Ontario Government

Updated May 4, 2008


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Guide to Welfare in Ontario
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Spouse in the House page - information about the Falkiner case.
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War on Poverty - from The Toronto Star
- series of articles and editorials about the plight of Canada's needy and possible reforms to the social programs that assist them.
50+ links to articles by various Star writers and columnists!
NOTE: this link takes you to another page of the Canadian Social Research Links website. It's more complete than the content of the War on Poverty link above because it contains articles and columns that weren't included in the War on Poverty series for some strange reason...

NEW

Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy
- incl. links to :
* Why It Matters * What's Happening Now * Where We Want to Be * Research * Meet the Team * Chair's Update (Deb Matthews) * Ontario Child Benefit * Ontario Disability Support Program * Ontario Works Program

YOUR TWO CENTS' WORTH!!

1. First, read the poverty reduction brochure:
Growing Stronger Together:
Ontario's Poverty Reduction Plan
(PDF - 288K, 9 pages)
"Because together we can make a difference"

2. Then click the link below and complete the short questionnaire
and return it to the government by email, regular mail or fax.

Help Us Tackle Poverty
"Your answers to these questions will help us move forward with a plan that delivers more opportunities for success for Ontario families."
This link takes you to a six-question survey that you can complete and submit for consideration by the Ontario Government Committee that's working on the province's poverty reduction strategy.
PDF version of the questionnaire (24K, 2 pages) - download and complete the questionnaire, then send it in by mail [ Growing Stronger Together, Whitney Block, Room 4620, 99 Wellesley Street West, Toronto, ON - M7A 1A1 ] - or by fax (416-314-0367)

NEW

For Ontario Provincial Budget 2008 information, just scroll down past the grey section below

Hotlinks
The links below will take you directly to the following
Ontario Government web pages:

Government of Ontario Home Page
Office of the Premier
What's New - Government of Ontario
Government of Ontario Telephone Directory
Ministries and Agencies
Management Board Secretariat
Legislative Assembly
Ombudsman Ontario
Community and Social Services
Children and Youth Services
Public Infrastructure Renewal
Finance
Intergovernmental Affairs
Education, Training, Colleges and Universities
Health and Long-Term Care

Attorney-General
Labour
Municipal Affairs and Housing
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Provincial Auditor
Citizenship and Immigration

Other

Ontario Municipalities - from munisource
Toronto Globe and Mail
Toronto Star
Toronto Sun

National Post

Ottawa Citizen
Hamilton Spectator
Windsor Star
Hill Times
Yahoo Canada List of Ontario Newspapers

 

Ontario Throne Speech
November 29, 2007
Source:
Premier of Ontario

Related link:

Ontario Throne Speech and housing
November 30, 2007
By Michael Shapcott
The Ontario government opened the current session of the provincial Legislature on Thursday, November 29, with a promise to “begin work” on “reducing child poverty” by developing a poverty reduction strategy that would include “more affordable housing”. This promise needs to be matched with funding and programs before it will have any impact on actually reducing poverty in Ontario.
Source:
The Wellesley Institute Blog
[ The Wellesley Institute ]

Key welfare links

Department responsible for welfare
Ministry of Community and Social Services

(formerly Community, Family and Children's Services)

Name of the welfare program
Ontario Works (OW) - for eligible people without disabilities 

Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) - for eligible people with disabilities

Legislation
Ontario Works Act
- General Regulation ===> main welfare regulations for people without disabilities
- Administration and Cost-sharing
- Designation of Geographic Areas and Delivery Agents
- Prescribed Policy Statements
- Proposed Geographic Areas

Ontario Disability Support Program Act
- General Regulation ===> main welfare regulations for people with disabilities
- Administration and Cost-sharing
- Assistance for Children with severe Disabilities
- Employment Supports
- Prescribed Policy Statements
Source:
Ontario Statutes and Regulations

Policy Manual
OW Policy Directives - the Ontario Works policy manual

ODSP Income Support Policy Directives - the ODSP Income Support policy manual
ODSP - Employment Support Directives

Welfare statistics
Ontario Disability Support Program Quarterly Statistical Report
Ontario Works Quarterly Statistical Report
See also:
Number of People on Welfare, March 1995 to March 2005 (PDF file - 133K, 1 page)
Source: National Council of Welfare

Welfare rates (benefits)
- see part V of the Ontario Disability Support Program Regulation

- see s.41 of the Ontario Works Regulation
OW and ODSP rates

Latest search results on Google.ca for
"welfare, -child, -animal, Ontario"

- Web search results
- News search results
- Blog search results

Related Links
Ontario Child Benefit
Review of Employment Assistance Programs in Ontario Works & Ontario Disability Support Program (PDF file - 167K, 48 pages) December 2004 - By Deb Matthews, M.P.P., Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister



For more information about welfare in other Canadian jurisdictions,
see the
Canadian Social Research Links Key Provincial/Territorial Welfare Links page

The 2007 Ontario provincial election and referendum took place on October 10.
For links to more info, see the Provincial-Territorial Political Parties and Elections in Canada page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/politics_prov_terr.htm


2008 Ontario Budget : Growing a Stronger Ontario
March 25, 2008
- includes links to all budget papers and the following backgrounders : * Economic Plan * Education * Health * Infrastructure * Key sectors * Rural and Northern Ontario * Quality of Life * Skills

Ontario Budget Invests in Skills Training and Infrastructure to Strengthen the Economy:
Government Creating Opportunities for Better Jobs and Stronger Communities
News Release
March 25, 2008

Budget Highlights
- includes papers with info on investments in: skills - infrastructure - competitiveness - innovation - business and industry sectors - education - health - children and families - postsecondary education - the environment.

Ontario Budget 2008 papers
- budget-at-a-glance : detailed table of contents with links to specific sections of all budget papers on one page, including:

Strengthening Ontario's Future by Investing in Families and Quality of Life

Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy
The government’s Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction, chaired by the Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Children and Youth Services, will focus on expanding opportunities for those living in poverty. It will develop a focused poverty reduction strategy with measures, indicators and reasonable targets by the end of 2008. The Committee will review how best to organize and align the current system of supports to ensure more effective investment and more efficient administration. The government will work with communities and other governments to expand opportunity for all Ontarians and reduce poverty over the long term.
- includes info on the following early initiatives under the Poverty Reduction Strategy : * Dental Care for Low-Income Families * Student Nutrition Program * Parenting and Family Literacy Centres * Making Education More Affordable
Source:
Budget Papers, Chapter 1, Section C:
A Better Future for Families: Improving Quality of Life

- also includes info on : * Investing in Social Housing * Asset-Building Strategy for Low-Income Ontarians * Increased Support for Social Assistance * Minimum Wage * Senior Homeowners’ Property Tax Grants * Ontario Property and Sales Tax Credits for Seniors * more...

Supporting Families Receiving Social Assistance (chart and descriptive text)
"(...) proposing to increase the basic adult allowance and maximum shelter allowance by two per cent in 2008–09."

