ODSP ActionCoalition

Ontario's employment services are failing those in greatest need The new Integrated Employment Services (IES) system promises to help job seekers find sustainable employment. But new data reveals the system is failing social assistance recipients.

Ontario’s new Integrated Employment Services (IES) promised to help all job seekers find sustainable employment. But new data analysis reveals a troubling reality: The system is systematically failing social assistance recipients and other equity-deserving groups.

maytree.com/publications...

At a Time of Global Crisis, the Carney Liberals' Rite-Lite Plans Are a Recipe for Economic Disaster Instead of New Thinking to Meet the Moment, Carney in Canada and Labour in the UK are trapped by the Same Blinkered and Broken Policies that Got Us Here.

Dougald Lamont’s Substack

At a Time of Global Crisis, the Carney Liberals' Rite-Lite Plans Are a Recipe for Economic Disaster
#Economics
open.substack.com/pub/dougaldl...

Hospital stay can cost over $16k, & a yr in jail can cost over $120,000.

Supportive housing w/wraparound care? About $20,000 a year.

The math isn’t complicated.

We can pay for survival, over and over again. Or we can invest in stability.

#HousingCrisis
www.thesarniajournal.ca/opinion/ever...

This report establishes a clear case for govts in Cda to completely decouple employment income from provincial & federal #DisabilityBenefits.

Moving away from traditional clawback models will help people w/disabilities reach their potential & escape the "poverty trap"! #Cdnpoli
buff.ly/8FeIzbA

Poverty rising: How Ontario’s strategy failed Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy 2020-2025 failed to reduce poverty. Quite the opposite, in fact.

REPORT: Ont’s so-called Poverty Reduction Strategy has failed

#Poverty is rising w/more & more ppl unable to afford necessities for a dignified life, incl. those w/jobs

This is the direct result of myopic govt policies. We need a new path forward
#ONpoli

maytree.com/publications...

June's webinar is on the Canada Disability Benefit. It's an update on the benefit and what we still need to do to make it as accessible as possible.
Free zoom registration: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Resources – Fair Rent Ontario

Tell your MPP & Ford govt Ontario needs to

🟣 Bring Back Full Rent Control
🔶 Strengthen Tenant Rights
🟣 Expand Public Housing
🔶 Increase Income Security
🟣 Support Dignified Housing for All

Full mandate letter: buff.ly/BkLepxl

Send Renter Mandate Letter to your MPP & Ford govt: buff.ly/IkpjVsz

Ontario is increasing ODSP rates by 2.8% effective July 2025 Protecting Ontarians starts with safeguarding our social services. This is the fourth rate increase since we tied ODSP rates to inflation in September 2022. Rates have increased by a total of 20% since then. The 2025 inflation-based increase to ODSP will take effect on July 1, 2025. People receiving ODSP will see an inflation-based increase of 2.8% to: basic needs and shelter maximum amounts for singles and families board and lodge amounts for singles and families the amount provided for a couple where both have disabilities amounts for services provided by a Long-Term Care Home or a Specialized Care Residence For example, effective July 2025, if you are a single person, your payment could be up to $1,408 for basic needs and shelter.

Yes, 2.8%, will be on July's cheque (end of July)

ontario.ca/page/ontario...

Rally held outside Queen’s Park over bill critics say targets encampments, public drug use Members of the Encampment Justice Coalition formed a rally outside of Queen’s Park to speak out against the Ford government’s Bill 6.

Rally held outside Queen’s Park over Bill 6 which criminalizes #homelessness and conflates it with addiction.

Thank you @dianacmcnally.bsky.social for your tireless efforts organizing & pushing back against this harmful & dangerous piece of legislation.
#ONpoli
cp24.com/video/2025/0...

Ontario govt has officially announced that they will exempt the #CanadaDisabilityBenefit as income under #ODSP, #OW & ACSD.
#ONpoli
👇
news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...

Doug Ford’s America-inspired solution to homelessness won’t work. This will While Manitoba is instructing us on a "Made in Canada" approach to homelessness that works, Premier Ford is modelling dysfunctional policies championed by an irrational American president.

My latest op-ed for @thestar.com: when it comes to encampments, Doug Ford is looking south of the border when he should be looking west. Ontario is importing failed American policies to punish homelessness, while Manitoba is doing what works: housing people. www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

TO's #homeless encampments are up 20% — expanding into areas they've never been before

A whopping 248 tents & other makeshift structures were counted across 81 locations as of Mar 15th, up from 202 camps in 72 locations the same day in 2024.
#ONpoli

thestar.com/news/gta/tor...

Ontario has reintroduced Bill 6, which will punish encampments even though people have nowhere else to go. That's why we've formed the Encampment Justice Coalition. We're asking Ontario to rescind Bill 6 and commit to housing — not punishment. Read more: tinyurl.com/EJC-Bill6

Today, I released a letter, signed by 67 organizations working across Ontario, asking the Ford government to rescind Bill 6. We can't adopt Trumpian policies to punish encampments; people need proven solutions — especially housing. Read our letter: tinyurl.com/EJC-Bill6

The so-called 'Safer Municipalities Act' (previously Bill 242), which essentially criminalizes being #homeless, & conflates homelessness & addiction, is back.

