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Income Security Advocacy Centre

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Open Letter: Premier Ford, Double Social Assistance Rates Now!

July 25, 2022

On Monday, July 25, ISAC and over 230 social service providers and community organizations called on Premier Ford to double social assistance rates ahead of the August 2022 Budget.

Scroll down to read the full text of the letter and the list of endorsers, or view the letter here in English (PDF) et ici en français (PDF). You can read the press release for the letter in English by clicking here (PDF).

Join the call to double social assistance rates! Send the letter to your MPP and let them know that you support doubling the rates. You can find your MPP and their contact info using your postal code here: https://www.ola.org/en/members


Dear Premier Doug Ford, Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, and Minister Merrilee Fullerton,

We are legal clinic workers, health care providers, service providers, settlement workers, gender equity and racial justice advocates, and other not-for-profit and non-profit organizations who advocate for poverty reduction and income security.

We are writing to urge you to raise social assistance rates in Ontario to adequatelevels in the upcoming August 2022 Budget. We are encouraged by the election promise made on May 9, 2022, and affirmed on June 27, 2022, to raise the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates by 5%. However, there are two urgent concerns that we call on you to address so that people on social assistance can live with dignity:

  • Ontario Works (OW) rates must also be raised; and
  • Both ODSP and OW rates must meet the cost of living.

Background

The inadequacy of social assistance rates in Ontario was a central issue during the 2022 election. Every party recommended raising the rates. Rates have been frozen since 2018 at $733 for a single person on OW and $1169 for a single person on ODSP. This leaves recipients living at 40% to 60% below the poverty line.

With over 11% inflation since 2018, the real value of the rates has declined, and the depth of this poverty has increased. This historic inflation, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, has disproportionately impacted low-income Ontarians who are Indigenous, racialized, women, single, or live with a disability. The current dire financial situation is making social assistance recipients’ ability to pay for housing, food, medication, digital access, transportation, clothing, disability supports, and other basic needs impossible.

A 5% increase amounts to just over $58 more per month for ODSP recipients. This is not enough for groceries, and certainly not enough to secure housing. An ODSP increase also offers nothing for people who rely on OW to survive. We therefore call on your government to address the following two urgent concerns in the upcoming Budget.

Include OW in the social assistance rates increase

The proposed 5% ODSP increase leaves the 458,000 beneficiaries on OW living in destitution. These are the poorest people on social assistance, the majority of whom are unattached singles and women. They cannot afford the necessities of life on $733 per month. By maintaining the current rate, this government bears the added cost of paying for these individuals’ interactions with shelters, hospitals, the criminal justice system, and other social services. We implore you to also raise the rates for OW.

Raise the rates for both OW and ODSP to meet the cost of living

With continued inflation, and the associated increase in cost of living, 5% is not nearly enough of a rate increase to survive. This government has saved on social assistance costs during the COVID-19 pandemic due to federal benefits and lowered caseloads. These savings must be reinvested. We call on this government to double both OW and ODSP rates, and to index these rates to inflation.

Ontario will not recover fully from the pandemic if people on social assistance are left behind. We look forward to action and to your commitment to Ontario’s most vulnerable in the August 2022 Budget.

Sincerely,

The Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)

and

ACCES Employment

Access Alliance Multicultural Health & Community Services

Access County Community Support Services

Accessible Housing Network

Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario

Advocacy Centre for the Elderly

Age of Majority Singers

Alzheimer Society Waterloo Wellington

Anthony Frisina

ARCH Disability Law Centre

Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS)

Autistic Bridge Inc.

Autistics for Autistics: Canadian Self Advocacy

Bangladeshi-Canadian Community Services (BCS)

Barrie Food Bank

Basic Income Speaker School

Basic Income Waterloo Region

BGC Peel

Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention

Black Legal Action Centre

Brain Injury Services of Northern Ontario (BISNO)

Bridges to Belonging

Bruce Villa Manor

Caldwell Family Centre Inc.

Cambridge Council on Aging

CAMH

Campaign for Adequate Welfare and Disability Benefits

Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, Ontario Office

Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture

Canadian Mental Health Association- Niagara Branch

Caribbean African Canadian Social Services

CARLINGTON COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE

Carranza LLP

Carrefour communautaire francophone de London

Centre d’éducation financière EBO

Centre des services communautaires Vanier

Centre espoir Sophie

Centre for Spiritual Living On the Lake

Centretown Community Health Centre

CERA – Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation

Chatham-Kent Legal Clinic

Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic

City for All Women Initiative (CAWI) / Initiative: une Ville pour Toutes les Femmes (IVTF)

Claire Littleton, Provincial Co-Chair, Steering Committee on Social Assistance

Clinique Juridique Bilingue Windsor-Essex Bilingual Legal Clinic

Clinique juridique Grand-Nord Legal Clinic

Club GAIN

CMHA Peel Dufferin

Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change

Community Advocacy & Legal Centre

Community Development Council Durham

Community Family Services of Ontario

Community Legal Assistance Sarnia

Community Legal Clinic – Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk

Community Legal Clinic of York Region

Community Legal Services of Ottawa/Services juridiques communautaires d’Ottawa

Community Living Essex County

Community Living Ontario

CONTACT Community Services

Cornerstone Housing for Women

Council of Agencies Serving South Asians

Council of Canadians – Ontario-Quebec Regional Office

Council of Elizabeth Fry Societies of Ontario

Country Lane Co-op

CUIAS Immigrant Services

Davenport Perth Neighbourhood and Community Health Centre

Deaf Literacy Initiative

Debra Dynes Family House

Decent Work and Health Network

Defend Disability

Delta Family Resource Centre

Down Syndrome Association of Simcoe County

Downsview CLS

Durham Association for Family Resources and Support

Durham Community Legal Clinic

Durham Deaf Services

Ecohesian

Elgin-Oxford Legal Clinic

Elizabeth Fry Society Simcoe Muskoka

Elizabeth Fry Toronto

Embrave Agency to End Violence (Formerly Interim Place)

