What is ODSP?

According to the Ontario Government, the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) was created “to meet the unique needs of disabled residents of Ontario through the provision of income and support to help recipients find meaningful employment.

ODSP is a social assistance program that provides financial support to eligible residents of Ontario who have disabilities fulfilling their essential needs and promoting independence.

The purpose of ODSP is to pay for necessities of life, including housing, food, clothes, and transportation. Prescription drugs, dental and vision care, and mobility device upkeep and repair are all worthwhile extra perks. Since the program is only to be used as a last choice, you must exhaust all other options for income (such as a job, a disability benefit from the Canada Pension Plan, a workplace safety benefit, and the Insurance Board) before resorting to ODSP.

What are the ODSP payment dates for 2024?

From January to November, ODSP payments are issued on the last business day of each month. In December, payments are issued a few days early to account for holiday delays and closures. Payments are on the last business day of each month. December payments may be available earlier in the month.

ODS payment dates for 2024 are:

Qualifying for ODSP 2024 Eligibility

To qualify for ODSP, you need to meet certain eligibility criteria. Here’s a quick overview of the ODSP eligibility requirements.

• Be 18 years or older.
• Be an Ontario resident.
• Demonstrate financial need.
• Meet the ODSP Act’s definition of a person with a disability,

Your financial eligibility will be assessed first, followed by your disability status (unless you are a member of a prescribed class, in which case you won’t need your disability assessed).

If you meet the financial qualifications, you’ll receive a package of forms to fill out with your healthcare practitioner about your disability, and then your eligibility for ODSP will be assessed.

Keep in mind that even if you are not eligible for ODSP income support, you may still be eligible for ODSP employment support, which helps Ontarians with disabilities find and/or keep a job, and advance their careers.

Minors can apply up to 6 months in advance from their 18th birthday.

Proving Financial Need - You are considered to need financial assistance if your basic living expenses exceed your household’s income and assets.

When applying for ODSP income support, your caseworker will inquire about the following information to determine your total assets and income:

• Housing and shelter-related expenses
• Total income coming into your household and the total value of assets and belongings you each household member

Your caseworker is the one that will validate your need for financial assistance. They will ask for your consent to contact third parties to gather more information about your situation to determine your eligibility for this benefit.

ODSP Act’s Definition of Disability

• A person has significant mental or physical impairment that is chronic or recurrent and is expected to last one year or more.
• The impairment restricts a person’s ability to work, care for yourself, and function in the community.
• The duration of the impairment and the restrictions it’s causing in your daily life has been verified by a licensed healthcare professional.

The caseworker will give you and your healthcare provider(s) a Disability Determination Package. Once it’s filled out and submitted, the MCCSS staff will review the application to determine whether you meet the program’s definition of a person with a disability.

ODSP Application Process

The ODSP application is a 5-step process:

1. Apply for ODSP online: Fill out some personal information on behalf of you and your family, including income information and expenses. The process generally takes between 20 to 30 minutes.

2. Even if you start your application online know that you’ll have to visit your local office still to complete the application. A caseworker will reach out to schedule an in-take meeting within five days. In this interview, you may be asked to show bills and other documents supporting your claims.

You will be required to bring in documents to help the caseworker verify the following information:

a) Personal information – Bring documents such as birth certificates, immigration papers, passports, Canadian citizenship cards, or permanent resident cards.

b) Cumulative household income – Tax return and pay stubs for all family members in your household at least 18 years or older. Also, include statements from pension programs such as CPP, WSIB Benefits, employment income, profits from a business, spousal support, sponsorship payment, OAS benefits, loans, and more.

Exempted income sources include Canada Child Benefit, Ontario Child Benefit, RDSP payments, OSAP loans for education, and child support.

3. Meeting with your caseworker to review your application

During the meeting with your caseworker, you will be required to sign the following forms:

• Application for Assistance
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Consent to Disclose and Verify Information
• Consent to Disclose and Verify Personal Information

You may be required to sign additional information depending on your circumstances.

The last two forms mentioned on the list above authorize decision-makers to collect information about you from other programs and government agencies to determine your eligibility to receive ODSP benefits.

4. Decision notification

If additional documents are not needed, you’ll know whether or not you’re financially eligible for ODSP income support within 15 business days of your meeting with the caseworker.

If you’re not found to be financially eligible, you can request an internal review within 30 days of receiving the decision.

If they find you financially eligible, you will receive a Disability Determination Package. This package has two parts:

• Health Status Report: It aims to obtain information about your impairments, their expected duration, and resulting restrictions.
• Activities of Daily Life Index: Its purpose is to obtain information about how your impairment and restriction will impact how you care for yourself, your work, and your community life.

