Ontario should stop treating people on welfare like criminals and forcing them to complete useless tasks that don’t lead to meaningful, long-term jobs, says a new report.

So-called “participation agreements” that require people on social assistance to conduct job searches and other activities, along with mandatory monthly reporting “have more in common with the corrections system than they do with the tax system or other social programs,” says the report by a University of Toronto think tank.

“The system has consistently prioritized punitive rules and mechanisms in the name of accountability and limiting beneficiaries, rather than lowering barriers to employment,” says the report by Ontario 360, an initiative of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

Since there is no evidence this helps people obtain employment, these practices should be scrapped, the report says. And the province should move to annual reporting more in line with benefits delivered through the tax system, such as child benefits and GST credits.

“Low benefit rates leave people in deep poverty, and program rules create barriers to their participating in the labour force and improving their lives,” says the report, released Tuesday.

In addition to the human cost — particularly to children growing up in poverty — “there is an economic cost in reduced economic activity and foregone tax revenue,” it adds.

At an annual cost of $9.4 billion in 2018-19, Ontario’s social assistance system is the provincial government’s third largest social investment after health and education, serving almost one million residents, the report notes.

“But as it stands, this investment isn’t producing the results that it should,” co-author Noah Zon, says in the report.

The system is overly focused on accounting for every dollar it spends when it should be measuring outcomes — or how well it lifts people out of poverty, adds Zon, who co-authored the report with Thomas Granofsky.

The report says the province should hire independent researchers — similar to those used in the ill-fated basic income pilot project — to monitor changes to Employment Ontario. Only employment activities proven to help people obtain long-term jobs should be part of social assistance, it adds.

The report, part of a series of independent, non-partisan policy papers aimed at supporting provincial decision-makers, comes in the wake of a recent pause on social assistance changes announced last fall that were widely viewed as harmful and counterproductive.

Earlier this month, Children, Community and Social Services Minister Todd Smith backpedalled on the elimination of a $67 million welfare benefit for vulnerable children. He also reversed previously announced changes to earnings exemptions — the amount of money a person on welfare can earn from a part-time job before their benefits are reduced.

These changes were part of “reforms” announced by former minister Lisa MacLeod who was shuffled from the portfolio in June as part of the Ford government’s attempt to deal with plummeting approval ratings.

Currently, people on social assistance can keep up to $200 a month from a part-time job before benefits are cut by 50 cents for every additional dollar they earn. The government had planned to increase the earnings exemption to $300 a month. But its decision to claw back 75 per cent of all additional earnings would have kicked people off welfare earlier.

Since benefits are already about 50 per cent below Ontario’s poverty line, the report argues people moving into employment should be allowed to earn more income before triggering clawbacks. And benefits should be withdrawn gradually as income rises.

A single person on Ontario Works currently receives a monthly maximum of just $733, while a person living on Ontario Disability Support Program benefits receives $1,169 a month.

Since many jobs no longer include health benefits, the report recommends piloting an extended, auto-enrolled benefit program for people leaving welfare for employment as part of broader reforms.

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Other programs outside social assistance, such as child benefits that have helped single parents leave welfare, should be considered for single adults, who now make up the majority of people on social assistance, Zon said in an interview.

The new federal housing benefit, expected in 2020, as well as increases to the federal low-income workers’ benefit are also opportunities to boost financial support for this group, he added.

There are different ways to ensure people on social assistance are not forced to live in deep poverty, he said. “We should not put all the pressure of solving these problems on the social assistance system and recognize there are broader federal and provincial roles to play here.”