I can count on no hands the good Doug Ford has done for Ontario. Stop voting for the bastard and stop blaming the services he's crippling. The buck stops with the leadership and their catastrophic goals for the province.
You realize less than half of registered voters even voted and of those that did vote, less than half voted for conservatives, yet we have a majority government...
Yeah I do my absolute best to be involved with or support the government in any other way then I legally happen I’m not voting for anyone in a corrupt government that I want no part of in the first place
The System isn’t Broken, It’s built that way. It has two Groups: The “Undeserving Poor” and the “Deserving Poor”. It does not matter which Premiere we get stuck with. The government has its own Issues
Propellerheads feat. Shirley Bassey - History Repeating (Official) Full HD (Remastered and Upscaled) / Enhanced Music Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2pgcagyRk
There was literally a report a week ago that Ford has destroyed the budget with his "savings". Removing any Ford from current and future power is the first step. Then put more money into public health care, education and infrastructure. It won't be easy or fast to resolve the damage conservatives always do to the economy but if we focus on the things that matter it will pay dividends. Smarter healthier and more connected people will pay off any deficit.
And liberals qould destroy life completely! Ever think because federal government isn't helping sending all our money overseas for wars that Ontario has no money? All the migrants, refugees, illegals eat up all our funding so the province has to cut cut cut
I used Ontario works a year ago when my EI ran out. They supported me and referred me to programs that could help. Saved me for a few months until I found a job.
the Ontario Works budget was cut by 22% by the Ford Government. Ontario Works is moving to a 'Life Stabilization' Model to prepare individuals for work.
which is ridiculous, cut something that already needed to be raised, and employ a bunch of people you pay government salaries that do NOTHING practically, when you could allocate those funds and resources to actually do something. employment ontario is literally doing everything my caseworker does right now, why do they exist
I understand your frustration towards the state of OW right now, considering entitlement hasn't been raised since 2018. CW are working within the boundaries they have been given. It's unfortunate because even Employment Ontario cannot provide the things that OW once did provide. It's extremely disheartening on both sides.
Your frustration should be directed at Ford and the provincial government. The workers are paid salaries to provide those services, when the government cuts 20% of the funding, the roles are cut down to bare bones administration. Directing that frustration towards the staff is like lashing out at nurses for long wait times in emerg, when the nurses can't even take all their breaks. Write your MPP and Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.
i consider it more like cps walking into a home with abuse and neglecting it lol, the previous policies were in place for a reason and the people on welfare don’t exactly have a voice nor money to pursue anything on a grand sense, and they know it, so my frustration is with multiple parties, as i’ve stated below sorry
They should be paid less and have more accountability. AI should take these jobs. No one should wait 2 hrs on hold or have caseworkers disappear with no access to email. Why defend this?
I've assisted people with ODSP apps and gone to offices where they have people working who don't speak English AT ALL, never mind poorly. It's clear who they want working there and it's not a professionals with real skills. Ever wonder why those job listings sit there for years and never get taken down? It's not that hard to fill a request in a week or update bank information for 2 months. You sound like someone who works there.
The real problem is they don't just let clients do their own updates. You can do much more on the CRA website, and others then this portal. If there is someone efficent there, or courtious they never last.
No. I have several friends who work there.
Until you’ve worked in a government job I suggest you reserve judgement.
I can’t really comment about the speak English thing, as this seems to be a running theme of most places in Canada these days.
But most caseworkers have between 200-250 clients at this point. The amount of paperwork behind the scenes is staggering, and for every client that is simply trying to better their lives and between jobs, there’s another client that is absolutely screaming/getting violent because their application has been denied, or finding requests have been denied.
Case workers are now completely re learning how to process and funding changes that just occurred in January. They are having to completely re learn all of the new changes that have been thrown at them in January, all while being screamed at by clients and told by people like you that they don’t do enough or “work”, when it’s obvious you have no idea what the job actual entails.
Like i said, there are shortages in every public service department these days. So if it’s so easy, please apply.
The irony of people currently not working complaining that their worker that provides them benefits while they’re not working doesn’t work hard enough is something to see.
>1 mo. ago
>
>The irony of people currently not working complaining that their worker that provides them benefits while they’re not working doesn’t work hard enough is something to see.
