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Income Security Advocacy Centre

Income Security Advocacy Centre

ISAC works to address issues of income security and poverty in Ontario

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Social Assistance

Join us on July 4 in Toronto at the Nothing Without Us Rally about the Canada Disability Benefit

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,…

June 26, 2024
Campaigns, Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Community Organizing, Disability Justice, Social Assistance
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In the Media: “Ontario auto insurance reforms offer no real “choice” for low-wage workers”, Policy Options

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 Policy Policy (IRPP), about a small change with big implications…

June 13, 2024
In the Media, Policy Advocacy, Provincial Budgets, Public Education, Social Assistance, Workers' Rights

New Intervention: Challenge to whether Ontario’s Guide Dog Benefit is discriminatory

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…

May 6, 2024
Human Rights, Litigation, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Social Assistance, Social Assistance Reform, Social Benefits Tribunal

Protecting Student Grants from ODSP Clawbacks

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…

April 17, 2024
Litigation, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Social Assistance, Social Benefits Tribunal

Major Access to Justice Win for Social Assistance Recipients at the Supreme Court: Court Removes Barrier to Accessing Judicial Review

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…

March 18, 2024
Access to Justice, Litigation, Social Assistance, Social Benefits Tribunal, Supreme Court of Canada

Update on the Canada Disability Benefit – Winter 2024

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…

February 6, 2024
Access to Justice, Campaigns, Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Disability Justice, Federal Budgets, Social Assistance
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Ontario Pre-Budget Submission 2024: An Opportunity to Change Course 

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…

January 31, 2024
Disability Justice, Employment Standards, Minimum Wage, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works (OW), Policy Advocacy, Poverty Reduction, Provincial Budgets, Social Assistance, Workers' Rights

Panhandling to Survive Should Not Be an Offence: Fair Change Community Legal Clinic v. Ontario (Attorney General)

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.…

December 12, 2023
Human Rights, Litigation, Social Assistance
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New Resource: Info Sheet on Ontario Works and Gifts

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…

October 3, 2023
Ontario Works (OW), Public Education, Social Assistance
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Filling in the Gaps on Energy Affordability: New Report Gives Recommendations on Ending Energy Poverty for Northern Ontarians

Guest post by Zoé St Pierre, Student-at-Law at CELA In March 2023, the Low-Income Energy Network (LIEN) and Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) published Pathway Out of Energy Poverty in Northern Ontario, a report assessing…

May 16, 2023
Policy Advocacy, Poverty Reduction, Public Education, Social Assistance

Ontario Budget 2023: Designed to Balance the Books on the Backs of Ontario’s Poorest During a Worsening Affordability Crisis

On Thursday, March 23, following Finance Minister Bethlenfalvy’s Speech from the Throne, the Provincial 2023-2024 Budget was introduced. Released shortly after the three-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Budget contained few provisions to support…

March 30, 2023
Employment Standards, Government Benefits - General, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works (OW), Policy Advocacy, Provincial Budgets, Social Assistance
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Ontario Budget 2023: ISAC’s Budget Submission

Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, ISAC has made the following eight recommendations for the Spring 2023 budget: Invest in Income Security Programs  Recommendation #1: Raise social…

February 10, 2023
Access to Justice, Human Rights, Policy Advocacy, Provincial Budgets, Social Assistance, Workers' Rights
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1500 – 55 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
Tel: (416) 597-5820 • Toll Free: 1-866-245-4072 • Fax: (416) 597-5821

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This site contains general legal information for people in Ontario, Canada. It is not intended to be used as legal advice for a specific legal problem. ISAC is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization. ISAC is funded by Legal Aid Ontario (LAO). The funding for this website is also provided by LAO. The views expressed in any of ISAC’s publications (including written, oral, or visual) are the views of the clinic and do not necessarily reflect those of LAO.