Who is Eligible for Ontario Works?

To be eligible for Ontario Works, applicants must be residents of Ontario.
Eligibility for Ontario Works is based on an assessment of financial need and an agreement to participate in employment activities:

• Financial need is determined according to family size, income, assets, and shelter costs, and is updated as circumstances change. For example, a single person can only have assets (either cash or specific items that can be easily converted to cash) valued at up to $536. For families, the asset limit is higher.
• Participation expectations are laid out in an agreement, which is signed by each individual applicant and updated as activities are completed or modified.
• The agreement includes a plan to take part in employment assistance activities that support the individual's shortest route to a job.

Eligibility rules are designed to ensure that people turn to welfare only when all other financial resources have been exhausted.

Detailed information about eligibility for Ontario Works financial assistance and employment assistance is available in the Ontario Works directives.

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• Social Insurance Number
• Health Number
• proof of identity and date of birth
• employment history/information
• income and asset statements
• shelter costs
• status in Canada

The application process is completed in person at your local Ontario Works office. You will be required to complete and sign all necessary forms, including the application for assistance, and a participation agreement outlining the specific employment activities that support your best route to sustainable employment. You will also need to provide any required information and documents.

To begin the application process, please contact your local Ontario Works office.

Ontario Works Local Office Numbers

For information about the Ontario Works program in the Durham Region,
please contact your local office

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Ontario Works is focused on helping people find and keep employment. Ontario Works provides a range of employment assistance such as:

• Practical help in finding a job, such as writing résumés and letters of application and how to perform well in interviews, delivered through resource centres
   
• Community and employment placements to gain working experience
   
• Basic education and job skills training, such as keyboarding, forklift operating, chainsaw operating, hospitality
   
• Support in developing self-employment opportunities

• Learning, Earning and Parenting (LEAP) to help young parents finish high school, to learn more about being good parents and to get a job
   
• Literacy screening and training
• Addiction Treatment
   
• Earning exemptions that allow participants to earn income as they move back into the workforce
  
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What are earnings exemptions?

In order to help people get back to work as quickly as possible, Ontario Works has earnings exemptions that ensure that people are better off working than they are on welfare.

Ontario Works earnings exemptions mean that earned income does not reduce financial assistance, dollar for dollar.

Earnings exemptions help participants make the transition to employment and self-sufficiency.

*NEW*

Starting August 1, 2005, the current basic and percentage exemption rates on employment income will be replaced by a straight 50 per cent exemption rate.

This means that no matter how much someone earns, only half of the employment income will be deducted from the Ontario Works payments. For example, if the net income from employment is $800, half of that amount, $400 would be deducted from the social assistance payment.

There are also three new employment supports available as of August 1, 2005 to help make the transition back to work:

1. If an Ontario Works recipient starts full-time employment, they may be eligible for a new full-time employment benefit of up to $500 to help cover their work-related expenses.

2. The maximum deduction for unlicensed child care costs will increase to $600 per month per child.

3. If someone leaves Ontario Works for employment, they will be able to keep their health benefits (including the drug card) for up to one year or until they get health benefits from their employer, whichever comes first.

If they are currently reporting employment income, the new 50 per cent exemption rate may affect the amount of social assistance they receive starting with the August 1, 2005 social assistance payment.

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Your help and feedback is always welcome and can be important in assisting women find the right resources.