WELLINGTON COUNTY – As Ontario Works caseloads continue to increase, both city and county councillors say more action is needed from the provincial government to increase social assistance rates and help residents break out of the "poverty trap."
The County of Wellington recently asked the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services to increase social assistance rates to enable Ontario Works (OW) recipients to "move beyond survival and crisis management" as the rising costs of housing and basic necessities are leaving OW recipients unable to meet their basic human needs.
Presenting their case at the AMO conference last month alongside several other municipalities, the county's social services administrator Luisa Artuso said they're looking for OW rates to be brought up to "at least the low income measure" because doubling OW rates is "still not enough" and closing the gap between what is provided and what is needed would cost the municipality "millions and millions of dollars."
According to the Income Security Advocacy Centre, a single person receives $343 and a couple receives $494 under the current monthly OW basic needs rates. These numbers increase depending on family size.
"I’m very grateful that (OW is) there for (individuals) to access. But if it continues to be so much below what they need to continue to exist, then how are they ever going to get out of that? They’re trapped in a poverty trap," said Warden Andy Lennox at a Joint Social Services and Land Ambulance Committee meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Lennox believes there's a lot of advocacy that "needs to happen" to convince provincial decision-makers that increasing social assistance rates is an issue that "goes beyond just how much they want to put in the budget."
"If we continue to go down this path we’re going to end up with more and more people in that poverty trap that again can’t access housing and it’s a vicious circle and we need a concerted connected integrated solution to this," said Lennox.
Agreeing with Lennox, Coun. Lisa Busuttil said she believes there needs to be strong visible leadership and a campaign to demonstrate why increasing OW rates is necessary.
“Advocacy is more than delegating...I think we need- going back to Labour council days -physically visible action of what this is like because it’s not going to change," said Busuttil. "My frustration is that this burden comes onto us so this is an additional cost, an additional burden at a municipal level so it is Ontario Works and people’s lives yes…but we care about people and so we are absorbing this burden."
This followed a presentation from the county's OW director, Krista Card, who shared caseloads have continued to grow in 2024 and reached pre-pandemic levels in July.
Provincial forecasts suggest a monthly average of 2,203 cases in Guelph-Wellington throughout this fiscal year, a 15 per cent increase over the 2023-2024 average caseload.
Those who have come onto OW in the last two years represent the highest percentage of the total caseload at 38 per cent.
While the number is "likely higher," Card said there was also a "slight increase" in individuals with no fixed address using OW services- up to 7.1 per cent of cases - and is "reflective of the continued gap between the Ontario Works shelter portion that people receive and the current rates for affordable and suitable housing."
Card said most individuals without fixed addresses using the OW office as a mailing address are unhoused, couch surfing or just precariously housed and would prefer to use the OW mailing address to ensure they get their mail.
"(These numbers do) reflect the fact that with rates being unchanged since 2018, people are really struggling to meet their basic needs and get out of a crisis management and move on to...be a part of the labour force or even entertain getting into that labour force and becoming more financially independent," said Card.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
