Ontario rule for service dog benefit deemed against human rights in 2023. This woman’s still not getting it
CBC
Khrista Daciw says she’s put years into training the service dog she uses to help with her diabetes, and ensures Boo is cared for despite the cost and the fact she's on a limited income.
The single mother, who's in the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), said she can’t live independently in her Thunder Bay home without her service dog, which helps her manage her diabetes by detecting blood sugar changes she’s experiencing.
Yet, Daciw said, she still isn’t deemed eligible for an $84 monthly benefit that ODSP recipients can apply for to offset the costs of “routine care” of a service dog because Boo wasn’t trained at a facility accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI).
What’s frustrating Daciw is that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) ruled in 2023 that the training stipulation violates the Human Rights Code, yet it's still being enforced.
“It's heartbreaking for people like me who can really rely on something like that,” said Daciw. “It's frustrating. It leaves me with empty pockets sometimes.”
Daciw said she’s appealing the decision to deny her the guide dog benefit and her hearing with the province's social benefits tribunal is scheduled in November. She hopes the requirements will change so people like her aren’t excluded.
In the meantime, Daciw said, while she’s taken Boo to some professional training classes, she’s done most of it herself. She said she was unable to find an ADI-accredited facility near her that could provide her with a dog at no cost and can’t afford to privately purchase an ADI-trained dog, which could go for $35,000 or more.
Daciw said Boo’s food, vet bills and supplies cost her around $200 or $300 a month. She said every dollar helps when living on ODSP income, which provides an individual a monthly maximum of $1,408.
Boo “is really well maintained,” said Daciw. “Sometimes I have to go without a little bit of food. It’s hard.”
After ODSP denied Daciw’s application in March 2025, she applied for an internal review of the decision, which was also denied a few months ago.
The HRTO ruling in 2023 involved a Sudbury woman who was denied service dog benefits, as first reported by CTV.
The woman’s dog also wasn’t trained by an ADI-accredited facility, but the ruling went in her favour and the HRTO ordered the province to review the benefit criteria by the end of that year.
The province tried twice to appeal the decision but was unsuccessful, yet the training facility requirement is still being enforced.
The ruling required the province “to consider the alternatives in other provinces, and work towards adopting a similar or alternative approach that was not as restrictive as the current ADI requirement,” said a 2024 Superior Court decision
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