It's just keeping you down." Critics call for boost in assistanceĭouglas Kwan, director of advocacy and legal services at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, said people with disabilities accounted for about 60 per cent of the roughly 10,000 tenants the centre served last year.
"If you don't have the money, you can't have appropriate shelter, you can't have clothing, you can't have food to be productive and be able to keep a job," she said. Kitchen said despite public perception of social assistance being enough to make do, the financial support he receives from all levels of government - including a hydro rebate and the Canada Child Benefit, in addition to his disability payment - isn't nearly enough to contend with soaring rents, let alone the rising cost of living.ĭuration 8:30 Mitchell Tremblay is an ODSP recipient and advocate, he joins us to discuss how the rising cost of living is most affecting those who rely on social assistance.Īcross Canada, people on some form of disability benefit generally receive about 40 per cent of the official poverty line calculated for the community in which they live, Khedr said. The lack of annual increases to supports, in line with inflation, and the rise in the cost of living have essentially kept people with disabilities in "a cycle" of poverty that makes it hard to get ahead, she said.Īnd while the federal Liberal government has passed legislation for a new Canada-wide disability benefit, it still remains to be seen how much people will receive - and whether it will even come into force if another party forms the government, Khedr said.
"It's really crazy what we're going through, and. "I just personally don't understand how I'm expected to live," Kitchen, 37, said, adding he's worried that the "snowball effect" from putting off bills will eventually make himself and his family homeless. He's also behind on his $2,200 monthly rent, and he can't find work that will accommodate his disability and help support his family. Now, he said, he has no choice but to fast during the day so he can afford food for his two children. Ron Kitchen, a resident of Barrie, Ont., remembers when disability benefits were enough to get by.īut that changed in recent years after rents started to rise - far outpacing the almost $1,700 that Kitchen, who has borderline personality disorder, gets each month from the Ontario Disability Support Program.
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