Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

The Challenge
Chapter 8: Social Programs
There are two types of social programs. Most spending is carried out through mandated and
entitlement-based programs, meaning benefits or service levels are set by law. These benefits
and services, such as social assistance and the Ontario Child Benefit (OCB), accounted for
two-thirds of total sector spending in 2010–11.
Other programs are discretionary in nature. These programs are not entitlement-based and so
clients who qualify for these services are not guaranteed to receive them right away. These
programs include support for child and youth mental health, developmental services, child care
subsidies and childhood development programs.
The distinction between entitlement-based and discretionary programs is important in the fiscal
context. When demand for entitlement-based programs rises (for example, when assistance
caseloads increase), so too does funding; clients are entitled to those benefits. This is not the
case for discretionary programs: when demand outstrips supply, the result is a waiting list.
Managing expenditures, particularly for entitlement-based supports, means the government
will have to achieve more by operating more efficiently. Program design and delivery will need
to be integrated and aligned across different government ministries and delivery agents.
Various levels of government will need to work together to determine the most efficient ways
to provide services for those most in need.
Attaining this integration and transformation will require the government to evaluate and align
its policies and service delivery methods from a client-based perspective. When vulnerable
people need support, they and their families do not care which level of government or
government department is responsible for providing that support — they just want help,
which could be more accessible and more effectively planned and delivered.
Transforming Ontario’s Benefit Programs
The province delivers 45 different income-based benefit programs through many service
providers and under several different funding arrangements. For instance, social assistance
programs are delivered by the province, municipalities and First Nations delivery agents, but
are mainly provincially funded. The OCB is funded by the province, but administered and
delivered by the Canada Revenue Agency. And housing programs can be funded by various
levels of government and non-governmental organizations and can be delivered by municipal,
provincial or third-party delivery agents.
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