of social…
On June 22, 2023, Bill C-22 received Royal Assent and became law. We now have a Canada Disability Benefit Act. This is great news, but the important work of figuring out the details of the…
Ontario is in a state of unprecedented crisis. While the province recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced shock on its socio-economic structure, Ontario’s low-income and vulnerable population have seen their poverty and marginalization increase in almost…
Social assistance is inadequate in Ontario. People who depend on Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program live in deep poverty, and many do not have enough to afford food, rent, medicine and winter boots.…
There are rules about how much money a person living on Ontario Works can receive in gifts or “voluntary payments”. Generally, a person living on Ontario Works can receive gifts up to a maximum of…