Disability Determination Package covers:

• Instruction sheet on how and who can complete the forms
• Health Status Report that asks for information about your medical condition (for example, impairments, restrictions, treatments, duration)
• Activities of Daily Living Index that asks for information about how your medical condition affects your daily life, including your ability to work, care for yourself, and participate in your community
• Self Report that allows you to tell us about how your disability affects your daily life
• Consent to the Release of Medical Information for you to complete and sign

Medical professionals authorized to complete both parts of the Disability Determination Package include physicians, registered nurses, psychologists, optometrists, and ophthalmologists.

Medical professionals who are only authorized to complete the Activities of Daily Life Index are audiologists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and social workers.

5. Once all the Disability Determination Package forms are complete, send them to the ODSP Disability Adjudication Unit.

There, specialized staff called Adjudicators will review the contents of the package and determine whether or not you meet the program’s definition of a person with a disability.

This process can take time if your application is complex. Only 25 percent of the applications get reviewed within ten days. The rest take up to 90 business days.

Once the decision is made, your local ODSP office will contact you to arrange a meeting with your case worker. If you’re eligible, they will outline when you can expect your payments and help you create a plan.

ODSP Benefits 2024 – How Much Will I Receive

Those eligible for ODSP can receive income support and employment support.

Income support

If you rent or own your home, you will receive a monthly payment that covers:

• Basic needs: for example; food, clothing, and other personal items.
• Shelter allowance: for example; rent or mortgage payment, utilities, home insurance, and property taxes.

Basic Needs

The basic needs portion of your ODSP income support is meant to help cover the cost of:

• food
• clothing
• other necessary personal items

The amount of income support payable for basic needs is calculated monthly and determined based on the family size, age of dependants, geographic location, and the individual circumstances of the benefit unit.

The amount you receive for basic needs will differ based on

• the number of people in your family
• whether or not your spouse has a disability
• the age of your family members

A table shows ODSP income support rates in 2024 for basic needs-related expenses:

Note 1. A recipient if there is no spouse included in the benefit unit.
Note 2. A recipient with a spouse included in the benefit unit if Note 3 does not apply.

Note 3. A recipient with a spouse is included in the benefit unit if each of the recipients and the spouse is a person with a disability.

For each additional dependant, add $237 if the dependant is 18 years of age or older, and $0 if the dependant is 0 to 17 years of age.

The calculation of income support for a recipient with a spouse included in the benefit unit, where each person with a disability under the ODSP Act, is subject to a maximum of $2,205 per month. Where there are dependants included in the benefit unit, additional allowances and benefits are added to the maximum amount.

• If you reside in Northern Ontario, you will receive Remote Communities Allowance. This refers to additional funds for those north of the 50th parallel who don’t have year-round road access.

Remote Communities Allowance

Each additional dependent will get $102.

Source: Ontario.ca

Shelter Allowance

The shelter allowance is meant to help cover:

• your rent or your mortgage payment
• heat
• utilities (hydro, water)
• property taxes
• home insurance
• condominium fees

The amount you receive for the shelter allowance is based on your actual shelter costs, up to a maximum depending on the number of people in your family.

Source: Ontario.ca

Upon request, or at the time of update, shelter costs are reassessed for the period under review to ensure the correct amount of assistance was provided. If the verified amount was too low, and the recipient was not receiving the maximum shelter amount, arrears can be provided up to the maximum amount allowable in the shelter table. If the average monthly amount input is too high, an overpayment will be established and recovery will commence.

You may also receive an amount for a second residence if you or your spouse is temporarily required to participate in a training program to improve your employment prospects. You can receive up to $455 for this temporary accommodation.

Health-related benefits

If you’re eligible to receive ODSP’s income support, you may also qualify for its myriad of health benefits such as

• Prescription drug coverage: Applicable to drugs listed in the Ontario Drug Benefit Formulary and prescribed by an approved medical professional.
• Dental coverage: You and your spouse may get coverage for:
  • basic dental services
  • additional services if your disability, prescribed medications, or prescribed treatment affects your oral health

Anyone under 18 years old in your family will automatically get coverage through the government’s Healthy Smiles Ontario program.

If you have dependants 18 years of age or older, they may be able to get dental coverage through Ontario Works discretionary benefits.

• Vision care: Covers vision care costs pertaining to routine eye exams, prescription eyeglasses, and eyeglass repairs for you and your family.
• Medical supplies: Coverage for diabetic supplies and surgical supplies.
• Medical transportation: Coverage for traveling costs to and from a medical appointment (if it exceeds $15).
• Pregnant and breastfeeding nutritional allowance: If you are receiving ODSP income support and you or a family member is either pregnant or breastfeeding, you may be able to get assistance with your nutrition-related costs.

The Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Nutritional Allowance may provide you or a family member with either:

• $40 a month to assist with the costs of a regular diet.
• $50 a month to assist with the costs of a non-dairy diet if you are lactose intolerant.

The allowance may be paid until the baby reaches 12 months of age.

