Ontario’s employment services system has been undergoing a massive transformation aimed at integrating employment programs with social assistance, and Toronto is the latest region to undergo this change. The province’s transformation was intended to create an “efficient, more streamlined, and outcomes focused” system. However, in practice the integration has led to the privatization of service delivery, unsustainable caseloads for frontline workers, and funding cutbacks based on performance metrics that are not responsive to the holistic needs of jobseekers and people on income support, such as Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Current and former service providers have been ringing the alarm that without substantive course correction, the system transformation will leave many job seekers behind and have a disproportionate impact on people on social assistance, particularly people with disabilities.

Join Social Planning Toronto on February 24th from 12 PM to 1:30 PM to hear directly from community groups who are advocating to ensure that this transformation does not erode our social safety net and can support the dignity and wellbeing of job seekers and people on social assistance, and the organizations and workers supporting them.