The McGuinty government is continuing to deliver on its commitment to treat social assistance recipients with dignity and respect, help people move to employment, and make the welfare system more efficient and effective.

The government is introducing a number of new changes to social assistance programs that will encourage Ontario Works clients to move from welfare to employment by providing straightforward incentives and extra support to make a successful and permanent transition to the workforce.

The changes include:

• Extending basic health benefits such as prescription drugs, vision and dental coverage for a period of six months for recipients who are leaving Ontario Works for employment, and up to one year for exceptional cases or until employer benefits are available. Fear of losing health benefits is a major barrier to exiting social assistance. This change addresses a key disincentive to employment.

• Replacing the current set of exemption rates with an easy-to-understand 50 per cent exemption for all earnings. Caseworkers have said the current Ontario Works system, which has a combination of flat and graduated variable rates, is too complex for many clients to understand how they would be better off working while they are on welfare. The new rules provide a direct incentive for recipients to work and earn more. The more they work the more they earn.

• Eliminating the punitive two-year limit for the variable exemption. Under existing rules, people are allowed to keep the variable portion of their earnings for up to two years only, at which point all earnings over the flat rate exemption were clawed back. There is no incentive for someone to increase their earnings after 24 months.

• Increasing the maximum amount that working parents with children under the age of 13 can deduct for informal child care expenses from $390 to $600 a month. Informal child care is an important support for people working part-time and shift work. The current rates limit the use of informal care to parents only working part-time. The increase to $600 will allow parents working full-time to use informal care as needed.

• Providing a new payment of up to $500 to help offset costs related to getting started in a new full-time job. This benefit will better support clients with costs related to going into the workforce. For example, they may need to pay for transportation to get to and from work.
  
  

Other Improvements to Social Assistance Programs

Today's changes are in addition to the improvements the government has already made to help people move to long-term self-sufficiency, including:

• Eliminating a rule that treated RESPs as assets, and contributions to and payments from RESPs as income so that social assistance recipients are not penalized for saving for their children's education in order to help them achieve a better future.

• Launching JobsNow, a new pilot project that will provide ongoing, individualized job placement and retention support to help longer-term welfare clients find jobs so that they can leave welfare for good.