• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Income Security Advocacy Centre

Income Security Advocacy Centre

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

  • Our Work
    • Litigation
    • Policy
    • Community Organizing
    • Public Education
  • Campaigns
  • Publications
  • About Us
    • Mission, Vision & Mandate
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Board Members
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
  • Updates
  • Resources
  • Twitter

Defer overpayment collection for social assistance recipients now!

June 3, 2021

ISAC calls for the government to defer all overpayment collection for social assistance recipients.

Social assistance recipients are under unprecedented pressure because of the ongoing pandemic and emergency measures.  They have plunged deeper into debt, increased costs due to the pandemic, difficulty accessing services due to lockdown measures and deteriorated in their physical and mental health.

As a result of the pandemic, there are three reasons that an immediate and emergency deferral of collection of all social assistance overpayments is necessary.

  1. COVID-19 and lockdown measures have had a devastating effect on the physical and mental health of social assistance recipients.
  2. Social assistance recipients experience profound and increased hurdles in access to services, food and housing.
  3. The pandemic has caused the financial situation of social assistance recipients to worsen, as a result of increased costs of living.

Social assistance is a safety net for people who fall on difficult times. Never has that help been more imperative than it is now, during a global pandemic. Yet, at a time when support from social assistance is most needed, the program has doubled the rate of overpayment recovery in many cases. The current prescribed 10% rate of recovery of many new overpayments has compounded and exacerbated the hardship recipients are already facing due to the pandemic.

Read our open letter to Minister Smith on this issue here.

 

Information about the ODSP overpayments is available on the Ministry’s website here:

https://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/documents/en/mcss/social/directives/odsp/income_Support/11_1.pdf

Information about OW overpayments is available on the Ministry’s website here:

https://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/programs/social/directives/ow/9_3_OW_Directives.aspx

More information about OW/ODSP overpayments is available on Steps to Justice here: https://stepstojustice.ca/questions/income-assistance/what-can-i-do-about-odsp-overpayment/

A McMaster Study found that social assistance recipients are disproportionally experiencing economic and social effects of the pandemic including increased debt, less access to services, deteriorating health, difficulty navigating the digital world and increased costs. The study is available here: https://labourstudies.mcmaster.ca/research/covid19-impact

Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works (OW), Policy Advocacy

Primary Sidebar

Blog sidebar

Subscribe

"*" indicates required fields

Name

Income Security Advocacy Centre

Footer widget

1500 – 55 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
Tel: (416) 597-5820 • Toll Free: 1-866-245-4072 • Fax: (416) 597-5821

  • Contact

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.