Source:
Ontario Ministry of Finance

"Ontario, 2008 Provincial Budget":
- Web search results page
- News search results page
- Blog Search Results page
Source:
Google.ca

NOTE: for links to critiques and analyses of the 2008 Ontario budget,
go to the Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm

2007 Ontario budget links - this link takes you further down on the page you're now reading.


Early Learning and Child Care

Moving Forward: Governments of Canada and Ontario sign an agreement on Early Learning and Child Care
News Release
May 6, 2005
"HAMILTON, ONTARIO—Prime Minister Paul Martin, along with Social Development Minister Ken Dryden and Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, Ontario's Minister of Children and Youth Services, announced today an historic Agreement in Principle that further supports the development of quality early learning and child care (ELCC) for young children and their families in Ontario."
Source:
Social Development Canada

Related Links:

Towards a national system of early learning and child care - other ELCC agreements signed since April 29, 2005
- includes a broad (and growing) collection of government and non-governmental reports, press releases, news articles and other pertinent documents related to the new world of federal-provincial-territorial arrangements for child care in Canada.
Source:
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) [University of Toronto]

Google.ca News Search Results : "Canada, Ontario, child care agreement"
Google.ca Web Search Results : "Canada, Ontario, child care agreement"
Source:
Google.ca

Program to benefit thousands of kids
April 29, 2005
"Thousands of new child-care spaces could be created in Ontario this year, as the province signs on to the federal daycare program, the Toronto Star has learned. Ontario is within days of signing on to Ottawa's $5 billion, five-year child-care program, giving the province $280 million this year to kickstart the creation of thousands of new daycare spaces. 'We've agreed on everything,' provincial Children and Youth Services Minister Marie Bountrogianni said in an interview last night. She described the money as substantial because Ontario spends $600 million a year on daycare now and the new money 'is almost a 50 per cent increase.'"
Source:
The Toronto Star

Related Links:
Go to the Government Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd.htm


.

Government of Ontario Home Page

Ministries and Agencies
What's New - Government of Ontario
Search the Ontario Government site

ServiceOntario Government Employee directory

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Service Canada Regional Information:
Ontario

This page provides information on region-specific services for Individuals, Business and Organizations.
Services include: Jobs * Financial Benefits * Employment Insurance * Taxes * Training and Careers * Identification Cards * Travel and Passports * Health * Consumer Information * Canada and the World * Environment and Resources * Economy * Public Safety * Culture and Recreation * Science and Technology.
Source:
Service Canada
Human Resources and Social Development Canada

-------------------------------------------------------

"Portals" are directories of links to external sites grouped under different themes.
Here are two new portal websites from the Government of Ontario, both of which focus on federal and Ontario government websites (although some of those websites offer links to non-governmental sites):

Children's Information Portal
This site brings together information about all the children and youth programs and services provided by the Government of Ontario. Whether you’re a young person, a parent, a caregiver, a professional, or a researcher, this site is for you. We’ve organized the content to give you a choice in how you access information. You can look by age group, activity, special need, or by going right to the search function.
- includes links to:
Ages and Stages : * Newborns [up to 1 yr.] * Toddlers [1- 3 yrs.] * Children [4-11 yrs.] * Youth [12-18 yrs.]
Topics : * Parenting, Child Care & Adoption * Education, Learning & Training * Health & Safety * Travel & Recreation * Financial Services & Benefits * Laws, Rights & Responsibilities * Youth Issues & Opportunities
Special Needs : * Special Education * Special Medical Needs * Children & Families at Risk * Financial Assistance * Specialized Services
Professionals
Just for kids
Service Ontario Links
Online forms
More...

Women's Information Portal - Government of Ontario
- incl. links to info about : Arts, Culture and Communities - Education, Learning and Training - Empowering and Recognizing Women - Families and Relationships - Financial Matters - Health and Well Being for Families - Health and Well Being for Women - Laws, Justice and Rights - Travel, Recreation and Sports - Violence and Abuse - Work, Employment and Safety

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Ministry of Community and Social Services:
Supporting Ontario's communities since 1930

The year 2005 was the 75th anniversary of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services.
Click on the link above* and then, on the next page, scroll down to "Stories from our Past" for links to six short historical bits about welfare and social services in Ontario in the last century and even before.
Origins of the welfare department (1930) - breaking 650 lbs. of rocks to qualify for welfare in 1915 - houses of refuge - the Mothers' Allowance Act (1920) - the first foray into the field of day care in the mid-40s - the Soldier's Aid Commission (est. 1915).

*NOTE: when I checked on June 16/07, this page had disappeared from the MCSS website.
However, I went to Archive.org and copied the URL of the Ministry into the Wayback Machine (text box near the top of the page). Then, on the Archive.org results page, I selected the link to the October 2004 site snapshot. Then, on the archived MCSS home page that appeared, I simply clicked on the 75th anniversary button and found the archived copy of this page from Archive.org:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050518172022/www.mcss.gov.on.ca/CFCS/en/Celebrating75Years/default.htm

e-Laws - consolidated laws and regulations of Ontario
You can find a specific statute or a specific regulation. Or you can search all of the laws using the search or advanced search features.

Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat

Guide to Ontario Courts
- incl. links to : Court of Appeal for Ontario - Superior Court of Justice - Ontario Court of Justice - Ontario Judicial Council - Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee - Notice and Rule Changes - Court House Contacts - Courtrooms and Classrooms - Links

Recent changes in provincial-municipal relations in Ontario : a new era or missed opportunity? (PDF file - 50K, 22 pages)
April 2003
By David Siegel, Department of Political Science - Brock University
- analysis of the change in provincial-municipal relations and responsibilities in Ontario since the Mike Harris Common Sense Revolution
Source :
Municipal-Federal-Provincial Relations : New Structures / New Connections - Conference
May 9 - 10, 2003
Kingston, Ontario
Institute of Intergovernmental Relations
School of Policy Studies
Queen's University

Youth Opportunities Ontario
Great site - links to : Job Connect | Young Entrepreneurs | Apprenticeship | Ontario Summer Jobs | Ontario Internship Program | Rural Youth Job Strategy | Career Gateway | Job Market
- See also ONESTEP (Ontario Network of Employment Skills Training Projects)
.

Ontario Government Ministries

.
NOTE: If you're not familiar with needs-tested social assistance [welfare] in Ontario, see Welfare in Ontario (A Canadian Social Research Links page), a guide to government information on welfare in Ontario --- what are the programs, who delivers them, who pays for them, links to statistics, legislation, policy manuals, key documents on welfare in Ontario, etc. 
- incl. links to Ontario Works, the Ontario Disability Support Program and the Toronto Social Services program

Ministry of Community and Social Services
(formerly Community, Family and Children's Services)

HOME PAGE
On the Ministry home page, you'll find links to : What's New - Programs - Publications - Forms - News Room - - Children's Services - Income and Employment Supports - Social and Community Services -
About MCSS - Minister of Community and Social Services - Minister of Children’s Services - Organization Chart - Regional Offices - Legislation - Boards, Commissions and Tribunals - Autism - Employment Opportunities - Your Government - Employment - Job Mart - Telephone Directory - Services and Offices - Government Information Centres - Ontario Government Internet Sites

News Room - incl. links to : News Releases - Backgrounders - Fact Sheets - Speeches
News Releases - includes links to news releases from the previous Conservative Government

Site Map

Information about CSS programs is organized under the following two"core businesses":
Income and Employment Supports (Ontario Disability Support Program - Ontario Works)
Social and Community Services (Aboriginal Healing and Wellness - Developmental Services - Domestic Violence - Family Responsibility Office - Homelessness - Interpreter and Intervenor Services - Northern Bursary Program - Social Work and Social Service Work)
NOTE: As of September 2005, the Minister of Community and Social Services is also the Minister Responsible for Accessibility Ontario

Ministry of Community and Social Services
(Combined) Annual Reports for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 (PDF file - 305K, 8 pages)
September 2006
Source:
Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS)

Comment: This eight-page annual report covers not just one but *two* fiscal years...
- includes only two short tables showing total Ministry expenditures in each fiscal year (split into capital and operating expenses) and total Ministry staff at the end of each year.


Social assistance / welfare in Ontario comprises two programs: Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program.