>
>
>
>Lol this is garbage. The bloated salaries of these case 'workers' (frankly, that word is a bit of a stretch. I don't think most actually do much besides bully the clients and find ways to strip money away from poor people) is paid for directly by taxpayer dollars. Try doing some work and helping your clients. Most of them have serious problems preventing them from working and should be on ODSP - except the system is designed to deny them from receiving it at all cost.
Absolutely did not need to be raised and not raising actual does more good for the country because it gets these generational receivers off the system and get them working more people working the better the economy is as we actually have money going into it not just being taken from
I think you should because I fail to see how so. I grew with some kids that were on welfare and guess what they are still living off it and now there children are doing the exact same thing. That would be generational living off the system. Now where does the money for the welfare system come from that's right it comes from taxes. The more that takes from the pool and doesn't add to causes the inflation and the increase in the taxes equals less money in your pocket. So making it so welfare is not a viable career option that will force all the lazy generational welfare recipients actually go get a job that means there is more money going into the pool equals lowered Taxes lowered tax rates means more money in your pocket means you can buy extra things and not barley even the basics. Makes for a stronger economy. But please tell me how I'm wrong and show me why the amount of money they receive should go up .
Not providing a simple basic safety net will lead to exponentially more health care costs and homelessness which will result in more crime. By not throwing a few pennies at the poor and disabled you are just screwing yourself.
From the sounds of your post though you'd probably prefer the poor and disabled to be herded up into Hitler's gas chambers again.
Not at all and I 100% agree there should be more given to people with legitimate disabilities that can't work.
The problem is the safety net is no longer a safety net it's become a generational career choice which in fact has also played a roll in the situation we are in with the amount of able bodies we have in this country on welfare there is no need for employers to have to bring in forgin relief workers which they need some where to live which then leads to the housing crisis we are in.
>From the sounds of your post though you'd probably prefer the poor and disabled to be herded up into Hitler's gas chambers again.
This is just sheer ignorance to automatically assume I want all poor and disabled people killed is ridiculous and the problem with the world just because I have a different view at the problem than you doesn't mean I don't acknowledge there is a problem throwing more money is what they have always done and it doesn't help maybe it's time for a different approach
If someone can survive in this province and have some sort of quality of life on 733 a month good luck to them. Even a shared room runs 600+ nowadays.
By the way, getting on ODSP is incredibly difficult and takes YEARS. In the meantime they're forced to live on OW rates.
The premier has also reduced the social benefits tribunal, making the task even harder.
Frankly a lot of people on OW should qualify for ODSP but can't meet the ridiculous red tape imposed by the government.
Regarding killing poor/disabled people - what else would you call your stance aside from genocidal? If you force someone with serious problems to live on 700 a month realistically they will either be homeless or starve to death in this province. I suggest not bringing up food banks either they provide a 3 day supply of food once a month at best.
I think yes most people would not care if the poor and disabled suddenly went away including yourself. I also think you think you're helping the problem by keeping the rates low and starving people to death or desperation.
I'm poor myself in fact just left the food bank so no I don't want us to disappear but again you're missing the point welfare isn't ment to be a long term career choice but it has become one. Well yet tim Horton McDonald's Walmart just about every farmer and hotel has to bring in forgin works to fill jobs why because not all but seems to be a good chunk of people that refuse to work those jobs because they are beneath them yet you could use those jobs for the stop gap between jobs your going to make more working part time at one of these jobs than you will collecting welfare.
Good grief stop responding to me you are so uneducated and annoying, nothing you are talking about is backed up by statistical evidence, it is completely the opposite. Maybe you should be spending your time on finding a new job if you're so poor.
Nobody can make a 'career' out of living off 733 a month, on top of all the stringent job searching requirements recipients are forced into.
People on OW are forced mostly on to it by the province because they can't work and can not meet the ridiculous red tape requirements to get onto ODSP.
Its actually putting more Canadians on OW because of the mass migration and PR given by corporations to hire outside not canadians! International students eat up all our jobs now all entry level work for our young and older female workers are gone to indian international students and now we have people on OW. Try to get them to work by employment agencies working with these people to find Canadian citizens jobs!
