Ontario disability aid change not as beneficial as it seems: advocates
Global News
Terrie Meehan sometimes eats just one meal a day so she can stretch her food supply.
Terrie Meehan sometimes eats just one meal a day so she can stretch her food supply.
The $1,100 a month she receives from the Ontario Disability Support Program just doesn’t go that far.
That won’t change for Meehan — or the vast majority of the Ontarians who receive aid under the program — as the provincial government starts allowing recipients to earn more money from working before clawing back their benefits.
The change, which took effect Wednesday, will allow ODSP recipients to earn $1,000 from working, up from $200. For each dollar earned above the $1,000 exemption, the person with disability would keep 25 cents.
But like Meehan, about 95 per cent of support program recipients will see no change to their monthly income as a result. She said many of her friends are in the same boat and she isn’t sure how she feels about the government making the change.
“I feel suspicious when this government is very punitive to those of us who are stuck on assistance,” said Meehan.
In addition to her ODSP benefit, she earns a few hundred dollars a month doing gig work when she can, like using her wheelchair to deliver restaurant meal orders.
After paying her monthly bills, she might have $200 left. Sometimes it’s less.