While the Ford government announced its support for those on the Ontario Disability Support Program and other income support programs by preventing tax-collecting clawbacks of the Canada Disability Benefit, advocates are saying the changes don’t go far enough.
“In a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty brought on by US tariffs and trade barriers, our government is taking action to keep costs down and protect Ontario families,” said Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, in a press release. “This starts with safeguarding our most vulnerable, which is why we are exempting the Canada Disability Benefit as income so people who rely on social assistance receive the benefit without seeing any reductions in their social assistance payments.”
According to government officials, this would put an extra $200 per month in the pockets of eligible Ontarians and maximize their disability benefits.
Yet, Trevor Manson, disability advocate and member of the ODSP Action Coalition, doesn’t think this change to ODSP goes far enough.
“I looked online and found the changes to the regulation, so it is official,” said Manson.
“That’s going to be an extra 200 bucks, and is it enough? No. But every little bit helps, right? The provincial government tied ODSP to inflation; the first July of 2023 was the first inflationary increase we got. So, every July now, we get an inflationary increase. It was just posted on the website last week that the inflationary increase for this July for ODSP is going to be 2.8 per cent, which works out to about 40 bucks or so. If the Canada Disability Benefit starts rolling out on time, a single person on ODSP could potentially receive the maximum. ODSP will be $1,408 plus the $200 for the Canada Disability Benefit, assuming that they are not employed and have other income.”
But, even among the rent-controlled buildings in Fort Frances, a two-bedroom residence will cost over $1,200, and the only rent-geared-to-income one-bedroom suites available for those under 50 years old are at Lady Frances Place, with a total of ten units. Seven are Bachelor suites at $684 a month, and three are one-bedroom suites at $957 a month.
With a population somewhere between seven and eight thousand, that is a fraction of a per cent of the population of Fort Frances getting affordable single-occupant housing in a building that caught fire last July.
But affordable housing woes are nothing new to those in Fort Frances. In December, a Southern Ontario developer presented a plan to bring affordable housing to the town council this past December.
So, Manson thinks there needs to be more rent controls in place, namely some form of rent control that mitigates rent increases between tenancies.
“If somebody moves out of the apartment, then the landlord can turn around and increase the rent to whatever they want for the next tenant moving in,” said Manson. “After November of 2018, so many units that are out there that you’re moving into, if you’re moving into a brand new place, you don’t have rent control. You’re not protected at all, and the landlord can increase your rent by however much they want.
“We’ve seen stories in the paper and stuff about somebody who, all of a sudden, their landlord takes a disliking to them and says, ‘Oh, well, we may increase their rent by 1000 bucks a month, 1200 bucks a month, or 1400 bucks a month.’ The landlord knows that they’re allowed to do it. There’s nothing stopping them.”
So, Manson and the ODSP Action Coalition consider rent control to be a top priority, although it’s being overshadowed by trade tensions with the United States.
“Everybody’s just focused on what’s going on with the US and the tariffs and stuff,” said Manson. “Everything else is taking a back seat.”