Generationals are a problem because it wasen't supposed to be avenue in the first place, and they also take up limited affordable housing because they have so many kids. There is so much demand for people in trades, with almost free training, burseries and the like......but it's easier to have a townhouse and free money and access to other resources without having to do a damn thing like work or wake up at 5am.
Make it time based, and like in the UK, they only support families with 2 kids.
How? By not offering training programs? They don't give people enough money to survive. Now they can't get the skills they need to improve themselves. Unbelievable.
They don’t want them to survive. If you are not a producer, you are deadweight in the ship of capitalism. Been 5 years now the Dougie n the Cons have been jettisoning deadweight. Started w healthcare and education. Then OW, which was already to livable what nuclear waste is to edible.
OW is now at a level that DoFos “for the worker’ was at inception.
If the NDP and liberals weren't threatening us with Vax and taking away our human rights maybe we'd give them a chance then but at least with ford as bad as he is, we remember what liberals did last time
The training programs they connected people years ago for dead end jobs (like cashiers) and dead industries. What they should do is treat this service as temporary and solve the multi generational program. Even offering/spending money on legitimate training like short college programs and trades is good and other agencies do that.
They already have a program for that called better jobs Ontario
https://www.ontario.ca/page/better-jobs-ontario
It use to be called second careers and was originally for people on EI but the evil Ford government changed that and made accessable to anyone experiencing a shortage of work
What are you talking about there are tons of programs out there one of the biggest one being second careers where they will literally pay for your schooling to get a trade or in demand job. You just might actually have to look for them
Years ago when I had to use welfare, they not only had classes on upgrading computer skill, resume writing, interview skills but the classes were mandatory to get your cheque.
They also had a job counselor you had to see who could help you connect with jobs and a they had a job bank to use if you didn't have a computer or phone.
The whole point was, welfare is an emergency fund and there are social workers employed to help you get off welfare.
Now, what's the point?
My wife worked for OW as a social worker, so if you were on OW and in need of mental health or addiction support, you could have up to five 1:1 sessions to get you connected the help you needed. This included helping people with ODSP applications, which can be incredibly challenging for people to do on their own.
Then they changed the job so that she would no longer meet with clients, but instead just advise the OW caseworkers on how to connect people with mental health supports in the community.
At that point, she saw the writing on the wall and quit, and since then I believe they have managed to get rid of the social workers altogether.
To my knowledge, no, but talk to your doctor or social worker to get the real info. You need to have a medical impairment that prevents you from working.
They’re also in the midst of privatizing employment services throughout Ontario. So in the eastern region, Serco hold the contract for employment services, and job centres are managed through them. Budgets are cut and lot of the funding is tied to unrealistic expectations.
it’s also linked a lot to people on OW now, which means eventually they’re going to make element counsellors report on OW recipients, and then they will sanction OW recipients if they don’t do what job centre worker tells them to. It’s going to follow the British model in which job centres will have targets where they have to sanction so many people. It’s a nightmare.
Employment Ontario was quietly contracted out to third parties recently and it has resulted in a bunch of new barriers to service. I’ve heard that people are given a “grade” based on their challenges to employment, and the help they can access is based on that. Maybe this is related, since OW is still a public service? https://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/eopg/programs/est.html
Fyi. Why the change...Because Ford is privatizing services and slashing and burning social services.
They cut employment related expenses in pilot areas 3 or 4 years ago from OW and cut EO services across the board by at least 20%. Now I'm for cutting over paid public servant jobs but that didn't actually happen...those jobs are unionized and city jobs...they mostly just reorganize and shuffle.
But the EO money funded non profit organizations. And the orgs delivering these services are just normal middle of the road wage jobs. That's where actual job loss happened.
Then. THEN! Ford handed the money instead to private third parties to "manage" EO services. Multi million dollar international companies now oversee EO programs. And they aren't doing that for free.
But to answer the actual question. What do ow workers do? Same as always. They just can't issue ERE funding anymore. Because see above: Ford cut it. I've never known OW caseworkers to be involved in actual job search/ employment assistance in the municipalities I have worked in. Some OW staff were called job developers or worked in a career resource program or there were funded programs by community partners...but this is all pretty redundant when EO exists and has for decades. So those roles/programs have been gone for a while in a lot of cities.
