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In this section you will find:
Components of welfare incomes
In Ontario, households that qualify for basic social assistance payments also qualify for:
- Federal and provincial child benefits for households with children, and
- Federal and provincial tax credits and/or benefits.
Together, these components form a household’s total welfare income. Households may receive less if they have income from other sources, or more if they have special health- or disability-related needs.
In 2023, all the example households in Ontario received additional payments from the federal government related to the increased cost of living due to high inflation. These payments are included where applicable in the table below.
Table 1ON shows the value of the welfare income components of the four example household types in Ontario in 2023. All four households are assumed to be living in Toronto, receiving provincial social assistance starting January 1 and for the entire year, and earning no employment income. The child in the single-parent household is two years old and the children in the couple household are ten and 15. Other assumptions for calculating incomes are in the methodology section.
Table 1ON: Components of welfare incomes for all example households in Ontario, 2023
Total annual welfare incomes in 2023 ranged from $10,473 for the unattached single considered employable to $34,483 for the couple with two children. The income of the unattached single with a disability was $17,039 and that of the single parent with one child was $23,724.
Basic social assistance: All households received Ontario Works (OW) benefits except for the unattached single with a disability who received Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits. Monthly basic OW benefit amounts were unchanged in 2023. Monthly basic ODSP benefits increased by 6.5 per cent in July 2023 due to inflation indexing.
Additional social assistance: No recurring additional social assistance benefits were available to the example households in 2023.
Federal child benefits: Both households with children received the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), which increased with inflation in July 2023 from $583.08 to $619.75 per month for a child under six years of age and from $491.91 to $522.91 per month for a child aged six to 17.
Provincial child benefits: Both households with children received the Ontario Child Benefit, which increased with inflation from $125.75 to $133.92 per month per child in July 2023.
Federal tax credits/benefits: All four households received the GST/HST credit, which increased in July 2023 with inflation. The unattached single considered employable and the unattached single with a disability received $315.50 in basic GST/HST credit, while the single parent with one child received $631 and the couple with two children received $963.
Two households also received the GST/HST credit supplement. The unattached single with a disability received $78.29 while the single parent with one child received the maximum amount of $166.
All households received the Grocery Rebate, which was an additional one-time GST credit payment related to the increased cost of living due to high inflation, paid in July 2023. The unattached single considered employable received $153, the unattached single with a disability received $194.09, the single parent with one child received $386.50, and the couple with two children received $467.
All four households received the federal climate action incentive (CAI) payment. The two unattached single households received $459.25, the single parent with one child received $688.75, and the couple with two children received $918.25. All CAI benefit amounts received by these households increased in 2023.
Provincial tax credits/benefits: All four households received the Ontario Trillium Benefit, which increased with inflation in July 2023. The unattached single considered employable received $60.71 per month from January to June and $64.13 per month from July to December. The unattached single with a disability received $62.85 per month from January to June and $66.43 per month from July to December. The single parent with one child received $92.75 from January to June and $97.92 from July to December. The couple with two children received $149.03 per month from January to June and $157.70 per month from July to December.
Cost-of-living payments
As mentioned earlier, all four households received payments from the federal government related to the increased cost of living resulting from high inflation in 2023. The federal Grocery Rebate was paid in July 2023 and was equivalent to the two regular GST credit (and credit supplement if applicable) payments received in the first half of 2023. These amounts are included in, and are not in addition to, the benefits described in the Components section above.
Table 2ON: Cost-of-living payments for all example households in Ontario, 2023
Changes to welfare incomes
Figures 1ON and 2ON show how the total welfare incomes for each of the four example household types in Ontario have changed over time.
Note that the values are in 2023 constant dollars, not current dollars, calculated using the Canada CPI. Using constant dollars takes into account the effect of inflation given that inflation reduces current dollar values over time. Also note that using the CPI for Ontario would result in a slightly different trendline.
Figure 1ON: Welfare incomes for example unattached single households in Ontario 1986–2023, in 2023 constant dollars
The total welfare income of the unattached single considered employable increased through the late 1980s to a peak in 1991, followed by two years of relative stasis and a fairly steep decline through 1996. A period of gradual decline followed until 2008, when a period of gradual increase began. A slightly sharper increase in 2020 resulted from the addition of federal COVID-19 pandemic-related payments and the federal climate action incentive. Declines in 2021 and 2022 were the result of the loss of pandemic-related payments and the impact of high inflation on unchanged basic social assistance benefits. The slight decrease to $10,473 in 2023 was primarily the result of the impact of high inflation on unchanged basic benefits. Overall, the total welfare income of this household fell by 15 per cent across the entire time series and declined by 2 per cent between 2022 and 2023 in constant 2023 dollars.
