Ontarians who rely on welfare will get counselling and job training under a multi-year, multi-ministry social assistance reform plan, announced by the Ford government Thursday.

But the overhaul comes with a new definition of disability — to align with more narrow federal guidelines — that will likely make it more difficult for people suffering from episodic illnesses and mental health issues to qualify.

“Many people in this province have severe disabilities that make it very difficult to support themselves,” said Lisa MacLeod, minister of children, community and social services.

“They will be met with compassion and dignity in our new system. Those receiving assistance who can work, will be treated with the same dignity, including targeted support to fill Ontario’s jobs.

“If you can work, or if you can’t, we have a plan to help you.”

The changes, which will give municipalities more power to tailor benefits to local needs and will involve several employment-related pilot projects, are still being developed and will roll out over the next 18 months, she said.

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NDP Social Services critic Lisa Gretzky said the moves will take Ontario’s social services “from bad to worse.

“For people in Ontario living with a disability or serious illness, this change is going to make them more destitute, and more desperate,” she said “This is a callous way to deliver a cut on the backs of the most vulnerable people in Ontario.”

MacLeod said the current rule-bound system, which serves almost a million people and costs $10 billion a year, is confusing and time-consuming for both recipients and caseworkers — and is ultimately unsustainable.

Half of people who leave Ontario Works (OW) end up back on the system while the number of people relying on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) has been growing by 3.5 per cent every year.

But MacLeod said changes will be introduced in “a careful way that minimizes disruption for those who are currently on the system.”

Those currently receiving benefits under ODSP will be “grandfathered” and not required to qualify under the new definition of disability. The medical review process for those already on the system will also be grandfathered, she added.

The most common federal definition applies to Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) applicants, who can only get support if their illness is likely to prevent them from ever working. If the Ford government applies this definition, Ontarians whose disabilities allow them to work occasionally, or those who may one day be able to work, would be denied ODSP. This could include people with cancer, diseases such as MS (Multiple Sclerosis), and certain mental illnesses.

Under the plan, caseworkers will work with people on OW to develop customized plans to meet individual needs, including training, job placement, mental health and addictions support, child care, housing or help with life skills, she said.

As first reported by the Star, people on social assistance who can get part-time or occasional jobs will be encouraged to increase their work hours by being able to keep more of what they earn before facing welfare clawbacks. Currently, their benefits are reduced by 50 cents for every dollar they earn over $200 a month.

Under the changes, those on ODSP will be able to earn up to $6,000 a year without deductions while people on OW will be allowed to earn up to $300 a month before clawbacks. But their benefits will be reduced by 75 cents on every additional dollar they make.

Under previous Liberal government reforms put on hold by the Ford government last summer, earnings exemptions were scheduled to double to $400 a month on Dec. 1.

The welfare revamp announced Thursday came with few other details.

Toronto’s Trevor Manson, who lost his job as a market researcher almost six years ago due to a painful neuro-muscular disorder that affects his mobility, has been struggling to survive on ODSP since 2016. He welcomed the new focus on employment.

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“I would love it if someone could help me find something I am able to do from home,” he said. “I have a computer, Internet access and a brain. And I am a very task-oriented person.”

But Manson, 50, is worried about Ontario’s plans to adopt a federal definition of disability.

“If (Ontario) uses the CPP-D definition of disability, many people with disabilities are not going to qualify,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot tougher for people with disabilities to get adequate support if they have to rely on Ontario Works.”

Currently an individual on OW receives up to $733 a month, while those on ODSP get a maximum of $1,169.

Mary Marrone, legal director with the Income Security Advocacy Centre legal clinic, called the move “a rate cut for new entrants with disabilities.”

However, the government’s plans to provide wraparound individualized planning for people on OW “looks very promising,” she said. “It recognizes that people aren’t always job-ready and may need other supports.”

However, advocates will be watching to ensure people on OW are empowered to direct their own plans and are supported, not sanctioned, if they struggle to carry them out, she added.

Toronto single mother Patricia Huculak, 48, who has been on OW since 2005, when she fled a violent spouse in Alberta was skeptical.

“I don’t believe caseworkers’ attitudes will ever change,” she said. “There is this feeling we are all lazy and don’t want to work.”

Huculak says raising the earnings exemption to $300 from $200 won’t make much difference, especially, when every additional dollar earned will trigger a 75-cent clawback.

“I’m really not hopeful. People are already flipping out. They are worried that if they have to go on ODSP, they will be out of luck,” said Huculak, who is working part-time as an intake worker for women fleeing domestic abuse.

“I’m not really impressed. It’s just saying the same thing they have always said.”

MacLeod launched a 100-day rethink of the system on July 31.

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