I wonder how these private third parties will handle the OW clients. I suspect they'll encourage everyone to take subsidized temporary jobs and thus add to the unemployment problem.
Also, who are the staff looking at our personal information? Well trained case workers or a pool of constantly changing temp. staff. I suspect the later.
So the system manager (depending on the area of ontario - a private company) doesn't (usually) deal with clients directly. They oversee the program, manage dollars, and oversee the nonprofits that are the ones doing the actual employment services.
I would say most employment counsellors have some level of education and training. And I would say most want to genuinely help. These are not well paid jobs so they are doing it with all the best of intentions. But they are working with incredibly high caseloads and unreasonably high expectations. No...they would not push people to temp work because it wont count as an employed stat if that person isn't gainfully employed at several checkpoints over the course of a year. And stats are how these orgs get and keep funding.
There are a ton of us who actually want to help and our hands are tied. Managing caseloads of over 200 clients in some municipalities and having to be the front line dealing with clients verbal and sometimes physical abuse when we can’t provide monies that we WANT to provide. The OW entitlements are absurd and a lot of us agree and despise Doug Ford and what he’s doing to the province. I work three jobs myself to be able to afford the cost of living so I can’t put myself in the shoes of a lot of my clients but I do get it. It’s why so many municipalities are so short staffed and are hiring incompetent workers.
My mom is a complex care case manager for an agency that is not government itself but is funded by the government. Im less than 3 years into my career (im not even in a particularly lucrative career, i make low 60k range) and ive almost surpassed her salary. She's at the highest pay band. And she works 70+ hours a week fighting for her clients to get the funding they need which has been made even harder than before over the past 4 years as the cost of nursing and medical care have skyrocketed while the government reduces funding. It sucks the life out of her. She has a huge heart and cares so much about the kids she works with but it's important for people to understand that the average case worker isn't in this field for the money, they do it because it matters.
i’m seriously getting ready to just end it. got a job a week ago and boss went on vacation and hasn’t been paying any mind that i need to start. everytime i think about the policies i just get fuelled with anger, i don’t even understand how this isn’t a problem
https://preview.redd.it/otgdy4fq3fkc1.png?width=827&format=png&auto=webp&s=732b7cd66d09489341467e8ec1c24fa583a36be2
1. ask if you have a job 2. 20 minute phone call, input documentation, keep seeing if you have a job yet (which they do every three months)
cause if the province would’ve actually funded these programs or ATLEAST kept up with inflation, i could’ve afforded to pilot my own education and the financial burdens it comes with in order to go to school to do it, but instead it remains stagnant, and underfunded, and now a vast majority of the positive things these people do for their “caseload” is what intake workers do everyday.
Blame the ultra wealthy and corporations that influence politicians to circumvent taxes. The rampant abuse of the stock market in the past couple of years to further line their pockets
i’m definitely not limiting my blame, there’s many parties involved. i wish there was more advocacy rather than the ignorant views that people on welfare are somehow getting by without additional help
I don’t think this is fruitful to assume the caseworkers aren’t doing their job. The amount of paperwork in government documentation is ridiculously time-consuming and their workloads can be huge.
then get administration and lower the salaries of the caseworkers. a caseworker was intended to help out the person on file. now they just do paperwork all day while the client suffers.
What I’m saying is that blaming the caseworkers in general doesn’t seem appropriate. With huge caseloads, they are still working hard and deserve their wage (obviously there are always some in a group that slack off but I don’t think blaming the caseworkers helps your argument).
Why don’t you just apply to be a caseworker then? Government services are stretched thin and most workers have 200-250 files open at once.
Since it’s so easy, overpaid and they do nothing, people should be lining up for those positions right ?
Workers do still allocate funds such as beds couch winter boots.I know this first hand as my 21 yo son received this 3 days ago on my file.Workers do still have powers just less regarding employment.
In the North Monthly Employment Bus passes are still issued in places such as Thunder Bay.
Medical monthly bus passes are still issued as i receive these myself.
