Canadian
Social Assistance
(Welfare) Policy Manuals
Canadian
| Manuels
de politiques |
Updated
April 2, 2008
Page révisée le 2 avril 2008
The
jurisdictions appearing on this page have posted their current social assistance
(welfare) policy manual on their Internet site.
Social assistance policy manuals are an excellent source of detailed information
about such questions as initial and ongoing eligibility, the treatment of assets
and income, how benefits are calculated, special needs and rules regarding a wide
range of program issues (recovery of overpayments, appeals, fraud prevention and
detection, etc.)
NOTES : The amount of information provided
in online policy manuals varies from one jurisdiction to another, and they're
not all continuously updated . Manitoba offers the most comprehensive and user-friendly
online policy manual of all Canadian jurisdictions. For a more complete picture
of social assistance policies, be sure to check the relevant legislation as well
(a few provinces actually include their welfare legislation in the manual itself).
You can find links to all provincial and territorial welfare legislation on the
Key Provincial/Territorial Welfare Links page
of this site. If you're not already familiar with welfare in Canada, I'd recommend
starting from that page rather than this one; all of the links below to policy
manuals are included on that page as well...
| NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR |
There's no manual as such, but a Frequently-Asked
Questions page gives you more info about the Income
Support (Social Assistance) program
| PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND |
Social
Assistance Policy Manual (PDF file, 1.7MB,
265 pages)
or
InfoPEI
Social Assistance Policy Manual
- same policy manual, broken up into
small PDF files for each section of the manual
NOTE: this version would be
more helpful if the individual files had titles (e.g., "Persons on or in
Support of Strike") vs. chapter numbers (e.g., "3-8 Policy"). I'd
recommend downloading the complete manual, despite its larger size.
Dept.
responsible:
Social Services
and Seniors
| NOVA SCOTIA |
Employment
Support and Income Assistance Policy
- incl. links to the latest
version of the manual and to revision logs (showing recent changes)
Dept.
responsible:
Community Services
| NEW BRUNSWICK |
Welfare Policy Manual
"This electronic version of the HRD-NB policies
is an unofficial version which contains essentially the same material found in
HRD-NB's in-house on-line help. This version has been edited for relevancy of
content. For example, technical procedures unrelated to policy application have
been removed. A full, unabridged version of on-line help can be requested under
the Right to Information Act."
- includes sections on Applicant And Client
Types - Assets And Income - Benefits - Intake And Continuing Eligibility - Programs
- Rates (although not basic rates)
- includes links to the Family Income
Security Act and Regulation
Frames
version of the policy manual - easier to navigate, but not for bookmarking
individual pages.
Dept. responsible:
Social
Development
- (name
changed Dec 19/07, formerly Family and Community Services)
| QUEBEC |
Assistance
to individuals and families – General information (PDF file - 724K,
23 pages)
November 2007
NOTE: the blue text box in the centre of the Last-resort
financial assistance page also contains detailed welfare program info
Dept.
responsible:
Emploi
et Solidarité sociale
| ONTARIO |
Ontario
Works Policy Directives
Everything you wanted to know about the Ontario
Works program, broken down into small PDF files. Ontario Works provides financial
and employment assistance for single people, couples with and without children,
sole support parents, and people aged 60 to 64 years.
ODSP
Income Support Policy Directives
Everything you wanted to know about
the Ontario Disability Support Program in small PDF files. For eligible people
with disabilities, ODSP provides financial assistance and other benefits and/or
services to remove disability-related barriers to competitive employment
ODSP
Employment Support - Policy Directives
Introduced in early 1999, the
Employment Supports component of ODSP provides people with disabilities who want
to work with more choices in what they would like to do and a range of supports
to assist them in reaching their goal.
City
of Toronto Social Services Policy - Toronto welfare policy manual, organized
in alphabetical order
- includes detailed information on welfare rates, eligibility
criteria for different client types, treatment of financial resources, etc.
