Income Security: A Roadmap for Change

Nowhere have these impacts been felt more strongly than for single people –
many of whom are grappling with mental health issues, addictions, violence and
abuse, homelessness, and the overall traumatizing effects of entrenched poverty
They in particular have been left behind as a result of severe cuts to Ontario
Works in the 1990s, which deepened due to mostly below-inflation increases in
subsequent years, and other flaws built into social assistance programs.
To illustrate their present position, in 1990 the single social assistance rate was
70% of the minimum wage Today, the single rate is 38% of the minimum wage
If present rates remained the same as the minimum wage increases to $15 per
hour, the level of assistance would fall to 30% It is estimated that single persons
receiving Ontario Works and ODSP have experienced a decrease in their spending
power of $315 and $302 per month respectively over the last 22 years (accounting
for inflation). This has been coupled with decreasing access to other benefits in
the broader income security system
If income support levels are inadequate, individuals rely upon the
support of other persons and means to live. Some of these supports are
unhealthy, increasing risk of abuse, exploitation and human traffcking.
Immediate action must be taken to bring people out of deepest poverty.
The Roadmap recommends early reforms that will transform the structure of
social assistance programs and introduce broader and much-needed supports
like a portable housing benefit. For some, including those who are homeless or
living in boarding houses, this will mean significant increases. However, this is not
enough to reach the breadth of people who have been left the furthest behind
There remains an urgent need to increase social assistance levels for those in
deepest poverty over the first three years of reform – increases beyond the very
modest investments of recent years
In this section of the Roadmap, we therefore recommend selected rate increases
to make more meaningful progress in improving the incomes of those furthest
from the Minimum Income Standard (see Achieving Income Adequacy, page 69)
Income Security: A Roadmap for Change 125