Ontario Works (OW)
"...provides financial and employment assistance to single people, couples with and without children, and sole support parents. Mandatory participation in Ontario Works workfare, earnfare and learnfare activities assists people in moving as quickly as possible to a job."
OW Policy Directives - the Ontario Works policy manual
Ontario Works News Releases (2000-2002) - links to almost four dozen news releases on a variety of subjects, mostly dealing with spouse-in-the-house, welfare fraud and moving people off welfare


Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)
"ODSP is intended to meet the needs of people with disabilities and help them to become more independent."

ODSP Employment Supports Policy Directives
"The employment supports component of the ODSP serves a diverse group of people with a wide range of disabilities and interests. The program provides a continuum of supports that are intended to remove disability-related barriers to employment and lead to competitive employment."

Source :
Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services
[Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)]

ODSP Income Support Policy Directives - the ODSP Income Support policy manual
Ontario Disability Support Program News Releases


Legislation
Ontario Works Act
- General Regulation ===> main welfare regulations for people without disabilities
- Administration and Cost-sharing
- Designation of Geographic Areas and Delivery Agents
- Prescribed Policy Statements
- Proposed Geographic Areas

Ontario Disability Support Program Act
- General Regulation ===> main welfare regulations for people with disabilities
- Administration and Cost-sharing
- Assistance for Children with severe Disabilities
- Employment Supports
- Prescribed Policy Statements
Source:
Ontario Statutes and Regulations



Related Links:

Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) Law
December 2006
1. Overview 2. Claimants 3. Income Support 4. Benefits 5. Severely Handicapped Children 6. Information Eligibility 7. Income Rules 8. Asset Rules 9. "Person With a Disability" 10. Applications and Procedures 11. Director Decisions 12. Appeals and Other Remedies 13. Workfare 14. Fraud and Prosecutions 15. Advocacy


Source:
Isthatlegal.ca (Ontario)
"The purpose of this site is to share my knowledge, experience and research regarding law with those in our society who most need it - and with those who work towards a better world. While the practice of law involves an often complex interplay of personalities, circumstances, logic and rules - only the last of these is purely law. Everything else is just life experience, which none among us has a monopoly on. 'Law' alone - be it the "substantive" law of what rights exist, or the "procedural" law of trying to realize those rights - is just information, nothing more. Sadly though it is information that many view as beyond their comprehension. This situation has bothered me for a long time, so in January 2006 I started a sabbatical from my law practice to openly share what I have learned - and will continue to learn."
[Simon Shields, LLB]
- incl. links to the following on the home page: Social Assistance Law (Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program) - Civil and Administrative Litigation (Small Claims Court, Administrative Tribunal Procedures and Line Fences) - Criminal (Criminal Injuries Compensation, Canadian Law of International Crimes) - What's New? (From the Courts, from the Government, from the Media, Elsewhere)

[More About this Site ]
[ Terms of Use for the IsThatLegal.ca site ] - read this before using any info you find in the Isthatlegal.ca site

Also on this site:

Welfare (Ontario Works or "OW") Law
(June 2006)
1. Overview 2. Claimants 3. Basic Assistance 4. Benefits 5. Information Eligibility 6. Income Rules 7. Asset Rules 8. Applications and Procedures 9. Administrator Decisions 10. Appeals and Other Remedies 11. Workfare 12. Fraud and Prosecutions 13. Advocacy - Appendices - Sources and Forms

I highly recommend this OW info site.

Welfare Statistics

Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works
Quarterly Statistical Reports - Caseloads and Beneficiaries
- five years of statistics on ODSP and OW caseloads (i.e., number of households) and beneficiaries (i.e., number of individual recipients)
- includes stat breakdowns by family type (singles / couples / sole support parents)

Ontario Works: Quarterly Statistical Report
Ontario Works (OW) provides employment and financial assistance to people who are in temporary financial need. OW stats also include some 4,200 children in Temporary Care Assistance. TCA provides support for children in financial need while in the temporary care of an adult who does not have a legal obligation to support the child.
- incl. quarterly caseload and beneficiary stats for June 1998 to September 2004 by family type: Singles - Couples - Sole Support Parents - All Family Structures

Ontario Disability Support Program: Quarterly Statistical Reports
The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) was designed to meet the income and employment support needs of people with disabilities. ODSP stats also include some 22,000 children under Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities. ACSD provides a benefit for parents caring for children with severe disabilities at home.

- incl. quarterly caseload and beneficiary stats for six years by family type: Singles - Couples - Sole Support Parents - All Family Structures

NOTE: Any comparison of Ontario's welfare stats with those of other Canadian provinces and territories must include both the OW and ODSP components of the welfare caseload.


A selection of recent releases from MCSS:

New Measures to Tackle Poverty, Build Opportunity:
McGuinty Government Helps More Low-Income Families Get Ahead

News Release
March 17, 2008
Ontario's plan for a strong economy includes supporting low-income families so that everyone can have the opportunity to succeed in the 21st century economy.
- The government will invest $135 million over three years in a dental care plan for low-income families. (...)
- The Student Nutrition Program will be doubled with a three-year $32-million investment to expand existing services. (...)
- repairs to about 4,000 affordable housing units - another $100 million will be provided this year

Related Backgrounder:

McGuinty Government Announces
Three Priority Programs To Kickstart Poverty Reduction Strategy

March 17, 2008
- incl. more detailed info on the three new/enhanced initiatives in the news release above.

Related link:

Income Security Advocacy Centre's Response
to the Ontario Government's Poverty Announcement
(PDF file - 36K, 1 page)
Press Release
March 17, 2008
Premier’s Poverty Reduction Announcement:
“A Good Start, but a Long Way to Go”
Toronto – Calling the Premier’s Poverty Reduction announcement “a good start,” Mary Marrone, Director of Advocacy & Legal Services at ISAC, said, “But they’ve got a long way to go.” The Income Security Advocacy Centre is a specialized community legal clinic with a provincial mandate to improve the income security of people living in Ontario through test case litigation, policy advocacy and community organizing. The Premier’s office announced funding for three priority programs this morning as a ‘kickstart’ to a Poverty Reduction Strategy, expected by the end of 2008.
Source:
Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)

----------------------
Related links : go to the Antipoverty Strategies and Campaigns page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/antipoverty.htm

----------------------

June 22, 2007
McGuinty Government Helping Build Job Opportunities For People on Social Assistance
OTTAWA – The McGuinty government is opening the door to job opportunities for Ontarians on social assistance by funding innovative community projects that connect local businesses with job-ready people, Minister of Community and Social Services Madeleine Meilleur announced today.

November 22, 2006
McGuinty Government Improving Employment Options For Ontarians On Disability Support
TORONTO – The McGuinty government is helping people on disability support pursue job opportunities and keep more of what they earn by improving the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Minister of Community and Social Services Madeleine Meilleur announced today.

Social Assistance Rate Increase
[Undated text - "page last modified November 02, 2006"]
The Ontario government is increasing the maximum monthly social assistance rates by 2% for recipients of benefits under the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW). The increases come into effect in November and December, respectively, and they apply to all basic needs allowances, shelter, board and lodging rates. Northern allowances, and special allowances paid to people in certain institutions and guide dog users. The 2% increase also applies to Back to School and Winter Clothing Allowances for eligible recipients with children under the age of 18. Families receiving assistance under the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities program (payable to a parent with a child with a severe disability) will see the maximum monthly allowance increase from $400 to $410 per month, a 2.5% increase.