Ministry responsible:
Community
and Social Services
Related Link:
- Go to the
Guide to Welfare in Ontario page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/onwelf.htm
| MANITOBA |
Employment
and Income Assistance (EIA) Administrative Manual
This is the provincial
social assistance (welfare) policy manual. It contains comprehensive and current
information about eligibility, benefits and the administration of the EIA program.
The above link will take you to a general index of the 24 sections of this extensive
manual - or you can go directly to the detailed Table
of Contents. The manual includes the complete text of the Employment and
Income Assistance Act and Regulation.
Dept.
responsible:
Family Services and Housing
| SASKATCHEWAN |
Social
Assistance Plan Policy Manual
(PDF file - 468K,
148 pages - September 2007)
Social
Assistance Handbook
(PDF file - 468K, 24 pages)
Transitional
Employment Allowance Policy Manual
(PDF file - 176K, 37 pages)
Dept.
responsible:
Social
Services
(name
changed November 2007, formerly Community Resources)
| ALBERTA |
Name
of the welfare program
Income
Support - part of Alberta
Works
NOTE: Welfare and grant funding for students (ESL, upgrading and
occupational training) are both under the Income Support program
Policy
Manual
Income Support Program
Policy
Expected
to Work/Not Expected to Work Policy & Procedures ===>
main welfare policy
--- News
and Updates
Learner
Policy and Procedures
--- News
and Updates
See also:
Alberta
Works Policy Manual
On this page, you'll find links to:
Employment
and Training Programs (Programs and Services, Accountability, News and Updates)
Child Support Services (Child Support Services Policy, News and Updates)
Health Benefits Programs
(General Policy Health Benefits Card Coverage, Alberta Adult Health Benefit, Alberta
Child Health Benefit, Health Benefits Review Committee, News and Updates
Alberta
Works replaced:
* Widows’ Pension - eff. April 2004
* Supports
for Independence (Alberta's welfare program) - eff. May 2004
* Skills
Development Program living allowances for continuing and new students beginning
a training term - eff. August 1, 2004.
Dept.
responsible:
Alberta
Employment, Immigration and Industry
(changed from Human Resources
and Employment Dec. 13/06)
Related Link:
Assured
Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH)
- AISH
Policy Manual
Source:
Alberta
Seniors and Community Supports
| BRITISH COLUMBIA |
Ministry
of Employment and Income Assistance
Online
Resource - British Columbia
"Effective March 27, 2006 the BCEA
(welfare) Manual has been retired and replaced with an exciting*
new information source – the Online Resource. The Online Resource
incorporates information from a number of different sources into one user-friendly
website, which will save time spent searching for up-to-date information and resources."
*"Exciting" isn't the first word that pops into most people's heads when they hear the expression "welfare information", but I, for one, found the old BC welfare manual more "exciting" because I could actually "find information" in there. The new manual has no hyperlinked table of contents - in fact, you have to open a PDF file to see the table of contents. And someone should tell the web design team that the plus sign to the left of a directory item (e.g., on the front page) is usually a simple piece of javascript that opens sub-directories, not just a graphic used in lieu of a bullet or a dash in front of each item in a list...
"Retired" BC Employment and Assistance Manual (Oct. 2004) - from The Internet Archive
| YUKON |
Adult Services Social Assistance Policy and Procedures E-Manual (PDF file - 1.7 MB)
NOTE: the link to the Yukon social assistance
policy manual is broken.
See the Key Welfare Links page
of this website for social assistance links in the Yukon
Ministry
responsible:
Health and Social Services
| NORTHWEST TERRITORIES |
Northwest Territories:
Income
Assistance Program Policy Manual (PDF file - 659K,
119 pages)
Effective September 2007
NOTE: for more info on the welfare changes
that came into effect in the NWT in September 2007,
go to the website of the
Income
Security Division of the NWT Department
of Education, Culture and Employment.
Dept. responsible:
Education, Culture and Employment
| NUNAVUT |
Income
Support Program Policies and Guidelines (PDF file - 485K, 55 pages)
August
2005
Dept. responsible:
Education
| TIP:
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