• Extended health benefit: This program covers those who are ineligible for ODSP’s income support due to high income but still have health-related expenses.
• Transitional health benefit: If you’re leaving the ODSP program to begin working part-time or full-time, you can still receive coverage for prescription drugs, dental and vision care.

Source: Ontario.ca

Employment benefits

MCCSS understands that those with disabilities would like to work and reach their financial goals. This is why they provide an array of work-related benefits to aid disabled individuals and their eligible family members to earn money from a job, join a training program, or even start a business.

You can obtain support for the following:

• Preparing for work
• Securing a job that matches your skillset
• Keeping a job
• Job Coaching
• On-the-job help
• Help with advancing your career
• Adaptive technology training
• Job accommodations
• Access to assisted devices and training for how to use them

If you want to start your own business, you can get help with:

• Developing and executing a business plan
• Budgeting and money management training
• Marketing training
• Mentoring

Eligible family members include your spouse or children who are 18 years of age or older and are not a full-time student.

You and eligible family members may receive $500 in 12 months to cover work-related costs such as clothing, uniforms, licensing fees, work boots, tools and special equipment, and transportation.

Source: Ontario.ca

Applying for Employment Support

You do not have to meet the financial eligibility requirement to obtain employment support. To procure work-related assistance, download and fill out “Application for Employment Supports.”

Then, an approved healthcare professional will need to complete a Verification of Disability/Impairment. This isn’t necessary if you’re already receiving Income Support payments.

You will then have to give your consent to release medical information. This is important so that the MSSCC office can gather your medical information from your healthcare providers and verify your disability.

Can You Work and Still Get ODSP?

Yes, you can work and still be eligible to receive ODSP. MCCSS encourages its ODSP recipients to work to make the most of the financial help they’re receiving through the benefit payment.

Those who work while on ODSP are much better off financially than those who live on the benefits alone.

Adults in your family can earn up to $200 each month while still receiving the same ODSP payment. For every dollar you make above $200, your benefit will only be reduced by 50 cents.

You can preserve more of your benefit if you’re a working parent who needs to pay for child care or if you need specialized equipment due to your disability to do your job.

If you’re currently a full-time student who’s working part-time, then your income, regardless of the amount, won’t affect the ODSP benefit amount at all.

How to receive ODSP payments?

There are three ways you can receive your ODSP payment:

• direct deposit
• reloadable payment card, or

The easiest, quickest, and safest way to receive your ODSP payment every month is by signing up for direct deposit.

That way, your payment will automatically be deposited in your bank account on the dates outlined above.

If you don’t have a bank account, another option is a reloadable payment card.

It works similarly to a debit card, but without being associated with a bank account.

The ODSP payments get electronically loaded onto the card, and you can use a PIN to withdraw money from any ATM, for online shopping, and to pay at stores.

While direct deposit and reloadable payment cards are the most commonly used payment methods, you may also be eligible to receive the payment in the form of a cheque every month.

However, they are only issued this way under exceptional circumstances, such as (but not limited to):

• If there are no accessible bank branches or ATMs near your home to allow for the use of your bank/debit card
• If you have trouble accessing shops in your area that accept bank/debit cards as a form of payment
• If you have a disability that hinders you from using a bank/debit card
• If you don’t have the identification documents needed to open a bank account
• If your living situation doesn’t allow for easy use of a bank/debit card or reloadable payment card, such as if you live in an institution or group home
• If you live on a First Nations reserve and can’t use direct deposit

Changes In ODSP 2024

As of 2024, there are no existing plans to augment the payments disbursed by the ODSP. Nevertheless, the program recognizes the potential need for future adjustments to accommodate inflation and the increasing cost of living.

As per the ODSP Increase in 2024 Latest Update “increases to rates and benefits to reflect inflation and cost of living will drive additional costs” in the years to come, but it does not refer to any particular plans to increase the money for the programs.

Conclusion

ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) payment dates for 2024 have been announced, providing recipients with valuable information on when they can expect to receive their financial assistance. These payment dates are essential for individuals who rely on the program to meet their basic needs and manage their expenses. By knowing when their payments will be deposited into their accounts, ODSP recipients can better plan and budget for their financial obligations throughout the year. Recipients need to stay informed about these payment dates and ensure that they are aware of any changes or updates that may occur. The ODSP program plays a crucial role in supporting individuals with disabilities in Ontario, and these payment dates help ensure a smooth and efficient distribution of funds.

If you are encountering any challenges in applying for ODSP benefits, feel free to reach out to Filing Taxes at 416-479-8532. Schedule an NTR engagement appointment with us and take the first step toward proper management of your finances.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this page is intended to provide general information. The information does not consider your personal situation and is not intended to be used without consultation from accounting and financial professionals. Salman Rundhawa and Filing Taxes will not be held liable for any problems that arise from the usage of the information provided on this page.