A New Vision for Ontario's Social Assistance Programs
[Undated text - "page last modified November 01, 2006"]
"The Ministry of Community and Social Services is working hard to improve the way Ontario’s social assistance system works. The ministry is making significant changes to the way Ontario’s social assistance programs — Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program — are delivered. Many of these changes are in direct response to what Deb Matthews, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Community and Social Services, heard during her discussions with social assistance recipients, community organizations and municipalities in 2004. Stakeholders called for the removal of barriers and disincentives to employment and greater emphasis on the supports recipients need to help them find and keep meaningful jobs."
NOTE: includes a list of 10 recent program changes designed to help people move from welfare to long-term self-sufficiency

Read the report by Deb Matthews:

Review of Employment Assistance Programs in Ontario Works &
Ontario Disability Support Program
(PDF file - 167K, 48 pages)
Deb Matthews
December 2004

October 24, 2006
McGuinty Government Helps Boost Profile Of People With Disabilities In Canadian Media
TORONTO – The McGuinty government today launched a new partnership aimed at raising the profile of people with disabilities in the Canadian movie, television and radio industry, announced Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services.

October 23, 2006
Making Ontario More Accessible To People With Disabilities
TORONTO – The McGuinty government has made important progress towards implementing the landmark Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, which will make Ontario fully accessible by 2025, Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur announced today.

Ontario Disability Support Program Special Payments
[Undated text - "page last modified October 2, 2006"]
Since the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) was created in June 1998, recipients had been limited to receiving up to four months of retroactive income support, even if they had to wait longer than four months to be reviewed and determined eligible for the program. On May 31, 2006, the government announced that it had removed this limit. The government will now be providing a special payment to eligible people who had to wait longer than four months to be granted ODSP income support. People who waited longer than four months to be granted ODSP, but who only received the previous limit of four months of retroactive income support may be eligible to receive a special payment for additional months of support they did not receive when the limit was in place. There are an estimated 13,000 to 19,000 cases that may be eligible for a special payment. (..) Starting in October 2006, a dedicated team will begin to identify and contact current and former ODSP recipients who were impacted by the four-month rule.

Employment Innovations Fund - Examples of Innovative Partnerships
[Undated text - "page last modified August 30, 2006"]
As part of the 2006 provincial budget, the government established the Employment Innovations Fund to engage Ontario's employers in creating and expanding job opportunities for people receiving financial assistance from Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.

JobsNow and WCG International

On August 3/07, WCG International was sold to Providence Service Corporation of Arizona.
WCG International has a contract with the BC Government for back-to-work programs for people with disabilities in that province.
The company also has a contract with the Ontario Government (see the JobsNow link below).
This is disconcerting to me, because the bottom line in the corporate sector is always the profit margin first and the client's best interest second - and often a distant second. Simply put, governments that outsource human services to the private sector are shirking their responsibilities to their most disadvantaged citizens. Period.

As noted in the Times Colonist article below, for companies like Providence there's a financial interest in maintaining poverty and suffering, and that's just not right. Simply put, governments that outsource human services to the private sector are shirking their responsibilities to their most disadvantaged citizens. Period.

BC : Contracting social services a risky bet
Huge U.S. firm taking over back-to-work programs for the disabled
By Jody Paterson
September 21, 2007
For better or worse, the bulk of B.C.'s back-to-work programs for people with disabilities are now under the control of a large, aggressive American corporation. The ink is barely dry on the Aug. 3 agreement that saw the sale of the local company that has run the programs up until now -- WCG International -- to Arizona's Providence Service Corp. So it's much too soon to speculate whether clients will notice any difference, or to assume that it's automatically a bad thing when one more big U.S. company takes over yet another aspect of B.C.'s human services. But man, I get cold shivers down my spine when I think about how easily British Columbians are giving this stuff up, all of it without a whisper of public debate. Providence in particular is a heavy-duty acquisitor of government social-service contracts, and delighted to be gaining its first foothold in Canada.
Source:
Victoria Times Colonist

Related links:

WCG International
--- Tucson-based Providence Service Corp. expands to Canada (August 3, 2007 - small one-page PDF file) (Excerpt: "The $9.8 million purchase is expected to produce $25 million in revenue for Providence...")

Providence Service Corporation - "Human services without walls"
--- Workforce Development Services

From The Tyee (independent alternative daily newspaper):

Libs' Welfare-to-Jobs Program a Bust, Reveals Delayed Report
Loses $13 million, high failure rate and neediest not served.
August 11, 2005

Welfare Reform's Public-Private Partnerships
July 13, 2004
The Fraser Institute says they're a huge advance in social policy. Critics say work placement companies are growing rich but doing little.

From the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services:

JobsNow
The Ontario government launched JobsNow in April 2005. It’s an innovative pilot project to help people currently on Ontario Works find and keep sustainable jobs. The program is a partnership between the province, WCG International and municipal social services in six municipal areas: Hamilton, Ottawa, Windsor, Nipissing, Peel and Durham.

October 24, 2005
Ontario Works Clients Get JobsNow

----------------------------------------

JobsNow Pilot Program Is Helping People Find And Keep Jobs:
More Than 2,000 Social Assistance Recipients Start On The Path To Financial Independence

News Release
April 21, 2006

Pilot Program Helping People Move Into The Workforce And Off Welfare
1,000 JobsNow Clients Are Back To Work
News Release
October 24, 2005
"OTTAWA – More than 1,000 social assistance clients are working right now thanks to the McGuinty government's innovative JobsNow pilot program, Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today. Launched in April, JobsNow provides ongoing, personalized employment counselling, job placement and retention support to Ontario Works clients who have been on social assistance for more than 12 months. The program helps people find and keep real, sustainable, long-term employment so that they can stop working for welfare and start working for a living.

Related Links:

JobsNow Ontario
- from the website of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services

JobsNow [separate website] "...is a two-year pilot project developed to assist referred Ontario Works participants find sustainable employment and achieve long-term financial independence. The JobsNow team assists participants every step of the way to overcome employment challenges and build the skills and confidence to grow in their jobs. JobsNow assists employers with the hiring process and acts as a network to help income assistance recipients connect with Ontario's hidden job market. Since the project launched in April 2005, JobsNow has helped over 1,400 people return to long term sustainable employment."

Incentive or a kick in the teeth?
July 20, 2005
By Carol Goar
"The Ontario government calls it 'an incentive to work and earn more.' Many welfare recipients call it a kick in the teeth. Beginning Aug. 1, people living on social assistance will lose 50 cents in benefits for every dollar they earn. There will be no exemptions, no progressive deductions and no time limit. Community and Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello announced the change in May, but most clients were unaware of it — or didn't want to think about it — until now. Reality hit when they got their July welfare cheque, which spelled out how the 50 per cent clawback would work. Under the old rules, a person could earn up to $143 a month ($249 for a couple and $275 for a single parent with one child) without any reduction in social assistance. It was one of the few breaks in an otherwise punitive system. Under the new regime, every cent a welfare recipient earns — by babysitting, telemarketing or doing odd jobs — will result in a smaller cheque.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Google Web Search Results : "JobsNow"
Google News search Results : "JobsNow"
Source:
Google.ca

----------

McGuinty Government Breaks Down Barriers To Help People Move From Welfare To Work
Better Health, Employment And Child Care Supports Part Of Province's Plan To Bridge People Into Permanent Employment
News Release
May 17, 2005
"TORONTO – The McGuinty government is helping Ontario Works clients get back into the workforce by overhauling Ontario's social assistance programs and providing new health, employment and child care supports, Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today."
Four key measures:
- extending health benefits for up to six months (up to one year in exceptional cases) or until employer health benefits are available for people exiting social assistance for employment.
- a flat exemption rate of 50 per cent on earnings to provide a better incentive for Ontario Works clients to work and earn more.
- increasing the maximum deduction for informal child care costs from $390 to $600 per month to provide another child care option for working parents.
- Creating an employment benefit of up to $500 to help recipients who obtain full-time employment pay for job-related expenses like uniforms and transportation.

