Resetting Social Assistance Reform

Springboard’s Noah Zon and Radhus’ Thomas Granofsky on the opportunity to improve social assistance in Ontario.

Ontario’s social assistance program is intended to ensure that everyone has access to the necessities of life and to provide Ontarians in need with support to improve their lives. At a cost of $9.4 billion in 2018-19, it represents nearly 6 percent of the provincial budget and, behind health and education, it is the province’s third-largest social investment.

But as it stands, this investment isn’t producing the results that it should. Its shortcomings carry major costs for Ontario’s economy, the government’s budget, and for people’s well-being. The program was designed for financial emergencies, as a tool to keep people out of poverty, or lift them out of it. But instead it is the primary source of income for 6.7 percent of Ontarians. The average length of time a recipient relies on Ontario Works has doubled from 1.5 to 3 years over the past decade.