Ontario Works Act, 1997
ontario REGULATION 134/98
Amended to O.Reg. 565/05
GENERAl
Historical version for the period November 4, 2005 to February 5, 2006.
Disclaimer: This consolidation is not an official copy of the law because it is affected by one or more retroactive provisions which have not been incorporated into it. For information about the retroactive provisions, see O. Reg. 19/06, section 4.
This is the English version of a bilingual regulation.
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CONTENTS
SectionsDefinitions / 1
Interpretation / 2
PART I / ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE
Participation in Employment Assistance / 3
Place of Residence / 4
Absence from Ontario / 5
Status in the Country / 6
Residence in an Institution / 7
Persons Detained in Custody / 8
Post-Secondary Education / 9
Applicant under 18 Years of Age / 10
Persons Living with Parents / 11
Home Visits / 12
Obligation to Pursue Resources / 13
Information to be Provided / 14
Agreements to Reimburse and Assignments / 15-15.1
PART II / APPLICATIONS FOR ASSISTANCE
Place of Application for Basic Financial Assistance / 16
Form, etc., of Application for Basic Financial Assistance / 17
Participation Agreement Required for Application for Income Assistance / 18
Consents Required for Application / 19
Application Signed and Complete / 20
Preliminary Information and Verification / 20.1-20.7.1
New Application for Basic Financial Assistance not Required / 21
Enquiry into Circumstances Re Basic Financial Assistance / 22
Further Enquiry Re Income Assistance / 23
Application for Employment Assistance / 24
PART III / EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
Interpretation / 25
Employment Assistance / 26
Approval of Delivery Agents / 26.1
Participation in Employment Assistance Activities / 27
Employment / 28
Administrator may Require Participation / 29
Participation Agreement may be Amended / 30
Employment Assistance for Other Persons / 31
PART IV / REFUSAL, CANCELLATION OR REDUCTION OF ASSISTANCE
Assignment or Transfer of Assets / 32
Non-Compliance with Part III — Recipients / 33
Non-Compliance with Part III — Applicants / 34
Non-Compliance with Other Conditions of Eligibility / 35
Non-Compliance with Information Required on Special Diets / 36-36.1
Re-Application and Reinstatement / 37
PART V / ASSETS
Prescribed Limits for Assets / 38
Determination of Assets / 39
PART VI / CALCULATION OF ASSISTANCE
General Rule / 40
General Budgetary Requirements / 41
Shelter / 42
Budgetary Requirements for Persons in Institutions / 42.1-43
Budgetary Requirements in Other Special Cases / 44
Budgetary Requirements for Residents of Interval and Transition Homes / 44.1
Reduction of Budgetary Requirements — Co-residents / 45
Reduction of Budgetary Requirements — Persons Detained in Custody / 46
Reduction of Budgetary Requirements — Patient in a Hospital / 47
Reduction of Budgetary Requirements — Person in Residential Substance Addiction Treatment Program / 47.1
Calculating Income — General Rule / 48
Treatment of Earnings / 49
Boarder and Rental Income / 50
Sponsored Immigrants / 51
Exemptions — Payments by Ontario / 52
Exemptions — Payments by Canada / 53
Other Exemptions / 54
Treatment of Canada Child Tax Benefit / 54.1
PART VII / OTHER BASIC FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Benefits / 55
Emergency Assistance / 56
Temporary Care Assistance / 57
Extended Health Benefits for Recipients who Cease to be Eligible for Income Assistance / 57.1
Extended Health Benefits for Recipients who cease to be Eligible for Income Assistance due to an Increase in Employment Income / 57.2
Extended Health Benefit for Applicants under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act, 1997 / 58
Extended Health Benefits for Persons Receiving Payments under the 1986-1990 Hepatitis C Settlement Agreement / 58.1
Special Benefit / 58.2
Discretionary Benefits / 59
PART VIII / GENERAL
Persons Acting for a Recipient / 60
Payment to Third Party / 61
Recovery of Overpayments and Deductions re Money Owed for Support, etc. / 62
Minimum Assistance Payable / 63
Time and Manner of Payment of Assistance / 64
Eligibility Review Officers / 65
Family Support Workers / 65.1
Discharging a Lien / 66
PART IX / REVIEWS AND APPEALS
Notice of Decision / 67
Decisions that Cannot be Appealed / 68
Request for Internal Review / 69
Time and Manner of Conducting Internal Review / 70
Decision on Internal Review / 71
Time and Manner of Commencing Appeal to Tribunal / 72
Notification of Appeal and Written Submissions / 73
Notice of Hearing / 74
Notice to Director of Appeals / 75
Conduct of Oral Hearing of Tribunal / 76
Interim Assistance / 77
Decision of Tribunal / 78
Reconsideration by Tribunal / 79
Subsequent Appeal on Same Issue / 80
Appeal to Divisional Court / 81
Record for Court / 82
Paper Hearings / 83
PART X / TRANSITION / 84-86
Definitions
1.(1)For the purposes of the Act and the regulations,
“child” means a person under 18 years of age; (“enfant”)
“dependant”, in relation to an applicant or recipient, means,
(a) a person who resides in the same dwelling place and who is,
(i) the spouse of the applicant or recipient,
(ii) a dependent child of the applicant or recipient or of his or her spouse, or
(iii) a dependent adult of the applicant or recipient or of his or her spouse, or
(b) a spouse who is absent from the dwelling place of the applicant or recipient if the absence is for a reason other than a breakdown in the relationship with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation; (“personne à charge”)
“emergency hostel services” means the provision of board, lodging and personal needs to homeless persons on a short term, infrequent basis, but does not include the provision of services to residents of interval or transition homes for abused women; (“services d’hébergement d’urgence”)
“geographic area” means an area designated as a geographic area for a designated delivery agent; (“zone géographique”)
“lawful place of confinement” includes a federal penitentiary, a provincial correctional facility, an open custody facility, a secure custody facility and a municipal lock up; (“lieu légitime de détention”)
“nursing home” means a nursing home licensed under the Nursing Homes Act; (“maison de soins infirmiers”)
“parent” includes a person who has demonstrated a settled intention to treat a child as a child of his or her family, except under an arrangement where the child is placed for valuable consideration in a foster home or a children’s residence; (“père ou mère”)
“participant”, with respect to employment assistance, means a member of the benefit unit of a recipient of income assistance but does not include,
(a) a dependent child who is of pre-school age or attending school, or
(b) a person who receives only temporary care assistance; (“participant”)
“single person”, with respect to an applicant or recipient, means a person with no dependants; (“personne seule”)
“social assistance” includes assistance under the Ontario Works Act, 1997, income support under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act, 1997 and payments under similar programs in other jurisdictions; (“aide sociale”)
“sole support parent”, with respect to an applicant, recipient or dependant, means a person with one or more dependants and no spouse included in the benefit unit; (“père ou mère seul soutien de famille”)
“spouse”, in relation to an applicant or recipient, means,
(a) a person, if the person and the applicant or recipient have together declared to the administrator or to the Director under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act, 1997 that they are spouses,
(b) a person who is required under a court order or domestic contract to support the applicant or recipient or any of his or her dependants,
(c) a person who has an obligation to support the applicant or recipient or any of his or her dependants under section 30 or 31 of the Family Law Act, whether or not there is a domestic contract or other agreement between the person and the applicant or recipient whereby they purport to waive or release such obligation to support, or
(d) a person who has been residing in the same dwelling place as the applicant or recipient for a period of at least three months, if,
(i) the extent of the social and familial aspects of the relationship between the two persons is consistent with cohabitation, and
(ii) the extent of the financial support provided by one person to the other or the degree of financial interdependence between the two persons is consistent with cohabitation. (“conjoint”). O.Reg. 134/98, s.1(1); O.Reg. 227/98, s.1(1, 2); O.Reg. 272/98, s.1; O.Reg. 32/00, s.1(1-4); O.Reg. 197/02, s.1; O.Reg. 395/04, s.1; O.Reg. 294/05, s.1 (1-4).
(2)For the purpose of the definition of “spouse”, sexual factors shall not be investigated or considered in determining whether or not a person is a spouse. O.Reg. 32/00, s.1(5); O.Reg. 294/05, s.1 (5).
(3)Revoked: O.Reg. 32/00, s.1(5).
Interpretation
2.(1)For the purposes of the Act and the regulations, a person is a dependent adult, in relation to an applicant or recipient if,
(a) the applicant or recipient or the spouse included in the applicant’s or recipient’s benefit unit is the person’s parent;
(b) the person resides in the same dwelling place as the applicant or recipient;
(c) the person is 18 years of age or older;
(d) the person is not financially independent as determined under subsection (2); and
(e) the person has not been determined to be a person with a disability under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act, 1997 or a member of a prescribed class under subsection 4 (1) of Ontario Regulation 222/98 (General) made under that Act. O.Reg. 134/98, s.2(1); O.Reg. 227/98, s.2(1); O.Reg. 272/98, s.2; O.Reg. 32/00, s.2(1); O.Reg. 294/05, s.2 (1).
(2)A person is financially independent if,
(a) the person resides with a person who would be his or her spouse if the person were an applicant or recipient or the person has resided with such a spouse at any time in the past;
(b) the person is eligible as a sole support student under the Ontario Student Assistance Program or has been so eligible at any time in the past;
(c) there have been one or more periods totalling at least two years in which any one, or any combination, of the following criteria has been met:
(i) the person’s net monthly income, as determined by the administrator, other than income from support paid to or on behalf of the person, has been greater than the maximum amount of income assistance provided for a single person,
(ii) the person’s basic needs and shelter have been provided for by a source other than the person’s parent or an institution,
(iii) the person has received social assistance as a recipient, or
(iv) the person has not resided in the same dwelling place as his or her parent after his or her 18th birthday;
(c.1) the person is no longer attending school, as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Education Act, or receiving instruction at home or elsewhere for the purposes of clause 21 (2) (a) of the Education Act and five years have elapsed since the person’s last day of school or since the person ceased to receive instruction at home or elsewhere, as the case may be;
(c.2) the person has received a diploma from a college of applied arts and technology or a degree from a university or other institution with degree-granting authority;
(c.3) the person has lawful custody of his or her child, or has had lawful custody of his or her child in the past; or
(d) in any month,
(i) the person’s assets exceed the maximum amount of assets permitted for a single person under section 38, or
(ii) the person’s net monthly income, as determined by the administrator, other than income from support paid to or on behalf of the person, is greater than the maximum amount of income assistance provided for a single person. O.Reg. 134/98, s.2(2); O.Reg. 227/98, s.2(2,3); O.Reg. 32/00, s.2(2); O.Reg. 326/00, s.1; O.Reg. 294/05, s.2 (2); O.Reg. 383/05, s.1.
(3)For the purposes of the Act and the regulations, a child is a dependent child, in relation to an applicant or recipient, if,
(a) the applicant or recipient or the spouse included in the applicant’s or recipient’s benefit unit is the child’s parent;
(b) the child resides in the same dwelling place as the applicant or recipient;
(c) the applicant or recipient or the spouse included in the benefit unit,
(i) receives the Canada Child Tax Benefit under section 122.61 of the Income Tax Act (Canada) on behalf of the child or a determination has been made under that Act that he or she is eligible to receive the Canada Child Tax Benefit, or
(ii) is the parent with primary care and control of the child, if subclause (i) does not apply;
(d) in the case of a child of school age, if clause (e) does not apply, the child,
(i) is attending school or a program approved by the administrator and, if 16 years of age or older, is making satisfactory progress with his or her studies or program,
(ii) is unable to attend school because of a physical or mental disability, or
(iii) is unable to attend school for reasons outside his or her control and the administrator is satisfied that he or she will be attending school or a program approved by the administrator at the next earliest opportunity; and