Backgrounder - Improving Ontario Works
May 17, 2005
- more detailed info on the changes

McGuinty Government Launches Innovative Pilot To Help People Leave Welfare For Work:
JobsNow Part Of Province's Plan To Restore Integrity To Social Assistance Programs

News Release
April 20, 2005
"TORONTO – The McGuinty government is launching an innovative pilot project that will help people move from working for welfare to working for a living, Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today. JobsNow will provide ongoing, individualized employment counselling, job placement and retention support to help people find jobs so that they can leave welfare for good. 'Social assistance recipients are not statistics – they are real people who want to work. It's time our welfare programs worked, too,' said Pupatello. 'Our plan will get thousands of people into the workforce, and that's good for our clients, our economy and our taxpayers.'"

JobsNow Ontario
"JobsNow begins in April 2005 and continues to May 31, 2007, with a target of 12,000 participants referred to the JobsNow service."

JobsNow Backgrounder

Related Links:

WCG International
WCG International will run the JobsNow pilot in six pilot communities in cooperation with municipal Ontario Works offices.

JobWave (WCG International)
"JobWave™ is the most successful employment program in the history of British Columbia, continually bringing innovation to the field of job placement."

Ontario should put JobsNow money into municipal employment services, not private company, CUPE says
April 20, 2005
"
TORONTO — The Ontario government should expand municipal and community-based employment services, not pay a private for-profit company to do the same work, says Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario President Sid Ryan."

McGuinty Government Helping People With Disabilities Find Jobs And Increase Their Income
News Release
February 8, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government is helping people with disabilities gain greater financial independence and increase their standard of living by improving the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today

Related Links:

- McGuinty Government Helping People With Disabilities Find Jobs And Increase Their Income
- Better Employment Services and Supports… How They Can Help You

Related Link:

Changes to the Ontario Disability Supports Program (ODSP) Earnings and Employment Supports
"On February 8th, the Province of Ontario announced changes to the earnings and employment support rules for recipients under the Ontario Disability Supports Program. "
- incl. links to the government press release, backgrounders, analysis of the changes and the actual text of the regulatory amendments that changed the rules


Losing the Waiting Game-May 2006 (PDF file - 1.7MB, 38 pages)
May 2006
Investigation into Unreasonable Delay at the Ministry of Community and Social Services' Ontario Disability Support Program's Disability Adjudication Unit.
Source:
Ombudsman Ontario

------------------------------------------

Creating Job Opportunities For People On Social Assistance
Innovations Fund Encourages Ontario Businesses To Get Involved
News Release
June 14, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government is calling on the Ontario business community to help social assistance recipients get into the workforce and on the path to a brighter future, Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services, announced today. (...) The government is launching a new Employment Innovations Fund to engage employers in expanding employment opportunities for people on social assistance, including people with disabilities. Organizations such as employer associations, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations are invited to submit proposals for new programs that will create sustainable job opportunities and help businesses tap into this pool of willing, job-ready people.

Backgrounder - Ontario’s New Employment Innovations Fund
June 14, 2006
As part of the 2006 provincial budget, the government established the Employment Innovations Fund to engage Ontario’s employers in creating and expanding job opportunities for people receiving financial assistance from Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.

------------------------------------------

Opening More Doors For Ontarians With Disabilities
McGuinty Government Developing New Accessibility Standards
News Release
June 13, 2006
"TORONTO – The McGuinty government is developing three new accessibility standards to target barriers in information and communications, the built environment, and employment for people with disabilities, Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities, announced today."

Backgrounder - Enforceable Standards Key To Making Ontario Accessible
June 13, 2006
One year ago, the McGuinty government proclaimed the landmark Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, which requires the province to develop accessibility standards that will remove barriers for people with disabilities.

------------------------------------------

Improving Opportunities For Social Assistance Recipients
News Release
June 12, 2006
TORONTO ? The McGuinty government is removing more barriers to education and employment to help people on social assistance realize a brighter future, Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services, announced today.

Backgrounder - Improving Ontario’s Social Assistance System
- more detailed info on improvements

See also:
Income and Employment Supports

------------------------------------------

Breaking Down Communication Barriers For Ontarians Who Are Deaf Or Deafblind
Budget Investment Means More Service, Greater Independence For People With Disabilities

News Release
June 1, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government is investing in more services for Ontarians who need intervenors or sign language interpreters to assist them with daily activities. “For someone who is deafblind or has a hearing disability, communication barriers can seriously limit their access to things that most of us take for granted, such as going to the bank or visiting their doctor,” said Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur. “By breaking down these communication barriers, we are building greater independence for people with disabilities.”

------------------------------------------

$11 Million Investment Results In Better And Faster Service
Backgrounder
June 1, 2006
The Ontario government’s $11 million budget investment in interpreter and intervenor services will help provide more service to people who need it, improve the quality of services and improve wages to attract and keep people who provide interpreter and intervenor services.

------------------------------------------

Greater Fairness For People Awaiting Disability Support
Government Eliminates Four Month Retroactive Payment Rule
News Release
May 31, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government has eliminated a rule that limited retroactive payments for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) applicants, Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur announced today.

----------------------------------
Editorial Comment
May 31
Barbara Anello of Disabled Women's Network Ontario (DAWN-Ontario) adds a few marginal notes to the MCSS news release concerning the elimination of the four-month rule...
NOTE: scroll a bit further down for a link to the Ombudsman Ontario report ("Losing the Waiting Game") that led to the repeal of the four-month retroactive payment rule
----------------------------------

Removing Barriers For People With Disabilities Helps Open Doors To New Customers
McGuinty Government Partnerships Demonstrate The Benefits Of Improved Accessibility
News Release
May 31, 2006
TORONTO – The McGuinty government is working with Ontario businesses and community groups to build awareness of the benefits of removing barriers for people with disabilities, Madeleine Meilleur, Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities, announced today. Meilleur joined representatives of the Ontario Chinese Restaurant and Food Services Association (OCRFA) in Toronto’s Chinatown neighbourhood to announce the government’s seven new EnAbling Change partnership projects.

EnAbling Change Partnership Program 2006-2007
Backgrounder
May 31
The EnAbling Change partnership program builds strategic partnerships with business, broader public sector and non-profit organizations to promote accessibility for people with disabilities. The government is investing almost $300,000 in seven partnerships that will help promote strategies to break down barriers for people with disabilities.

Building Accessibility Champions
Backgrounder
May 30, 2006
Improving accessibility for people with disabilities in employment, customer service and universal design is the driving force behind the projects funded under the Ontario government’s EnAbling Change partnership program.

McGuinty Government Builds Better Access For People With Disabilities
Partnership Project Promotes the Shaw Festival to More Tourists and Theatre-goers

News Release
May 30, 2006
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – The Ontario government, Shaw Festival and the Canadian Standards Association are changing the way patrons with disabilities are being served when they go to the theatre. Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities, Madeleine Meilleur, today joined Shaw Festival Executive Director Colleen Blake to celebrate the results of the Shaw Festival’s participation in the Building Champions program. Through this program, the Canadian Standards Association worked with seven “champion” businesses and organizations to develop and test new customer service training for businesses to use when serving customers with disabilities.


Ontario Government Increases Support For Homeless
Addresses Shelter Shortfall And Tops Up Prevention Programs
News Release
February 8, 2005
"TORONTO — The Ontario government is providing communities across the province with additional funding for essential services for people who are homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless, Community and Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello confirmed today. (...) In total, the province spends almost $135 million each year on services that protect the homeless, and programs to prevent people from becoming homeless."

Backgrounders:

* Helping The Homeless In Ontario
* Provincial Funding For The Consolidated Homelessness Prevention Program By Urban Center


McGuinty Government Restoring Integrity To Welfare System
News Release
December 15, 2004
"TORONTO – The McGuinty government is implementing its plan to transform Ontario’s social assistance programs and restore integrity to the welfare system, Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today."

