Ontario Poverty Strategy Too Late

There was hope in the air as the newly re-elected Ontario government began to set its strategy to reduce poverty over the next several years. In line with its election promise, government is now completing a series of consultations across Ontario to determine how poverty is defined and what steps need to be taken to reduce child poverty.

This strategy is refreshing because prior to the 2003 election of the current government, Ontario’s prior administration under then Premier Mike Harris introduced deep cuts to the province’s social infrastructure, including a 22% reduction in welfare rates, cuts to health and education and a streamlined approach to what role government should have.

This decade of cuts was soon followed by the election of the provincial Liberals under the leadership of Premier Dalton McGuinty that promised his government will turn things around and restore many of the cuts. While McGuinty’s government did restore many of these cuts, community organizations concerned about the huge impact that cuts to welfare and stagnated incomes of disabled Ontarians were disappointed with this government’s cautious approach to tackling poverty.

At the present time, the maximum amount of money a single person on social assistance in Ontario can receive is $560 a month. A single parent with one child can receive a maximum of $1,180 (including child benefits). A single person in receipt of Ontario Disability Support Program (income support program for Ontarians with no other income and are unable to work due to disability) gets up to a maximum of $999.00 per month. While this may seem to be generous, as Ontario’s rates for these programs are among the highest in Canada, average housing costs give a completely different picture.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, in Ontario's Rental Market Report 2007, the average bachelor apartment in Ontario rents for $665 and 1-bedroom apartment $787. For a single parent with one child, the average cost for a 2-bedroom apartment is $941. After paying rent, people in receipt of Ontario Works (or “welfare”) or even ODSP have little or no other income to pay for other necessities, such as food and transportation.

For the 15% of adults earning minimum wage, their situation is not much better. As a result of a partially successful campaign by the labour movement, the Government recently introduced incremental increases to its minimum wage from $8.00 an hour (prior to March 2008) to $8.75 an hour and in 2,011, it will be rise up to $10.25. However, people on welfare or receiving disability benefits still fall behind.

For those receiving disability benefits, they are not able to work unlike those deemed to be ‘employable’. Minimum wage workers can improve their lot through promotion, acquiring a new job or higher education. Persons with disabilities, however, are more limited in their capacity to return to or join the labour force.

For many of these individuals, Ontario’s regulations under its Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act may increase the likelihood of employment; however, full barrier removal will not be in place until the year 2025, a year when many current disability recipients will be retired or deceased. Others cannot work simply because their health is too poor to allow regular employment. For others whom work is possible but whose disability excludes them from the labour force, poverty is still a lifetime sentence.

At present, 86% of ODSP recipients are childless, and with our government’s current priority in poverty-reduction focused on children and families, this sliver of hope and aspiration created by this current poverty-reduction strategy is nothing but a dream.

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