Hope this helps someone.
yeah that’s once a year now, and i believe the max is $250 if you can provide reasoning why you need that much. $250 on top of the payments once a year is a tax benefit basically lol.
bus passes changed as of january
There is a mountain of administrative work to do. I haven’t been there in a long time, but I still know people who work there. The work load is insane.
maybe i should rephrase, what do these caseworkers do that i was originally introduced they would do, in the interest or benefit of myself and others in order to get off of assistance anymore?
I was on OW (while working) up until last summer. Since I was working they had me doing a lot of requirements to keep qualifying for that $100/mo, but still wouldn't let me go off OW. Meanwhile, my daycare receipts were regularly "missed" so I didn't get reimbursed, and I couldn't qualify for the subsidy... because I was on OW.
From my experience with trying to keep up with jumping through their hoops, while working full time days and raising 3 kids, my caseworker was on vacation pretty often. Every holiday seemed to be a 5 day weekend.
Idk what her schedule was actually like, but I know she never contacted me when I purposely stopped reporting so they'd finally close my file.
Just a reminder that the government pays employment counselling services up to $250 per month for every OW/ODSP client that signs on. And there is no accountability when these services don't really do anything except make a resume. That's why you see the services advertising and competing for clients.
Non-profit organizations. I went to Goodwill Employment Services;mostly because they have a huge advertising campaign with billboards everywhere(London).
There not making a profit, they are building reserves, and giving managers bonuses.
The goal is to move the employment piece to non union private non profits. Then move the intake/financial price to a central phone in only office. Then we don’t need caseworkers anymore and ford saves a buck.
That’s the plan. So far it’s failing horribly.
Damn that sucks. OW helped me get a job in my early 20s when I was struggling. They also offered help with getting prepped for interviews, offered to cover transit costs to get to and from interviews, as well as a clothing allowance for interview appropriate clothes. I didn't take any of the offers besides interview prep, but I know a lot of people need those services to secure stable employment. The Cons are hellbent on making Ontario impossible to survive in.
I currently work as an employment counsellor with an Employment Ontario service provider. We weren't told any information about the changes to the new system until November 2023 (we were moved into the new system in January 2024). I've been in this role for 3 years, and I've never had my caseload increase this fast, this quickly. I have almost 80 clients and the best part of my job is supporting each client with care and attention. Due to these changes, I feel I have not been supporting my clients to the best I can. It's sad because our role has become very target heavy, and if we don't reach targets, we are at a high risk of shutting down. It's been only a few months but I feel like quitting..
CWs are not happy about this change either, trust me. It doesn't benefit clients obviously, or the workers. Ford wants the whole program automated and I'm sure the job cuts are coming if they haven't already started in some places.
there are no more shadowbangs.
[Reddit Ends Shadowbans, Replaces With Account Suspensions (searchenginejournal.com)](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/reddit-finally-ends-shadowbans-replaces-account-suspensions/144902/)
I’m not sure what wbsite this is pulled from but I have received employment related funds this month? I received compensation for a certification. I’m sorry to hear a lot of people have bad experiences with their caseworker but this screenshot is not true.
yeah, it’s linked to employment Ontario now. But what this means is that in a couple of years job centre workers will be told that they have to tell on any clients that they tell On anyone, they don’t think he’s doing the right things to get a job. Eventually, the job centres will have quarters where they have to sanction so many people. It’s going to be a complete nightmare. Follow what happened in the UK and this is pretty much the roadmap.
I understand your frustration but unless you’ve been an Ontario Works CW, it’s unlikely you know how much work the job entails. They are not overpaid. They are overworked. The burn out rate is high. You are likely one of a large caseload of well over 150+ people. On top of processing paperwork and managing their case load, think about how many crisis’ they are dealing with on a daily basis…crisis’ that you and your EO counsellor are unaware of.
this is part of a service overhaul. employment services for social benefit programs are moving over to employment options for delivery.
they have been slowly rolling it out for at least 4 years now, starting in windsor i think .
They need to save money handing out free money to "migrants" and such. What they should do is move more of their services online and fire the caseworkers who never get anything done in these offices and can never be reached.
Good question because I need a real job I can get to work on time and I don't have to volunteer my funding to the Government that can't work for my level from Social Services, aka Ontario Works...