Backgrounders:
* New Measures Hold Defaulting Sponsors Accountable For Welfare Costs
* Improving Ontario's Social Assistance Programs


Source:
Ministry of Community and Social Services

-----------------------------------------
Related Links:
-----------------------------------------

Welfare changes reduce penalties : Education savings plans no longer will trigger cuts,
National child benefits still face clawbacks

December 16, 2004
"Welfare recipients will be able to keep more of their own money under changes to social assistance announced yesterday. Under one change, welfare recipients won't be penalized for having registered education savings plans or for education grants and bursaries given to them or their children. As well, parents won't be penalized for money their children save from part-time jobs. But the provincial government stopped short of allowing welfare recipients with children to keep the national child benefits they get. The benefits are clawed back by the government, despite a Liberal election promise to end the practice.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Ontario government revamps welfare <expired link>
December 15, 2004
TORONTO -- Ontario residents on social assistance will be allowed to keep registered savings for their children's education and won't have to count earnings from their children's jobs as income, the government announced Wednesday."
Source:
The National Post

Liberals offer lumps of coal with welfare reform, CUPE Ontario president says
December 15
TORONTO — The McGuinty government has offered social assistance recipients a few lumps of coal instead of spreading some Christmas joy by moving forward with real reform to help low-income Ontarians move out of poverty, says Sid Ryan, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario division.
Source:
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)

Review of Employment Assistance Programs in Ontario Works &
Ontario Disability Support Program
(PDF file - 167K, 48 pages)
December 2004
Deb Matthews
(from the
Ministry of Community and Social Services)


Education plans safe under welfare change
Savings funds won't have to be liquidated
'It's a dumb rule,' minister says
October 7, 2004
"The Ontario government is scrapping a welfare rule requiring applicants to liquidate their education savings plans, Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello says. 'It's a dumb rule that works at cross-purposes to what welfare is suppose to be doing for people and their families ... that rule is going to be eliminated,' Pupatello told the Toronto Star yesterday, adding the change should happen before the end of the year."
Source:
The Toronto Star

Related:

Change in policy allows disadvantaged to save social assistance benefits
October 11, 2004
"We would like to take this opportunity to commend Sandra Pupatello and the government of Ontario for taking an important step to end the rule that disallows social assistance recipients from saving for their children's future while retaining their eligibility for benefits.

The whole point of social assistance is to help people to maintain themselves with dignity when they find themselves without resources, usually for a temporary period, and to move themselves out of a cycle of poverty. We fully understand that there have to be rules that limit eligibility to those who do not have alternative means to support themselves. However, we strongly agree with the government that denying eligibility to a parent who saves for a child's future simply perpetuates the very situation that such programs should be designed to prevent.

By making this policy change, Pupatello is also permitting parents in economically insecure situations to save with confidence and take advantage of the new Canada Learning Bond and the proposed enhancements to Canada Education Savings Grants through RESPs. They can now purchase tax advantaged savings vehicles like other Ontario parents and secure a brighter future for their children.

We acknowledge that in taking this step, the government is sending the important signal that federal and provincial policies must work together to respond to real need and the public good. We are hopeful that in taking a clear leadership role in this area, other jurisdictions that have yet to make this change will undertake parallel amendments to their regulations underscoring again the crucial role that Ontario can play in shaping positive social policy in Canada. Once again, we commend Ontario for making this change."

Susan Pigott, CEO, St. Christopher House
David Pecaut, Chair, Toronto City Summit Alliance


McGuinty Government Restoring Hope, Dignity for People in Need:
Special Payments Deliver Help Sooner
News Release
June 30, 2004
"TORONTO – Ontarians who rely on the province’s social assistance programs will see their first increase in 11 years beginning with a special payment scheduled for early this fall, Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today."
- two equal lump-sum payments (end of September --- beginning of December) to eligible client households of Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)
[the government is delivering the increase this way because the "new technology (implemented by Andersen Consulting / Accenture) cannot process a welfare rate increase until system changes are made and properly tested."
- the federal government's July 2004 increase to the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS) will not be deducted ("clawed back") from social assistance payments
- the nutritional allowance for pregnant women on social assistance is restored effective July 1
Source:
Ministry of Community and Social Services

Related Links:

Ontario Works (OW) - for eligible people without disabilities 
Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) - for eligible people with disabilities

-----------------------------------------------------

Canada and Ontario sign agreement to assist people with disabilities
News Release
May 3, 2004
"Toronto - Ontarians with disabilities will be able to more easily participate in the labour market due to a new agreement signed today by the Right Honourable Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada, and the Honourable Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario. The Honourable Liza Frulla, Minister for Social Development and the Honourable Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues, also participated in the ceremony. 'This agreement will assist persons with disabilities by removing barriers and fostering opportunities,'said Prime Minister Martin, 'it demonstrates how Canadian governments can work together to address issues faced by Canadians with disabilities. Equality of opportunity for Canadians is the pillar of our successful society.'"
Source:
Social Development Canada

This agreement was signed under the Multilateral Framework for Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities.
For more info about the national framework and the agreements signed with other jurisdictions to date, go to the Disability Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/disbkmrk.htm

-----------------------------------------------------

McGuinty Government Takes Action to Help Families Get the Support They Are Entitled
February 6, 2004
"TORONTO — The McGuinty government is taking immediate steps to improve service at the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), making it the first government to show real leadership in helping families get the support they are entitled to, Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Community and Social Services, announced today."

McGuinty Government Scraps Lifetime Welfare Ban
Police and Courts to handle fraud, punitive policy repealed

News Release
January 9, 2004

Related Links:

Liberals lift lifetime ban for welfare cheats
Liberal government scraps life sentence handed to those who cheat system
January 9, 2004
Canadian Press
"A controversial lifetime ban on Ontario welfare recipients who cheat the system has been lifted a year after a coroner's inquest into the death of a pregnant woman recommended that it happen."
NOTE: this link will expire after awhile - to read it, you'll have to go to the Toronto Star archives where you pay per article.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Making Ontario’s Communities Accessible for all its Citizens
A message from Sandra Pupatello
Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities
September 1, 2005
"We have already begun to see the results from our efforts – the passage into law of the historic Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and support from people with disabilities, the private sector, the broader public sector, all government ministries and individuals from every walk of life.(...) I am excited about my new role as minister responsible for people with disabilities."


Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

From the Ministry of Community and Social Services(MCSS):
NOTE: Accessibility Ontario moved to MCSS (from Ontario Citizenship and Immigration) in September 2005

Accessibility Ontario

Paths to Equal Opportunity
"The Government of Ontario presents the Gateway to Diversity and the Gateway to Accessibility with resources for business and service providers that will help them create inclusive workplaces and to remove the barriers which prevent full independence and opportunity for people with disabilities."

Links - to 1200+ organizations in Canada, the U.S. and around the world, mostly disability-related.

A-Z Index of resources --- thousands of online resources, organized by subject

Guide to Government of Ontario Programs and Services for People with Disabilities - 3rd edition (revised)

Accessibility News - Online Newsletter (monthly)
Newsletter Archive - back to November 2001
Source:
Paths to Equal Opportunity
[ Accessibility Ontario ]
[ Ministry of Community and Social Services
]

December 13, 2005
McGuinty Government Launches New Accessibility Council
News Release
"TORONTO — The McGuinty government’s commitment to accessibility is getting a big boost today with the appointment of CITY-TV veteran David Onley and community leader Tracy MacCharles to lead the province’s new Accessibility Standards Advisory Council, Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello announced today."

