Email this pageAssistance to Private Individuals

• List of Costs Covered by ODRAP
• Costs Not Covered by ODRAP

Individuals have a responsibility to take reasonable precautions to ensure their own safety and protection, including their property.  The Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) is not an alternative or a substitute for adequate private insurance coverage and sound risk management.  Damage claims should be directed first to insurance companies to determine coverage of individual policies.

Should the minister declare a disaster area, the local municipal council will appoint a disaster relief committee (DRC) as soon as possible.  A disaster relief committee must be established as quickly as possible for each disaster area declared by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The purpose of the committee is twofold: to raise funds for the benefit of disaster victims, and to settle the eligible claims of these victims as efficiently as possible.

The province will contribute up to $2 for every local dollar raised, to an amount necessary to settle all the eligible claims, up to 90 per cent of all eligible costs.  Thus, no surplus funds are created.

To ensure that all the funds raised locally and matched by the province are used to help victims of the disaster event, the documented administration costs of the local disaster relief committee will be shared by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the municipality or designated municipalities that appointed the disaster relief committee as follows:

• A tender must be issued for the use of an insurance adjuster for claims greater than $500. The ministry will pay 100 per cent of the costs for the insurance adjuster; and
• Other administrative costs of the disaster relief committee e. g. telephone, postage, office space, etc. will be paid for, or provided directly by, the municipality or designated municipalities.

When disasters strike in geographically isolated areas, the minister is authorized to declare a disaster area where appropriate for purposes of the program and may alter funding arrangements.

List of Costs Covered by ODRAP

Eligible Losses and Costs:

• restoration, repairs, or replacement to pre-disaster condition of a principal, year-round residence, farm buildings and principal business enterprise building
  
• essential furnishing of a private residence including refrigerator, freezer, furnace, stove, clothes washer and dryer, television
  
• tools or other items essential to the claimant's livelihood, including farm machinery and equipment
  
• for farms, replacement cost only of orchard trees
  
• for business enterprises, replacement of inventory at cost
  
• livestock fencing
  
• restoration, repair, or replacement to pre-disaster condition of churches, cemeteries, private schools, private clubs and other associations
  
• emergency expenses (e. g. evacuation costs, food and shelter, essential clothing)
  
• perishable food
  
• heat and light supplies (e. g. fuel for light and heat, heaters)

Sample of Costs Not Covered by ODRAP

Ineligible Losses and Costs:

• losses covered by insurance
  
• insurance deductible
  
• secondary residences e. g. cottages
  
• non-essential furniture (e. g. stereos, recreation room furniture)
  
• landscaping, fencing, driveways and retaining walls
  
• recreational vehicles (e. g. boats, snowmobiles)
  
• antiques and collections
  
• loss of revenue or wages
  
• losses recoverable at law
  
• personal injury
  
• private roads/bridges and erosion
  
• sewage backup