Ontario Works (2026): How Much You Get, Eligibility and Working While on OW

Ontario Works (OW) is Ontario’s social assistance program for people in financial need. It gives money for basic needs and shelter, health benefits, and help finding work. If your need comes from a disability expected to last a year or more, the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) pays more. This page covers what OW pays, who qualifies, and how earnings and taxes work. Other programs, including the Ontario Trillium Benefit, are in the benefits guide.

How much Ontario Works pays (2026)

A single person can get up to $733 a month: up to $343 for basic needs and up to $390 for shelter, depending on your housing costs. Families with a spouse or children get more. Your caseworker works out your amount from your family size, housing costs and other income.

OW also includes health benefits, such as prescription drug coverage, and help with the costs of looking for work or training. The federal Canada Disability Benefit doesn’t affect your OW eligibility or payment.

Ontario Works payment dates

Ontario Works pays income support once a month. Each payment goes out on the last business day of the month before, so the money is there at the start of the month it covers. These are the dates on the Ontario Works page at ontario.ca, last updated September 23, 2026:

Who qualifies

You can apply if you are at least 16, live in Ontario and need money for food and housing. OW looks at your income and assets:

Source: Ontario Works Policy Directive 4.2.

Assets that don’t count include the home you own and live in, your primary vehicle, RESPs you hold for a beneficiary related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, RDSPs, pre-paid funerals and necessary household and personal items; your caseworker confirms which of yours count.

In most cases, adults on OW have to take part in employment activities, such as job search, training or volunteering, in a plan agreed with their caseworker, unless circumstances such as illness or caregiving prevent it.

Working while on Ontario Works

Earnings reduce OW, but not dollar for dollar. These rules decide how much of your pay counts:

• The exemptions start only after 3 continuous months of receiving Ontario Works (or ODSP); earnings declared at application and in those first months are counted in full.
• If you left Ontario Works (or ODSP) with income from work, a business or training and reapply within 6 months, the exemptions apply right away; this grace period applies each time you leave and reapply.
• Each adult in the benefit unit with earnings keeps the first $200 a month of net earnings, plus 50% of earnings above that; Ontario Works deducts the other half.
• The calculation uses net monthly earnings (pay after income tax, CPP, EI and union fees); you report gross and net pay, and any support or garnishment deducted from your pay is added back to net earnings.
• Earnings in one reporting period are used to work out your payment for the following month.
• All income is reported, including income that is exempt.
• Earnings of children under 18 are completely exempt and are not subject to the waiting period.
• Earnings of someone over 18 attending secondary school full time are exempt, including during school breaks if they plan to return.
• Earnings of people attending an approved postsecondary program full time (at least 60% of a full course load) are exempt, including the 16 weeks before classes start; the same waiting period and reapplication rule apply.
• A dependent adult whose net monthly income is more than the maximum assistance for a single person is removed from the benefit unit for that month and gets no exemption.
• Eligible child care costs that let you work or take part in a training program are deducted as well, and the waiting period does not apply to the child care deduction.

For example, if you earn $800 in a month, the first $200 is exempt, leaving $600. 50% of that is also exempt, so OW is reduced by $300. A single person studying full time at a postsecondary school generally can’t get OW at all. See Ontario Works Policy Directive 5.3 for the full rules.

Report your earnings every month by the due date your Ontario Works office sets, including exempt earnings, and still report in a month with no earnings. A missed report can put your payments and benefits on hold until it arrives.

How to apply

Apply online, by phone, or through your local Ontario Works office. Have ready your identification, proof of income and assets, your rent or housing costs and your bank information. A caseworker then confirms your eligibility, and you agree an employment plan.

You apply for Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) through the same single application. If you applied in person or by phone, you can follow its status in MyBenefits or by calling the Social Assistance Support Line at 1-888-999-1142 (TTY 1-800-387-5559), Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET). Once you’re on Ontario Works, MyBenefits is also where you send documents and messages, report changes and get information about your case.

What if you disagree with a decision?

To challenge an Ontario Works or ODSP decision, first ask in writing for an internal review within 30 days of receiving the decision (explaining why, if special circumstances make you late); you should get the result within 30 days of your request being received. If you disagree with it, you can appeal to the Social Benefits Tribunal within 30 days of receiving the internal review decision, or if no decision arrives within 30 days. Applying for ODSP sets out the steps for Ontario Works and ODSP decisions, including interim assistance while you wait for a hearing. Low-income Ontarians who qualify can get free legal help from a community legal clinic, reached through Legal Aid Ontario, and that help covers Ontario Works and ODSP.

Ontario Works and taxes

OW isn’t taxed, but it counts as income for benefits. Each year you get a T5007 slip; you report the amount on line 14500 and deduct it on line 25000. That keeps it out of your taxable income but includes it in your net income, which income-tested programs such as the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit and the Canada Child Benefit use. If you live with a spouse or common-law partner, the one with the higher net income (not counting social assistance) reports all of it.

File a return every year even if OW is your only income: that’s how you get the CGEB, the CCB and the Ontario Trillium Benefit. Free tax clinics run by volunteers (the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program) can do it for you.

Moving from Ontario Works to ODSP

If a disability keeps you from working, apply for ODSP; you can apply while on OW. ODSP pays up to $1,436 a month for a single person (from July 1, 2026; ODSP rates are adjusted each July), with a higher asset limit and earnings exemption. See ODSP for what it pays and applying for ODSP for the application.

Related pages

• ODSP: eligibility and rates
• Working while on ODSP
• Applying for ODSP
• Ontario Trillium Benefit
• Canada Housing Benefit
• Financial help for low-income Canadians