Frequently Asked Questions about the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005

---

Making Ontario’s Communities Accessible for all its Citizens
A message from Sandra Pupatello
Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities
September 1, 2005
"We have already begun to see the results from our efforts – the passage into law of the historic Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and support from people with disabilities, the private sector, the broader public sector, all government ministries and individuals from every walk of life.(...) I am excited about my new role as minister responsible for people with disabilities."

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act:

New Accessibility Law Now In Effect
Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act, 2005 Receives Royal Assent

News Release
June 14 , 2005
"QUEEN'S PARK – The landmark Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act – legislation that will break down barriers for people with disabilities – received Royal assent and is now the law, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Dr. Marie Bountrogianni announced today."

Bill 118, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005
- incl. links to the First, Second and Third Reading copies as well as dates for each stage of the legislative process

Highlights of Bill 118
Accessibility Standards Advisory Council

New Era of Accessibility Begins in Ontario
Legislature Approves New Accessibility Law
News Release
May 10, 2005

Google.ca News Search Results : "Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act"
Google.ca Web Search Results : "Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act"
Source:
Google.ca

Making Ontario’s Communities Accessible for all its Citizens
A message from Sandra Pupatello
Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities
September 1, 2005
"We have already begun to see the results from our efforts – the passage into law of the historic Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and support from people with disabilities, the private sector, the broader public sector, all government ministries and individuals from every walk of life.(...) I am excited about my new role as minister responsible for people with disabilities."

New Accessibility Law Now In Effect
Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act, 2005 Receives Royal Assent

News Release
June 14 , 2005
"QUEEN'S PARK – The landmark Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act – legislation that will break down barriers for people with disabilities – received Royal assent and is now the law, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Dr. Marie Bountrogianni announced today."

Bill 118, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005
- incl. links to the First, Second and Third Reading copies as well as dates for each stage of the legislative process

Highlights of Bill 118
Accessibility Standards Advisory Council

New Era of Accessibility Begins in Ontario
Legislature Approves New Accessibility Law
News Release
May 10, 2005

Ontario Liberal Government Introduces New Disability Accessibility Bill:
Major Stride Forward In Our Decade-Long Campaign
Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, North Bay Chapter
October 12, 2004


From the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services:

Accessibility News - Online Newsletter (monthly)

Newsletter Archive - back to November 2001
Source:
Paths to Equal Opportunity
[ Accessibility Ontario ]
[ Ministry of Community and Social Services ]


Links - WOW! Links to thousands (see numbers in parentheses) of disability-related websites organized under the following headings : Accessibility (1215) - Adaptive Devices and Assistive Technology (710) - Disability (1288) - Diversity Management (990) - Employment and Management (1217) - Human Rights, Ethics, Policy (622) - Transportation and Travel (171)



Family Responsibility Office
The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) receives every support order made by a court in Ontario and enforces the amounts owed under the support order. The FRO works under the authority of the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996 (FRSAEA). The FRO's role is to enforce court orders for child and spousal support by ensuring that support payments flow properly from payors (people who make support payments) to recipients (people who receive them). The FRO has the legal authority to take enforcement action against those that do not meet their family responsibilities.

.

Ministry of Children and Youth Services
HOME PAGE
Adoption - Child Care - Child Protection - Early Years Challenge Fund - Early Years Initiatives - Foster Care - Northern Ontario Grant Assistance Program - Child and Family Service Advocacy - Children with Special Needs - Youth Justice Services

Ontario Child Benefit (OCB)
(website launched June 4/07)
The Ontario government has created the Ontario Child Benefit to help Ontario families with low incomes provide for their children, whether the parents are able to work or not. The program delivers a non-taxable, one-time payment for 2007 of up to $250 per dependent child under age 18. Beginning in July 2008, OCB benefits will start to flow monthly, providing approximately 465,000 families with payments of up to $600 per child annually. By 2011, the benefit will be up to $1,100 per child per year, benefiting more than 600,000 low-income families.

Ontario Child Benefit Calculator - from the Ontario Ministry of Finance
New Ontario Child Benefit - from the 2007 Ontario Budget (March 22/07)
OCB Backgrounder - from the 2007 Ontario Budget

Making It A Little Easier For Low-Income Ontario Families
File Your Income Tax Return To Qualify For New Monthly Ontario Child Benefit
News Release
February 22, 2008
LONDON - Low-income families will begin receiving the new monthly Ontario Child Benefit in July 2008 - but they need to file their income taxes first. The Ontario Child Benefit will provide $100 a month to a family with two children under 18 and income of $20,000. For that same family, this amount will grow to about $180 a month in July 2011 when the benefit is fully implemented. Families earning more than $20,000 may also be eligible, based on the number of children.

Related links:

Ontario Child Benefit (OCB)
In July 2007, eligible families received a one-time down payment of up to $250 for each dependent child under 18. Beginning in July 2008, the Ontario Child Benefit will be delivered to eligible families each month. In July 2008, about 460,000 families will receive a monthly Ontario Child Benefit payment of up to $600 per child annually. When the program is fully implemented in 2011, more than 600,000 low-income families will receive up to $1,100 per child annually.

Ontario Child Benefit Calculator - from the Ontario Ministry of Finance
New Ontario Child Benefit - from the 2007 Ontario Budget (March 22/07)
OCB Backgrounder - from the 2007 Ontario Budget

Non-government related links:

Foster children left behind, NDP charges
February 20, 2008
By Tanya Talaga
News that 20,000 Ontario foster children were left out of an anti-poverty plan proves how flawed Premier Dalton McGuinty’s child benefit program is, the province’s NDP leader says. In 2003, McGuinty promised he would end a clawback of the national child benefit supplement, which takes about $1,500 a year out of the pockets of families on welfare and disability support, Howard Hampton charged yesterday. However, parents who receive Ontario disability support or Ontario Works payments are still having the national child benefit deducted from those cheques, Hampton said.
Source:
The Toronto Star

McGuinty forgets vulnerable kids
February 18, 2008
NDP Children and Youth Services critic Andrea Horwath slammed Dalton McGuinty for once again failing Ontario’s poor and most vulnerable by forgetting to include foster children in his child benefit program.
Source:
Ontario NDP website

Governments of Canada and Ontario sign funding agreement on Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC)
News Release
November 25, 2005
"Social Development Minister Ken Dryden and Mary Anne Chambers, Ontario’s Minister of Children and Youth Services, today signed a multi-year funding agreement on early learning and child care. Under this initiative Ontario will receive approximately $1.9 billion over five years to support its early learning and child care goals. Ontario signed an Agreement-in-Principle on May 6, 2005 , in which it committed to release an action plan identifying its priorities and how it intends to meet them."
Source:
Social Development Canada

Related Links:

Best Start: Helping Young Children Get the Best Start in Life
[NOTE: scroll down the page to see seven links to additional resources, including the one in the next line below]
- Ontario Best Start Action Plan – A Progress Report (November 2005 - PDF file - 89K, 9 pages)
Source:
Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services

July 28, 2005
Ontario's Best Start Plan to Expand Early Learning and Child Care
- scroll down the page for links to:
---
Allocation of New Federal Funds to Municipalities, over Three Years, by March 31, 2008
---
Ontario's Best Start Plan for Early Learning and Child Care Provincial Allocations, over Three Years, by March 31, 2008

Google Web Search Results : "Ontario, early learning and child care, agreement"
Google News search Results : "Ontario, early learning and child care, agreement"
Source:
Google.ca

Ontario's Baseline Report on Early Learning and Child Care 2004 (PDF file - 259K, 14 pages)
May 2004
Source:
Publications - this page also includes links to : The Early Years Study (1999) - Ontario's Early Childhood Development Investments and Outcomes 2002 - 2003 - Ontario's Early Childhood Development and Early Learning and Child Care Investments 2003 - 2004
[ Ministry of Children and Youth Services ]

Related Links:

Best Start : Ontario's Plan for Early
Learning and Child Care
(PDF file - 363K, 8 pages)
Source:
Best Start: Helping Young Children Get the Best Start in Life

Links to other provincial-territorial government websites
in Canada on the issue of early learning and child care

Related Links:
- Go to the Government Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd.htm

McGuinty Government Expands Best Start Plan For Children
Province Creates Approximately 25,000 New Child Care Spaces Easing The Financial Burden On Municipalities

News Release
July 28, 2005
"TORONTO — The McGuinty government is improving access to high quality, convenient child care for thousands of families by delivering an unprecedented investment in early child development while relieving municipalities of their share of the cost of operating new child care spaces, Children and Youth Services Minister Mary Anne Chambers announced today."

