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Ontario’s social assistance costs ballooned under the previous Liberal government but the system failed to help recipients become self-reliant or consistently ensure that only those eligible received support, the province’s auditor general said Wednesday.

In a sweeping annual report, Bonnie Lysyk said the number of Ontario Works cases has increased by almost 25 per cent since 2009, hiking costs up from $1.9 billion to nearly $3 billion.

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The province has yet to collect $730 million in overpayments made to recipients over several years – roughly $100 million occurred in the last four – but it does not track the cause of those overpayments, making it difficult to prevent them in the future, Lysyk said.

At the same time, the program only helped 10 to 13 per cent of recipients find work in the last five years, and the length of time people receive assistance has nearly doubled since 2009, jumping to nearly three years from 19 months, she said.