With nowhere else to go, clearing encampments only moves the misery from one place to another 🤷
news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...

What Happened to Poverty as an Election Issue? | The Tyee As politicians fixate on an anxious middle class, millions of Canadians are left out of the conversation.

What Happened to #Poverty as an #Election Issue?

Despite the growing number of Canadians struggling to make enough money to feed, clothe and house themselves, the word “poverty” has seldom been uttered on the campaign trail.

thetyee.ca/News/2025/04...

YouTube video by Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness We're Ending the Housing Game. Are you in?

Far too many Canadians live one paycheque away from homelessness. #EndTheHousingGame this election.

#cdnpoli #canadavotes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLR...

www.endthehousinggame.ca/watch-share

What’s it all about, AFNI? | Open Policy Ontario How income clawbacks work in the real world of social and income assistance Many disability and poverty activists are wondering what provinces and territories will do when it comes to the treatment of...

BLOG: How income clawbacks work in the real world of social and income assistance

If the #CanadaDisabilityBenefit had been implemented as a refundable tax credit as many of us advocated for, we could have avoided a variety of negative interactions/impacts

openpolicyontario.com/whats-it-all...

Ontario election parties pitch affordability plans as food insecurity rises in Peel Region Ontario parties unveil affordability plans as food insecurity affects nearly one in four Peel residents.

Lost her job 2 yrs ago, 56 yr old couldn't find another, had to sell her house & became homeless for 4 days before renting a room in her daughter's apt.

She only receives $800/mo from #OW.

She's not healthy & isn't watching The Flintstones!
#ONpoli
www.mississauga.com/politics/pro...

If a recipient is homeless, when they're rock bottom and need the most help they receive less, only 'basic needs' which for OW is only $343/mo. 🤦

I can’t afford an apartment anywhere. Nobody in Ontario wants to live in an encampment. But without affordable housing, it’s not a choice.

Happy #FamilyDay! LGBTQ+ youth have disproportionately high rates of homelessness. Call upon all the candidates to ask what they are doing to protect the rights of homeless youth and provide housing so they can grow up healthy. Vote for a party that protects families on February 27th.

From our understanding, Lib's indicated they'd double ODSP over two years, but saw nothing from them regarding increasing/doubling OW, which is badly needed. Have a link/source? Thanks!

Doug Ford Criticized for Out-of-Touch Comments Comparing Ontario Works Recipients to Lazy Youths Watching ‘The Flintstones’ Cartoons at Home Ontario PC leader says unemployed workers “sit on the couch and watch The Flintstones” instead of looking for jobs

Ford was asked about potentially doubling ODSP

He responded by attacking recipients of OW, claiming "healthy people" are defrauding the system of $733/month.

Number one, you’re not going to be healthy if you’re living on 733/month.
#OutOfTouch #ONpoli
pressprogress.ca/doug-ford-cr...

With great sadness & heavy hearts we learned our long-standing Co-chair, and social worker w/TorontoPWA, Kyle Vose, passed away this morning.

Thank you Kyle for teaching us to advocate with passion, and lead with kindness and love.

Rest easy dear friend. We'll take it from here 😰

11 Ways to Respond When Someone Insults a Loved One's Disability “I’m going to assume that came from a place of ignorance.”

11 Ways to Respond When Someone Insults a Loved One’s Disability 🤔

time.com/7202210/disa...

Ford govt tabled Bill 242 'Safer Municipalities Act' on their way out the door for their xtended Xmas break.

Below is our press release regarding this ugly piece of legislation, which you can read here 👇
www.ola.org/en/legislati...

Ford's Con's prefer to victimize the vulnerable & punish ppl who literally have nothing, than provide real evidence-based solutions

These problems didn’t develop overnight. It's decades of Lib' & Con' govt cuts coming home to roost!

#HousingCrisis #ONpoli
financialpost.com/pmn/business...

Social Benefits Tribunal has consistently been denying requests for accommodation by PWDs with no access to computers or internet, telling them to just use their phone for video hearings, placing them at a significant disadvantage.

tribunalwatch.ca/2024/heard-b...

Driving Social Change Now | CCPA The CCPA is a non-partisan research institute providing in-depth analysis to help policy-makers, activists, and Canadians make informed, impactful decisions.

@policyalternatives.bsky.social Greetings CCPA friends! May we ask, what happened to monitormag.ca? Is there a repository/archive of legacy 'The Monitor' articles? Some fantastic in-depth pieces there that seems to have vanished?

LETTER: Homelessness debate 'missing fundamental cause' 'City's approach of displacing encampments isn't solving homelessness; it's merely shuffling human suffering from one location to another,' says advocate

www.barrietoday.com/letters-to-t...