{"id":46072,"date":"2013-04-12T12:58:44","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T16:58:44","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-06-16T13:25:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T17:25:18","slug":"what-about-income-assistance-from-ontario-works","status":"publish","type":"publications-page","link":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-about-income-assistance-from-ontario-works","title":{"rendered":"What about income assistance from Ontario Works?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You might be able to get income assistance from Ontario Works (OW) if you have a low income or no income. Some people call this welfare.<\/p>\n<p>Income assistance is money you get from OW to help pay for things you need, like housing and food.<\/p>\n<p>OW also has an emergency assistance program for people in crisis or in an emergency. This includes people who are in or leaving an abusive relationship.<\/p>\n<p>To apply for OW, contact the nearest OW office or apply online at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ontario.ca\/page\/social-assistance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ontario.ca\/page\/social-assistance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To find the nearest OW office, search by your postal code on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.officelocator.mcss.gov.on.ca\/\">www.officelocator.mcss.gov.on.ca<\/a>. You can also call ServiceOntario at <strong>1-888-999-1142<\/strong> or use the TTY: <strong>1-800-387-5559.\u00a0<\/strong>They can help you apply or find your nearest OW office.<\/p>\n<p>Child support payments do not affect the amount of income assistance that you get.\u00a0But getting spousal support does affect the amount of income assistance that you get. OW reduces the amount of your assistance by the amount of spousal support you get.<\/p>\n<p>OW can refuse to give you assistance or can reduce or cut off your assistance if you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>might be able to get spousal support, and<\/li>\n<li>do not make &#8220;reasonable efforts&#8221; to get it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But sometimes you might not have to try to get support, for example, if you are leaving an abusive relationship. So, it is important to tell OW if your partner has abused you.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a problem getting income assistance, contact a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications\/handbook\/general-legal-services\">community legal clinic<\/a> right away. Or if you are staying in a shelter, they may be able to help you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-46072","publications-page","type-publications-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What about income assistance from Ontario Works? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-about-income-assistance-from-ontario-works\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What about income assistance from Ontario Works? - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You might be able to get income assistance from Ontario Works (OW) if you have a low income or no income. Some people call this welfare. Income assistance is money you get from OW to help pay for things you need, like housing and food. 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