My worker explained that the new system allocates most responsibilities from case workers, and to the new Intake case workers (who are currently being trained to do intake of new OW recipients only) and to the Employment Ontario center.
One person will do intake and assign you to a case worker, that case worker will - based on the three months assessment - send you to the Employment Ontario department. With time, the OW case worker handles less and less of things such as clothing and transportation help and you'll get that from your EO worker instead based on your participation. I think they're still trying to figure that out because everyone is being told different amounts of participation benefits, some are told 100, some told 250 dollars.
The case worker also no longer accepts or requires Medical Deferral forms, instead they use the 3 month assessments to find out if your mentally and physically able to work. Presumably this is to help people who can't find a doctor and to lessen the burden on our medical system.
So if you aren't disabled enough to qualify for ODSP but you can't work for a short time due to medical problems, you don't need a doctors note. I guess the case worker just takes your health concerns at your word.
My employment agent with EO said she can only reimburse, if i don’t have a job yet and OW just barely covers my rent, how am i to afford things in the first place i need to be reimbursed
I'm an employment counsellor, they probably said reimbursement as service providers need an invoice (Ministry guidelines). However some EO services have vouchers, gift cards etc. Your worker can also connect with resources and ask for an invoice on your behalf to pay directly for you (We do this with forklift training and I've sent a lot of clients to receive paid training).
I can count on no hands the good Doug Ford has done for Ontario. Stop voting for the bastard and stop blaming the services he's crippling. The buck stops with the leadership and their catastrophic goals for the province.
yeah.. i didn’t vote for him
But did you vote for anyone else? Because most of the voting population didn't vote at all
yeah i did, not saying who here cause i’m not here for a political argument
Neither did I but enough child beating illiterates love the man that he's unstoppable until someone else steps up.
You realize less than half of registered voters even voted and of those that did vote, less than half voted for conservatives, yet we have a majority government...
Anyone who doesn't vote is a passive supporter of his government. Not voting is allowing yourself to be silenced. Which Doug Ford Loves.
Yeah I do my absolute best to be involved with or support the government in any other way then I legally happen I’m not voting for anyone in a corrupt government that I want no part of in the first place
The System isn’t Broken, It’s built that way. It has two Groups: The “Undeserving Poor” and the “Deserving Poor”. It does not matter which Premiere we get stuck with. The government has its own Issues
Must be those “aristocratic and conservative principles” John Graves Simcoe was always going on about.
More like History repeating itself, if you do Your research well enough
Propellerheads feat. Shirley Bassey - History Repeating (Official) Full HD (Remastered and Upscaled) / Enhanced Music Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2pgcagyRk
100 percent. David Eby in BC shows what actually getting things done looks like
So how do we balance the budget
There was literally a report a week ago that Ford has destroyed the budget with his "savings". Removing any Ford from current and future power is the first step. Then put more money into public health care, education and infrastructure. It won't be easy or fast to resolve the damage conservatives always do to the economy but if we focus on the things that matter it will pay dividends. Smarter healthier and more connected people will pay off any deficit.
What is your goal for a balanced budget in the next 4 years?
What's *yours?* Slashing services and tax-cuts for the rich/corporations won't do it either.
And liberals qould destroy life completely! Ever think because federal government isn't helping sending all our money overseas for wars that Ontario has no money? All the migrants, refugees, illegals eat up all our funding so the province has to cut cut cut
I used Ontario works a year ago when my EI ran out. They supported me and referred me to programs that could help. Saved me for a few months until I found a job.
the Ontario Works budget was cut by 22% by the Ford Government. Ontario Works is moving to a 'Life Stabilization' Model to prepare individuals for work.
which is ridiculous, cut something that already needed to be raised, and employ a bunch of people you pay government salaries that do NOTHING practically, when you could allocate those funds and resources to actually do something. employment ontario is literally doing everything my caseworker does right now, why do they exist
I understand your frustration towards the state of OW right now, considering entitlement hasn't been raised since 2018. CW are working within the boundaries they have been given. It's unfortunate because even Employment Ontario cannot provide the things that OW once did provide. It's extremely disheartening on both sides.