The welfare income of the unattached single with a disability followed a similar trendline across the time series, although it started at a much higher level and did not decline as drastically in the mid-1990s. A period of gradual decline between 1994 and 2008 was followed by a slight increase through 2011 and a period of relative stasis until 2019. An increase in 2020 was the result of pandemic-related payments and the federal climate action incentive. The loss of pandemic-related payments and the impact of high inflation led to declines in 2021 and 2022. The increase to $17,039 in 2023 was primarily the result of increases to basic social assistance benefits. The total welfare income of this household declined by 11 per cent across the entire time series and increased by 3 per cent between 2022 and 2023 in constant 2023 dollars.
Figure 2ON: Welfare incomes for example households with children in Ontario 1986–2023, in 2023 constant dollars
The total welfare income of the single parent with one child followed a similar pattern to those of the unattached singles. The peak across the time series occurred in 1991, followed by two years of relative stasis and a sharp decline in 1996. A period of gradual decline through 2005 was followed by an increase through 2010. Another gradual decline continued until 2014, followed by a period of gradual increase — largely due to changes in federal child benefits — until 2017. Two subsequent years of slight declines were followed by a sharper increase in 2020 due to federal COVID-19 pandemic-related payments and the federal climate action incentive. Two years of sharp declines through 2022 were due to the loss of pandemic payments and the impact of high inflation on unchanged basic benefits. The latter issue was the primary cause of the slight decline to $23,815 in 2023. Overall, the total welfare income of this household declined by 3 per cent across the entire time series and by 1 per cent between 2022 and 2023, in constant 2023 dollars.
The total welfare income of the couple with two children followed a nearly identical trajectory across the time series, although at a higher income level. The increase that started in 2015 was largely due to changes in federal child benefits. The increase in 2020 and the declines thereafter were due to the same factors: the loss of pandemic payments and the impact of high inflation on unchanged basic benefits. The slight decline to $34,483 in 2023 represents a 1 per cent decrease compared to 2022 and across the entire time series, the total welfare income of this household increased by 6 per cent, in constant 2023 dollars.
Adequacy of welfare incomes
The adequacy of a household’s total welfare income can be assessed by comparing it to established thresholds of poverty and/or low income.
Two measures of poverty are commonly used in Canada:
- The Market Basket Measure (MBM), Canada’s Official Poverty Line, identifies households whose disposable income is less than the cost of a “basket” of goods and services that represents a basic standard of living.
- The Deep Income Poverty (MBM-DIP) threshold identifies households whose disposable income is less than 75 per cent of the MBM.
Two measures of low income are also commonly used:
- The Low Income Measure (LIM) identifies households whose income is substantially below what is typical in society (i.e., less than half of the median income).
- The Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) identifies households that are likely to spend a disproportionately large share of their income on food, clothing, and shelter.
Note that MBM thresholds vary by province and community size, and LICO thresholds vary by community size. As such, we use the thresholds for the province’s largest city, Toronto, in the analysis below. Note also that we use after-tax LIM and LICO thresholds, and that the LIM thresholds for 2023 are estimates based on increasing the 2022 thresholds to account for inflation.
Also note that none of the poverty or low-income measures currently in use in Canada accounts for the higher cost of living faced by people with disabilities, and that these additional costs are not reflected in our analysis.
More information about the thresholds is available in the methodology section.
A table containing comparisons of the welfare incomes of the four example household types in Ontario with all four poverty/low-income thresholds is available for download.
Poverty threshold comparisons
The welfare incomes of all four example household types in Ontario were below, and in one case less than half of, Canada’s Official Poverty Line (MBM) in 2023, and all four were below the Deep Income Poverty threshold (MBM-DIP). This means that all four households were living not only in poverty in 2023, but in deep poverty.
Figures 3ON and 4ON compare 2023 welfare incomes for the four example household types to the 2023 MBM and MBM-DIP thresholds for Toronto.
Figure 3ON: Welfare incomes and poverty thresholds for example unattached single households in Ontario, 2023
The unattached single considered employable had the least adequate total welfare income relative to the poverty thresholds. Their income was $11,101 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $18,293 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was only 49 per cent of the MBM-DIP and only 36 per cent of the MBM.
The unattached single with a disability fared better, with a total welfare income that was $4,535 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $11,727 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was 79 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 59 per cent of the MBM.
Note that the poverty experienced by people with disabilities is underrepresented because neither the MBM nor the MBM-DIP account for the additional costs associated with disability. See the methodology section for more information.
Figure 4ON: Welfare incomes and poverty thresholds for example households with children in Ontario, 2023
The single parent with one child had a total welfare income that was $6,695 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $16,866 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was 78 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 59 per cent of the MBM.
The couple with two children had the most adequate total welfare income relative to the poverty thresholds. Their income was $8,666 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $23,049 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was 80 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 60 per cent of the MBM.
Low-income threshold comparisons
The welfare incomes of the example households were also below, and in one household lower than half of, the low-income thresholds, as shown in the table linked below.
The unattached single considered employable had the least adequate income relative to the low-income thresholds, at 35 per cent of the LIM and 41 per cent of the LICO. The unattached single with a disability had the most adequate income relative to the LIM, at 57 per cent. Their income was also 67 per cent of the LICO.
