Social Assistance rates are stuck in time. Time to move forward together!
Help us call on the Ontario Government to fix the rules for OW recipients so they are not stuck in poverty while they are face difficult life situations. Over 470,000 Ontarians rely on support from Ontario Works. They live in every riding in the province, and they are single parents, young people who can’t find adequate work, and people who are full-time unpaid caregivers to their elderly or disabled loved ones. Many people on OW want to work but their circumstances prevent it, or they are working but not getting enough hours to cover their bills. Send a letter to your rep to let them know you care about people on OW and you want to see the program fixed!
Visit the Income Security Advocacy Centre’s website to send a letter and to learn more:
https://incomesecurity.org/campaigns/social-assistance-rates-are-stuck-in-time-tell-the-ontario-government-to-fix-ontario-works/
In Their Own Words: The State of Social Assistance in Ontario.
Nearly one million Ontarians rely on social assistance programs like Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) for survival. These are programs of last resort, a lifeline for those with nowhere else to turn.
So how well are they actually working?
According to ISAC’s new report In Their Own Words: A Recipient-Informed Case for Fixing Ontario’s Social Assistance System released in 2026, not nearly well enough.
The report draws on anonymous responses from focus group participants and 200 OW and ODSP recipients surveyed from across the province in Fall 2024. The report includes original data analysis on the impact of inflationary increases to social assistance, access to services and employment opportunities, and the intersection of disability and employment, along with first-hand accounts of what it’s like to try to live on social assistance in Ontario.
It is, above all, a document built on the lived experience of people navigating a system that was meant to catch them, but which has let them down again and again.