Empowered Kids Ontario

Epilepsy Toronto

Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County

Family Service Ontario

Family Service Toronto

Family Services Windsor-Essex

Federation of Metro Tenants Associations

Feed Ontario

Fred Victor Centre

Fusion Global Education

Giishkaandago’Ikwe Health Services

Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard

Good Jobs for All Coalition

Green Haven Shelter for Women

GTA Disability Coalition

Guelph Community Health Centre

Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre

Hamilton Community Legal Clinic

Hamilton Social Work Action Committee

Health Providers Against Poverty

HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario

HMC Connections

Homeless Health Peel

Hong Fook Mental Health Association

House of Lazarus Matilda Resource Centre Inc.

Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario (IAVGO)

Injured Workers Action for Justice

Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic

Injured Workers of Wellington & Dufferin Counties

Institute for Advancements in Mental Health

Interval House of Ottawa Maison Interval d’Ottawa

IRIS Residential Inns and Services

ISARC Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition

IWC – Hamilton

Jane Finch Community Legal Services

Jewish Family Services of Ottawa

John Howard Society of Simcoe and Muskoka

Keewaytinok Native Legal Services

Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services

KidsAbility Centre for Child Development

Kingston Community Legal Clinic

Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic

Kitchener Waterloo Chapter, Council of Canadians

Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre

Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County

Listening Post Barrie

London InterCommunity Health Centre

Low-Income Family Empowerment Sole-Support Parents Information Network (LIFE*SPIN)

Madison Community Services

Mississauga Community Legal Services

Mount Forest Family Health Team

Moyo Health and Community Services

Neighbourhood Legal Services

Neighbourhood Legal Services London-Middlesex

Network for the Advancement of Black Communities

New Canadians Centre Peterborough

Newcomer Centre of Peel

Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre

North York Community House

North York Harvest Food Bank

North York Women’s Centre

Northern Human Association

Northumberland Community Legal Centre

OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants

ODSP Action Coalition

Ontario ACORN

Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness

Ontario Association of the Deaf

Ontario Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty

Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care

Ontario Disability Coalition

Ontario Federation of Labour

Ontario Network Of Injured Workers Groups 

MCCSS MERC Chair, OPSEU/SEFPO

Orillia Christian Centre – The Lighthouse

Orillia Community Church

Ottawa & District Labour Council

Ottawa Coalition of Community Houses

Ottawa Day Program Coalition

Ottawa Food Bank

Parkdale Food Centre

Partners in Mission Food Bank

PASAN (Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network)

Peel Alliance to End Homelessness

Peel Injured Workers

Peterborough Community Legal Centre

Poverty Free Halton

Poverty Free Thunder Bay

Pozitive Pathways Community Service

Project READ Literacy Network Waterloo-Wellington

PSC

PTP Adult Learning and Employment Programs

Punjabi Community Health Services

Quinte Immigration Services

Race and Disability Canada

Reception House Region of Waterloo

Redwood Park Communities

Regeneration Outreach Community

Renfrew County Legal Clinic

Rexdale Community Legal Clinic

RISE Norfolk

S.H.I.F.T.

Scarborough Community Legal Services

Shelter Now Transitional Support Program

Silent Voice Canada Inc.

Skills for Change

Social Assistance Coalition of Scarborough (SACS)

Social Development Centre Waterloo Region

Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton

Social Planning Network of Ontario

Social Planning Toronto

Somerset West Community Health Centre

South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario

South Asian Women’s Rights Organization

South Etobicoke Community Legal Services

Steering Committee on Social Assistance

Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre

The 519 Community Centre

The Centre for Active Transportation

The Dam – Develop Assist Mentor

The Guesthouse Shelter

The Legal Clinic

The Literacy Group of Waterloo Region

The Mississauga Food Bank

The Neighbourhood Group Community Services

The Ontario Network of People Who Use Drugs

The Salvation Army – Ontario Division

The Salvation Army Harbourlight Ministries

The Salvation Army Scarborough Citadel

Thrive Northumberland: Coalition to End Violence Against Women

Thunder Bay & District Injured Worker Support Group

Thunder Bay Health Coalition

Toronto Neighbourhood Centres

Toronto People With AIDS Foundation

Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council

Toronto South Local Immigration Partnership

Turning Point Counselling

United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County

Vibrant Communities – Our Safety and Well-being Plan – Cornwall, SDG and Akwesasne

Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada – Ontario Branch

West Scarborough Community Legal Services

West Toronto Community Legal Services

Willowdale Community Legal Services

Women & HIV/AIDS Initiative (WHAI)

Women’s Support Network of York Region

WoodGreen Community Services

Workers’ Action Centre

Workers’ Health and Safety Legal Clinic

Working for Change

Working Women Community Centre

Youth Diversion

YWCA Cambridge

YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin

YWCA Toronto

NOTE: Endorsements of this letter continue to be received after the publication of the letter on July 25, 2022. Additional endorsements have been received from:

Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA)

Cross Trainers Canada

End Homelessness in Canada Now

The Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination

Mennonite Central Committee

National Coalition Against Poverty – Ontario Chapter

Northumberland Coalition Against Poverty

Northumberland Fare Share Food Bank

Peoples Action Group

Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness – South Simcoe Chapter

Sudbury Community Legal Clinic

Wow Living

Campaigns, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works (OW), Social Assistance Rates

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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.