What is ODSP
ODSP stands for Ontario Disability Support Program. It is a government assistance program designed to help individuals with disabilities and their family members supporting them. The two main services ODSP provides are Income Support and Employment Support, with each one requiring a separate approval process. Also remember if you do not qualify for Income support you might still qualify for Employment support, make sure to try and apply for both. Once you are approved for either Income support or Employment support you will be assigned a caseworker to help navigate the process.
Income Support:
What is income support?
Income support is really just that. It is additional income given by the government to help cover expenses to live. This money is treated as income which means be prepared to pay taxes on it. Now these expense can be broken down into essentially two categories: shelter allowance and basic needs.
Shelter Allowance covers expenses such as:
- Rent / Mortgage
- Utilities (electricity, water, gas)
- Property taxes
- Home insurance
Basic Need covers:
- Food
- Clothing
- Personal items
In addition to extra money you can also qualify for health and disability benefits. Make sure you confirm with your caseworker that you have been approved prior to buying anything, as some of these benefit require a little extra paperwork:
Health Benefit include:
- Prescription drug coverage
- Dental coverage
- Vision care
- Mandatory Special Necessities benefit:
- Coverage for medical supplies
- Coverage for medical transportation
- Pregnancy/Breast-feeding Nutritional Allowance
Disability Benefits include coverage for :
- Mobility devices, such as wheeled walkers and wheelchairs
- Visual aids, such as magnifiers
- Hearing aids
- Orthotic or prosthetic devices
- Speech devices, such as teletypewriters
- Certain medical supplies, such as ostomy supplies
- Respiratory devices.
- See eye dogs
What affects amount of Income support?
The amount of support you can receive from ODSP can vary depending on a few different factors.
Income:
This includes all taxable income from all family members in the household not just the individual with a disability. Income from a variety of different sources such as:
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Québec Pension Plan (QPP) benefits
- Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) benefits
- earnings from a job or training program
- profit from a farm or business, including self-employment
- spousal or sponsorship support
- Guaranteed Annual Income Supplement (GAINS)
- Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
- Employment Insurance (EI)
- loans
- any other money that you or your family receive or may be entitled to receive.
- Gifts, Inheritance, Life Insurance (talk to your caseworker as there are exemptions that you can benefit from to avoid reductions in your OSDP income)
How every there are a few exemptions such as:
- certain federal tax benefits, like the Canada Child Tax Benefit
- certain provincial tax benefits, like the Ontario Child Benefit
- payments from a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP)
- Ontario Student Assistance Program loans for education costs
- child support
Also remember that if you make money from employment or your business there are lots of deductions that ODSP offers that can help reduce the impact those earning have on your income support. So if you make $100 this month, your income support will not be reduced by $100. Please see link below for the list of deductions and calculation of ODSP support. Also if you work while going to high school or post secondary education some of your earning can be exempt.
Assets:
Assets are a basically anything thing you or your family owe with a monetary value. This can include but not limited to:
- cash
- money you have in bank accounts
- stocks and bonds
- Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP)
- vehicles
- property (for example, land or a house)
- trust funds
- any other assets that you or your family own.
However as with income, assets also have exemptions such as:
- the home you own and live in
- your primary vehicle (the one you use the most, if you have more than one)
- trust funds derived from an inheritance or life insurance policy, up to allowable limits
- the cash surrender value of life insurance policies, up to allowable limits
- pre-paid funerals
- Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP)
- Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSP)
- necessary household and personal items, such as furniture and clothing.
Please remember that to stay eligible for ODSP, the person with the disability must not have assets totaling over $40,000 and for a couples over $50,000! This was previously raised from $5000.00.
Application Process (for Income Support)
In order to be eligible for ODSP you must meeting the following conditions:
- Be a resident of Ontario;
- Be over the age of 18
- Be in need of financial aid; (See Financial Eligibility below)
- Be a person with a disability as defined by ODSP. (See Determining Disability below)
Financial Eligibility
This can either be done online at Online Application of Social Assistance or in over the phone with a caseworker at from ODSP. Once the initial application has been reviewed an ODSP caseworker will schedule an in-person interview. Make sure to bring all the required documentation to the interview (link for required documentation). During the meeting you will also have to sign consent forms allowing ODSP gather information about your from other government department in order to verify your documents are accurate.
You can expect a response back from ODSP in about 2-3 weeks. If you have been decline you have 30 days to start the appeal process, by requesting an internal review. If you have been approved we are now off to step 2.
Determining Disability
Once you have been approved as financial eligible for support, ODSP will send you a Disability Determination Package. It is broken into two sections Health Status Report and Activities of Daily Living Index. Both parts need to be completed by an approved health care professional. Below is a list of approved health care professionals.
- registered nurses
- ophthalmologists
- optometrists
- physicians
- psychological associates
- psychologists
Upon completion submit the package back to ODSP. Please make sure all applicable sections have been filled out. You can go into an ODSP office and have a caseworker review it with your prior to submitting it to ensure everything is correct. ODSP should respond back in a few weeks with their decision.
Employment Support:
The point of employment support is to reduce barrier that impede a person with disability ability to work, be it employment or starting a business. ODSP does not provide any service or products directly but connect people with local community service providers in the area. For example if you are blind you will be connected with a service provider that gives assistive devices and training on how to use them. Below is a list services that you might be connected to:
For Employment:
- help preparing for work
- help finding a job that is right for you
- help keeping a job
- job coaching
- on-the-job training
- help to move to the next level in your career
- software and mobility devices that can help you do your job
- interpreter or intervenor services
- transportation assistance
- assistive devices and training to use them
- tools and equipment you need for your job
- special clothing for your job
- specialized computer training
For Starting a Business
- help to develop and implement a business plan
- training in money management, record keeping and budgeting
- help with marketing your business
- mentoring
- financial help towards the costs of business tools, equipment and supplies, licenses and certification
- help getting work-related disability supports, such as assistive devices and technical equipment, interpreter, intervenor, reader and notetaker services.
Application Process (for Employment Support)
Firstly Employment support is separate from Income support. Even if you are not approve from income support you can still receive employment support. In order to be eligible for employment support you must meet the following criteria:
- be at least 16 years old
- be an Ontario resident
- be legally allowed to work in Canada
- have a substantial physical or mental disability that is expected to last a year or more, and makes it hard for you to find or keep a job
The Application process requires you to fill out the following forms and submit them to ODSP.
Please note that if you are already receiving ODSP income support you do not have to complete the Verification of Disability/Impairment forms.