Carter calls for changes to Ontario Works system

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter wants to see more Ontario Works clients move on from the program.

A recent presentation to the region’s health and social services committee sparked concern in Oshawa’s mayor as statistics have shown single residents in Durham have the most trouble moving on from the Ontario Works program.

According to Kelly O’Brien, Durham’s director of income and employment support, 61 per cent of Ontario Works clients in Durham Region are single and without children.

The next highest on the list is sole support parents, who make up 32 per cent of the organization’s clientele.

Carter says he is concerned by the amount of single clients in Durham Region, and wants to know why the number is so high.

According to O’Brien, rates set by the provincial government are “so low” that it is actually very difficult for someone on a single income to leave the system.

She also notes quite often those without the second income of a spouse or a partner are more likely to need the services of Ontario Works, and overall their income is insufficient.

The idea of a universal income has been debated across Ontario, which Carter says might help single individuals to move on from the program.

“I believe that if our singles were given more opportunities, that they in turn would be able to go well beyond [the system in place],” says O’Brien.

She says Ontario Works is advocating to the provincial government to explore such a program. O’Brien believes the system in place is ineffective, and there is a need for something new. She also says she worries for those who live on the poverty line.

“I fear for those, who on a regular basis, are not able to move forward on the basis that they don’t have the dollars,” she says.

Carter says things need to change in order to improve the organization’s success rate.

“The structure of this program limits the success of this program,” he says.

Ultimately, O’Brien says the organization needs more funds in order to help single people to live in the Greater Toronto Area, particularly Durham.

“It’s a structural change that has to happen because if not this is going to stay the same.”