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On support for disability, Ontario is in the middle of the pack You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.A report by Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office calculated that once inflation is factored in, welfare and disability payments have less buying power than they did a decade ago. Photo by Paolo Beccari /PAOLO - stock.adobe.comCanada Day was a celebration, but not so much for people who rely on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Yes, on July 1 they did receive their annual inflationary benefit increase of 1.9 per cent, but that amounts to only $28 a month.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorIt’s not much, but the disabled are still better off than those on a program the provincial government calls Ontario Works, or what you and I would call welfare. They haven’t had a single increase in their measly handouts since 2018, when Premier Doug Ford was first elected.The premier seems determined to protect every job in the province and is fond of calling Ontario an “economic powerhouse.” But when it comes to the poor, he’s suffering from an empathy deficit. It’s a bit hard to figure because Ford does seem to genuinely care about people. So, what about the people the economy leaves behind?This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe numbers are not small. Combined, about 650,000 people are on either disability or welfare. If one includes their partners and children, close to one million people are supported by the two government programs.Perhaps supported is too strong a word. The actual dollar figures are, or ought to be, embarrassing. A single person on welfare receives up to $8,796 a year. That’s supposed to cover rent and basic needs. The single ODSP recipient gets up to $17,232 a year.Neither of those sums is remotely close to Ontario’s official poverty line, which is $27,624 for a single person.A report by Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office calculated that once inflation is factored in, welfare and disability payments have less buying power than they did a decade ago. For welfare, the gap is about $2,000, for ODSP about $500.If the goal of Ontario’s poverty payments is to enable people to lead a basic existence, it’s falling far short.And yet, when it comes to disability payments, the Ford government seems to think it’s doing a good job. In the 2022 election, the PCs promised to increase ODSP payments by five per cent and index them to inflation after that. That would have made sense if the payments were adequate to begin with, but they clearly are not.In fact, the five per cent increase did not even make up for Ford rejecting a 2018 Liberal plan to increase rates by three per cent a year for three years. Instead, he gave a one-time increase of 1.5 per cent.It’s instructive to compare how MPPs treat themselves compared to how they treat the poor. MPPs denied themselves a raise for 16 years after 2009, so they certainly know what a bad idea that is. They solved their problem in spectacular fashion last year by giving themselves a 35 per cent increase, to be followed by annual increases that match those given to MPs. This year that was 4.2 per cent — more than double the percentage increase given to disability recipients and infinitely better than the nothing those on welfare received.When it comes to welfare for single employable people, only Nova Scotia offered less support than Ontario in 2024, according to figures compiled by Maytree, an anti-poverty foundation. And when it comes to support for a single person with a disability, Ontario is in the middle of the pack of provinces.It’s easy to see why politicians have been reluctant to make the poor a priority. They are not exactly a powerful lobby group and we’re in a time when many people are more concerned about their own affordability issues than someone else’s.Sure, people lament homeless encampments, are dismayed by long lineups at food banks, and broadly support more government-subsidized housing, but these are Band-Aids, not solutions. The common factor in all these situations is too many people without enough money.Poverty is often seen as curable only by creating a perfect world. Rather than wait for that, why not give people who aren’t succeeding in the real world enough money to get by?The Ontario poverty problem has two components and requires two solutions. Welfare rates should be adjusted up, but not so high that welfare will be more attractive than a job. Considering that a full-time minimum wage job in Ontario pays $36,608 a year, there’s not much fear of that.Many people who receive disability payments are simply unable to work. Let’s treat them with a little dignity. Both the Liberals and the NDP promised to double ODSP rates during the last election. It’s the right approach.It won’t be cheap, but it’s not unaffordable either. Ontario paid about $6.2 billion for ODSP in 2024–25. Doubling that over five years would cost about $1.25 billion more each year. The government is budgeted to spend about $240 billion this year.For Doug Ford, that seems like a small price to pay to show that he cares about all Ontarians, not just the ones with jobs.National Postrandalldenley1@gmail.com Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.