HALCO welcomes the Ontario government decision to reverse some of the changes that were to have been made to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW):
- ODSP/OW Transition Child Benefit (TCB) will continue
- changes to the treatment of earned income are cancelled
The planned increases to the earned income exemption would have been welcome, but the increase of the earned income clawback from 50% to 75% was not.
At this time, we do not know if there will be any change to the definition of disability for ODSP eligibility. People who may be eligible for ODSP/OW can apply for benefits now. People living with HIV can contact us for free legal advice about their OW/ODSP eligibility. Those who are receiving OW/ODSP now are encouraged to ensure they are receiving all the benefits that they are entitled to receive, including any Special Diet Allowances and health benefits.
We will provide more information as it becomes available.
As always, HALCO provides free legal services for people living with HIV. Anyone living with HIV in Ontario can contact HALCO about any legal issue. For more information about getting legal help from HALCO, please contact us.
HALCO staff provide workshops across Ontario on topics of interest to people with HIV as well as HIV/AIDS legal issues for the broader community. Please contact us if you would like to discuss a workshop for your community.
This update is also available in pdf on our website: https://www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ODSP-update-2019Oct-HALCO.pdf.