ISAC intervened at the Court of Appeal for Ontario in a case challenging the section of the Ontario Disability Support Program Act that denied benefits to persons with addictions.
ISAC argued that the law violated the Human Rights Code because it discriminated on the basis of disability. ISAC also argued that the Court should not accept the Ontario government’s position that government evidence and policy decisions should be given special deference by the courts.
On September 16, 2010, the Court of Appeal of Ontario released its judgment in which it found that it was discriminatory for the government to deny persons with addictions access to disability benefits. The Court did not accept the government’s arguments with respect to deference to its evidence.
As a result of this court case, persons who are disabled by addictions are entitled to ODSP benefits.
See our 2009 fact sheet on this issue here: ODSP - Adjudication Of Addictions - Fact Sheet - 2009 - PDF
– September 12, 2014