Social Policy in Ontario

What’s in the report

Each edition of Welfare in Canada has an all-Canada overview section, as well as separate sections for each province and territory. Included are:

• The components of welfare incomes and their amounts;
• How adequate welfare incomes are relative to measures of poverty;
• How benefit amounts and adequacy have changed over time;
• Asset and earned income levels as they relate to eligibility for social assistance;
• Indexation of social assistance benefits, other benefits, and tax credits in each jurisdiction; and
• A breakdown of cost-of-living and shelter benefits for social assistance programs.

Welfare incomes are calculated for four types of households:

• A single person who is considered employable;
• A single person with a disability;
• A single parent with one child; and
• A couple with two children.

Key takeaways

• Overall, 48 of 49 households (not including the four in Nunavut, where as yet no Official Poverty Line exists) were living on welfare incomes below the Official Poverty Line.
  • The only household to have an income above the Official Poverty Line was the couple with two children in Quebec.
• As the Consumer Price Index hit 6.8 per cent in 2022, only 15 of the 53 total households in Canada saw their incomes rise enough to keep up with or outpace the higher cost of living.
• The majority of households (29 of 53) saw below-inflation increases to their incomes, and so were not able to keep up with the rising cost of living.
• Nine households saw a decline in their total incomes.
• In response to the high cost of living, the federal government, eight provinces, and one territory made one-time cost-of-living payments. In addition, two provinces moved to index all or part of their social assistance benefits, but not until 2023.