Email this pageFact Sheet: Uploading Ontario Works

October 31, 2008

With today’s announcement Ontario will upload the cost of all social assistance benefits by 2018 and pay the portion of Ontario Works benefits which is currently paid by municipalities.

The announcement is part of the Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review consensus report, Facing the Future Together, released jointly today by the Ontario government, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the City of Toronto.

The Partners have agreed:

• Broad-based social assistance benefit programs should not be funded from property taxes.
• The Province will phase in an upload of Ontario Works benefits costs between 2010 and 2018.
• Municipalities have a key role to play in delivering Ontario Works in their communities.
• A joint working group will be formed to discuss the current approach to funding Ontario Works administration and to recommend principles for simplifying and strengthening accountability.

People who seek or receive Ontario Works will not be affected by this change.

What we’ve done already:

The Province uploaded the municipal cost share of the Ontario Drug Benefits Program effective January 1, 2008. Starting in 2009, we will begin to upload municipal costs for the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). The ODSP upload will be completed by 2011.

More facts:

• The Province currently pays 80 per cent of Ontario Works benefits, and the municipalities pay 20 per cent.
• The cost of administration of Ontario Works will continue to be cost-shared on a 50:50 provincial/municipal basis given actual verifiable costs up to the approved allocation for 2009.
• Social assistance benefits have been at least partly paid by municipalities since 1930s.

Adam Grachnik
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
416-585-6492

Brian Lambie
Association of Municipalities of Ontario
416-729-5425

Kevin Sack
City of Toronto
416-397-5277

Ontario.ca/provincialmunicipalreview