Ontario's Best Start Plan to Expand Early Learning and Child Care - Backgrounder

Allocation of New Federal Funds to Municipalities, over Three Years, by March 31, 2008 (PDF file - 84K, 3 pages)

Ontario's Best Start Plan for Early Learning and Child Care Provincial Allocations, over Three Years, by March 31, 2008 (PDF file - 60K, 1 page)

For more info concerning the federal-provincial ELCC agreements signed in the spring of 2005, go to the Government Early Learning and Child Care Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd.htm

2003-2004 Accessibility Plan:
Ministry of Community and Social Services
Ministry of Children and Youth Services

Table of Contents:
Introduction - Joint Accessibility Plan - Report on Achievements - Commitments and Strategies for 2003-2004 - Methods to be Taken to Prevent New Barriers - Business Areas to be Reviewed - Actions to be Taken - For More Information
Source:
Ministry of Community and Social Services
Ministry of Children and Youth Services
NOTE: Back in October 2003 when the old Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services was split into two, the name of this Ministry was Children's Services

Ministry of Children’s Services Unveils Ministry Mandate
News Release
November 24, 2003
"The Ministry of Children’s Services will assume responsibility for a variety of children’s programs and services that currently exist in other Ontario government ministries, Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, Minister of Children’s Services, announced today at a luncheon for children and families, and staff from the Ontario Association of Children’s Rehabilitation Centres (OACRS)."

Programs and Services
- incl. Adoption - Child Care - Child Protection - Early Years Challenge Fund - Early Years Initiatives - Foster Care - Child and Family Service Advocacy - Children with Special Needs

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Office of the Premier
HOME PAGE

Premier Launches Review to Strengthen Communities
Province And Municipalities Working Together To Continue To Improve Services For Ontario Families

August 14, 2006
OTTAWA — Premier Dalton McGuinty today announced the province is building on its partnership with municipalities by launching a joint review aimed at improving the delivery and funding of municipal services for Ontario families.

Backgrounders:

o Support For The Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review
o McGuinty Government Supporting Municipalities
o Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review

McGuinty Government Investing in Early Childhood Development
Premier Encourages Ontarians To Help Tackle The Deficit And Set Goals

News Release
January 19, 2004
"Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty today said that his government is committed to improving important services like early childhood development and that strengthening the province's fiscal foundation will make it possible to deliver real, positive change. 'After years of neglect, our government is repairing the foundation for child care because we believe the early years are crucial to a child's future success', said Premier McGuinty. (...) 'The government is making $9.7 million in federal funds available to child care centres throughout the province (...) There's so much more we want to do -- and that's why we're working hard to tackle the $5.6 billion deficit that we've inherited from the previous government. It's an obstacle to the change Ontarians want and need.'"

Related Link:

Child care community welcomes new funding - first of its kind for years!
News release
January 8,
2004
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Yesterday Minister Bountrogianni announced that this year's federal Multi-lateral Framework money - 9.7 million dollars - will go to non-profit, regulated, child care centres for capital repairs and upgrades. This is the first announcement of new funding for child care in Ontario for some time and is welcomed by the child care community. It meets an important need and is an encouraging sign that the new Liberal government recognizes the value of not-for-profit and regulated care.
Source:
Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care

- Go to the Early Learning and Child Care page for all Ontario ECD links

$3.5M aid for abused women to improve counselling services
April 6, 2004
"The Ontario government has come up with $3.5 million for transitional housing for women fleeing abuse. Premier Dalton McGuinty will announce today the cash to fund counselling for women as they move from emergency shelters to temporary apartments. The counselling will involve everything from dealing with the legal system to getting children enrolled in new schools. Almost $3 million in transitional housing money was eliminated by the former Conservative government as part of 1996 across-the-board budget cuts.
(...) Meanwhile, Social Services Minister Sandra Pupatello signalled yesterday that welfare and disability support rates are unlikely to rise in next month's budget."
Source:
Toronto Star

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Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal
"This new ministry will manage infrastructure planning to achieve maximum leverage for taxpayer dollars in the key areas of education, health, transportation, housing and the environment."

Non-governmental links:

Raising the Roof
"Raising the Roof is the only national charity in Canada dedicated to finding long-term solutions to homelessness"
Shared Learnings on Homelessness (from Raising the Roof)
Toronto Disaster Relief Committee
Housing Again
- "...a site dedicated to putting affordable housing back on the public agenda"
Housing and Homelessness Network in Ontario
Housing Resources (from Settlement.org )

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Ministry of Finance 
HOME PAGE

Budgets, Public Accounts, Ontario Financial Reports

Ontario Provincial Budget 2007
March 22, 2007
- incl. links to : Budget Speech *Budget Papers - detailed table of contents with links to all related documents* News Release * Highlights * Business Backgrounder * Children Backgrounder (Ontario Child Benefit info)* Economy Backgrounder * Education Backgrounder * Environment Backgrounder * Social Services Backgrounder * Health Backgrounder * Infrastructure Backgrounder * Rural Backgrounder * Property Tax Backgrounder * Federal Backgrounder * Ontario Child Benefit Calculator
NOTE: I've highlighted only selected links above - to access all budget links, click the main budget link above and select from the links down the left margin of the page.

MCGUINTY GOVERNMENT’S 2007 BUDGET EXPANDS OPPORTUNITY
IN A NEW ERA OF ECONOMIC STRENGTH
$2.1 Billion to Help Children and Families, and a Return to Balanced Budgets
March 22, 2007
News Release
Queen’s Park —The McGuinty government’s fourth Budget expands opportunity for all Ontarians by investing in children, continuing to strengthen education, health care and infrastructure and balancing the Budget.

Ontario Budget 2007 Responses - by Barbara Anello of DAWN-Ontario (DisAbled Women's Network Ontario)
March 22, 2007
"Point of clarification: please note that the March 22/07 Ontario Budget did NOT put an end to the clawback."
Budget reactions:
- People from across Ontario are saying Dalton McGuinty's "Don't Believe it Budget" fails to deliver
- CUPE Ontario: Ontario's families will wait for years to benefit from McGuinty's "war" on poverty
- Wellesley Institute: Thanks for the thoughts, but where's the money?
- Ontario Federation of Labour : Wait ...Wait ...Wait
- Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act Alliance Update: What the Ontario Budget Includes on Disability/Accessibility
- John Tory: McGuinty's Budget: No relief, few results for average taxpayers
- Canadian Auto Workers: Ontario Budget Falls Short of Expectations, Hargrove says
- Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation: Ontario budget increases overall education funding but local programs may still suffer
- Canadian Federation of Students: Ontario Budget Forecast for Students: Higher Tuition Fees and More Debt
- Daily Bread Food Bank: Budget's Ontario Child Benefit gets thumbs up from Daily Bread Food Bank
- Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario: