"In its newest policy brief released this week, the organization which describes itself as committed to advancing systemic solutions to poverty and strengthening civic communities says that more than 30,000 people using these programs don't have stable housing. Those figures, based on provincial government data obtained through a freedom of information request, measure from July of 2019 to July of 2025."
"Alexi White, Maytree's director of systems change, told CBC News in an interview that when OW and ODSP were first implemented in the 1990s, the programs provided enough funding to allow people to rent a room in many Ontario locales but that situation has since fundamentally changed. Over time, we've just simply allowed the realities of living on low incomes to kind of skyrocket and just ignored that from a policy perspective, White said."
Homelessness among Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) recipients increased 72% between July 2019 and July 2025, with more than 30,000 clients lacking stable housing. Homelessness among recipients who have relied on OW for more than a year rose 136% over the same period. Seventy percent of unhoused recipients are single adults, the group that receives the lowest benefits. When OW and ODSP were implemented in the 1990s, benefit levels often covered renting a room in many Ontario locales; benefit levels have not kept pace with skyrocketing living costs. The province reports a 20% ODSP increase since 2022 and states it has taken actions to make life more affordable.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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