Changes to ODSP Earnings & Employment Supports for ODSP Recipients

Changes to ODSP Earnings & Employment Supports
for ODSP Recipients

February 21, 2006

On February 8th, 2006 the Province of Ontario announced changes to the earnings and employment support rules for ODSP recipients.

To access a preliminary summary from the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC), please click here:

http://dawn.thot.net/ODSP_Earnings_Employment_Changes_pre_summary.html

To access a chart that compares the additional income recipients get right now from working with the income you will get under the rules that come into effect on November 1, 2006 (chart created by Rick Ludkin of the of the ODSP Action Coalition's Employment and Earnings Working Group), please click here:

http://dawn.thot.net/New_ODSP_formula_ODSP-only.html

The ODSP Action Coalition's Employment and Earnings Working Group is currently working on a more in-depth analysis of the changes, which will be forwarded once it is available. But, for now, if you look at the chart, you will see that at earning levels between $200 and $300 a month, single-earner families will lose money under the new rules. Fortunately, the losses are fairly small, but every dollar counts for families living at this income level.

Where there are additional family members who a) are not in school full-time and b) have any earnings from employment or self-employment, those family members would be eligible for the new $100 a month employment expense benefit.

Families in those circumstances would benefit significantly from the new changes, but it is not clear whether many families would be in a position to take advantage of this. For example, it would likely not work for many of the nearly 12,000 sole-support families on ODSP who have children under 18 and who (we might add) are also subject to the clawback of the NCBS (National Child Benefit Supplement)

For the government's press release on the recent changes and COMSOC backgrounders with more specific information, click on the following links:

Government Press Release:
http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2006/02/08/c0295.html?lmatch=&lang=_e.html

COMSOC backgrounders on the changes:
http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/CFCS/en/newsRoom/newsReleases/060208.htm
http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/CFCS/en/newsRoom/backgrounders/060208.htm
http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/CFCS/en/programs/IES/OntarioDisabilitySupportProgram/Publications/es.htm

Specific changes to ODSP regulations (on e-laws):
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Source/Regs/English/2006/R06029_e.htm (O. Reg. 29/06 - ODSP)
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Source/Regs/English/2006/R06030_e.htm (O. Reg. 30/06 - ODSP Admin/Cost-sharing)
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Source/Regs/English/2006/R06031_e.htm (O. Reg. 31/06 - OW)

Source: Income Security Advocacy Centre

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