The single parent with one child had an income that was the most adequate relative to the LICO, at 77 per cent. Their income was also 56 per cent of the LIM. The couple with two children had an income that was 57 per cent of the LIM and 72 per cent of the LICO.
The LIM and LICO thresholds used are for after-tax income, as noted above.
Changes to adequacy of welfare incomes
Figures 5ON and 6ON show the total welfare incomes of each of the four example household types in Ontario as a percentage of the Market Basket Measure (MBM), starting in 2002.
The black line at the top of each graph (i.e., the 100 per cent threshold) represents Canada’s Official Poverty Line. This means that the graphs show how far below the Poverty Line the four households’ total welfare incomes have been in each year over the past 22 years.
The grey line indicates the Deep Income Poverty threshold, which is 75 per cent of the MBM. The graphs therefore also show the relationship between total welfare incomes and deep poverty in each year over the past 22 years.
Three trendlines for each household are shown in the graphs. These lines illustrate the relationship between welfare incomes and changes made to the MBM due to “rebasing.” The two rebasings, occurring in 2008 and 2018, are indicated with a dotted vertical line. Rebasing updates the measure, including the items and costs included in the basket, to better reflect contemporary circumstances and typically creates a higher poverty threshold than that of a previous base. The trendlines demonstrate changes to household poverty levels within the years in which each base is applied. A trendline rise within those periods indicates an improvement in a household’s level of poverty while a decline indicates a deepening of their poverty. For the years in which rebasing took place (2008 and 2018), we include the percentage of welfare income relative to MBM using both the previous and the new base to show how rebasing affects adequacy.
Note that MBM thresholds vary by province and community size. The MBM thresholds used here are for Toronto. More information is in the methodology section.
Figure 5ON: Welfare incomes as a percentage of the MBM for example unattached single households in Ontario, 2002–2023
The welfare income of the unattached single considered employable was the least adequate relative to the Poverty Line of all example households in Ontario across the time series. Their income started the time series in 2002 at 45 per cent of the Poverty Line and stayed virtually the same until 2017. After a drop following the 2018 rebasing, their income saw a slight improvement in 2020, but declined to a low of only 36 per cent of the Poverty Line in 2023.
Overall, the welfare income of the unattached single considered employable decreased by 9 percentage points across the time series, which represents a deepening of their poverty over the last 22 years. In addition, the income of this household was below the Deep Income Poverty threshold across the entire time series, which means they would have consistently lived in deep poverty for the last 22 years.
The welfare income of the unattached single with a disability started the time series at 78 per cent of the Poverty Line. After a gradual decline followed by a lengthy period of stasis, their income dropped relative to the Poverty Line after the 2018 rebasing, rose in 2020, and declined to its lowest point in 2022. An increase to 59 per cent of the Poverty Line followed in 2023.
Overall, the welfare income of the unattached single with a disability decreased by 19 percentage points relative to the Poverty Line between 2002 and 2022. This represents a significant deepening of their poverty across the time series. As well, their income started the time series above the Deep Income Poverty threshold but fell below the threshold starting in 2008, meaning that they would have consistently lived in deep poverty for most of the past 22 years.
Figure 6ON: Welfare incomes as a percentage of the MBM for example households with children in Ontario, 2002–2023
The welfare income of the single parent with one child started the time series in 2002 at 65 per cent of the Poverty Line and generally increased until 2017 with some variations. After the 2018 rebasing, their income rose relative to the Poverty Line in 2020, then fell to 59 per cent of the Poverty Line in 2023.
Overall, the welfare income of the single parent with one child declined by 7 per centage points between 2002 and 2023, which represents a deepening of their poverty across the time series. As well, their income was below the Deep Income Poverty threshold across the entire time series, meaning that they would have consistently lived in deep poverty for the last 22 years.
The welfare income of the couple with two children started the time series in 2002 at the lower level of 61 per cent of the Poverty Line and followed a similar trendline to that of the single parent with one child. A gradual increase to 2007 was followed by a decline after the 2008 rebasing, then another gradual increase to a high in 2017. After 2018, their income rose to almost 70 per cent of the Poverty Line before falling to 60 per cent in 2023.
Overall, the welfare income of the couple with two children ended the time series 1 percentage point lower relative to the Poverty Line in 2023 than it was in 2002. This means that their level of poverty remained virtually unchanged across the time series. Given that their income was also below the Deep Income Poverty threshold across the entire time series, they would have consistently lived in deep poverty for the last 22 years.
Access to data
The data for Ontario is available for download, including:
- Components of welfare income for all households, with a breakdown of cost of living-related payments.
- Welfare incomes in 2023 constant dollars over time for all households.
- Welfare incomes in current dollars over time for all households.
- Adequacy of welfare incomes: a comparison of each household’s welfare income with all four poverty and low-income thresholds.
- Adequacy over time: each household’s welfare income relative to the Official Poverty Line (MBM) from 2002–2023.