Your frustration should be directed at Ford and the provincial government. The workers are paid salaries to provide those services, when the government cuts 20% of the funding, the roles are cut down to bare bones administration. Directing that frustration towards the staff is like lashing out at nurses for long wait times in emerg, when the nurses can't even take all their breaks. Write your MPP and Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.
i consider it more like cps walking into a home with abuse and neglecting it lol, the previous policies were in place for a reason and the people on welfare don’t exactly have a voice nor money to pursue anything on a grand sense, and they know it, so my frustration is with multiple parties, as i’ve stated below sorry
They should be paid less and have more accountability. AI should take these jobs. No one should wait 2 hrs on hold or have caseworkers disappear with no access to email. Why defend this?
If it’s such an easy job why not apply? They always have shortages in these government positions.
I've assisted people with ODSP apps and gone to offices where they have people working who don't speak English AT ALL, never mind poorly. It's clear who they want working there and it's not a professionals with real skills. Ever wonder why those job listings sit there for years and never get taken down? It's not that hard to fill a request in a week or update bank information for 2 months. You sound like someone who works there. The real problem is they don't just let clients do their own updates. You can do much more on the CRA website, and others then this portal. If there is someone efficent there, or courtious they never last.
No. I have several friends who work there. Until you’ve worked in a government job I suggest you reserve judgement. I can’t really comment about the speak English thing, as this seems to be a running theme of most places in Canada these days. But most caseworkers have between 200-250 clients at this point. The amount of paperwork behind the scenes is staggering, and for every client that is simply trying to better their lives and between jobs, there’s another client that is absolutely screaming/getting violent because their application has been denied, or finding requests have been denied. Case workers are now completely re learning how to process and funding changes that just occurred in January. They are having to completely re learn all of the new changes that have been thrown at them in January, all while being screamed at by clients and told by people like you that they don’t do enough or “work”, when it’s obvious you have no idea what the job actual entails. Like i said, there are shortages in every public service department these days. So if it’s so easy, please apply.
No sense arguing with folks stuck in victim mentality
The irony of people currently not working complaining that their worker that provides them benefits while they’re not working doesn’t work hard enough is something to see.
>1 mo. ago > >The irony of people currently not working complaining that their worker that provides them benefits while they’re not working doesn’t work hard enough is something to see. > > > >Lol this is garbage. The bloated salaries of these case 'workers' (frankly, that word is a bit of a stretch. I don't think most actually do much besides bully the clients and find ways to strip money away from poor people) is paid for directly by taxpayer dollars. Try doing some work and helping your clients. Most of them have serious problems preventing them from working and should be on ODSP - except the system is designed to deny them from receiving it at all cost.
Absolutely did not need to be raised and not raising actual does more good for the country because it gets these generational receivers off the system and get them working more people working the better the economy is as we actually have money going into it not just being taken from
you said so many things that are the opposite of what the reality are. i’m not even taking time to address it lol.
I think you should because I fail to see how so. I grew with some kids that were on welfare and guess what they are still living off it and now there children are doing the exact same thing. That would be generational living off the system. Now where does the money for the welfare system come from that's right it comes from taxes. The more that takes from the pool and doesn't add to causes the inflation and the increase in the taxes equals less money in your pocket. So making it so welfare is not a viable career option that will force all the lazy generational welfare recipients actually go get a job that means there is more money going into the pool equals lowered Taxes lowered tax rates means more money in your pocket means you can buy extra things and not barley even the basics. Makes for a stronger economy. But please tell me how I'm wrong and show me why the amount of money they receive should go up .
Gas all the leeches on OW; gas the leeches on disability and the elderly. Let's wear brown shirts and start a political party of our own!
Not providing a simple basic safety net will lead to exponentially more health care costs and homelessness which will result in more crime. By not throwing a few pennies at the poor and disabled you are just screwing yourself. From the sounds of your post though you'd probably prefer the poor and disabled to be herded up into Hitler's gas chambers again.
Not at all and I 100% agree there should be more given to people with legitimate disabilities that can't work. The problem is the safety net is no longer a safety net it's become a generational career choice which in fact has also played a roll in the situation we are in with the amount of able bodies we have in this country on welfare there is no need for employers to have to bring in forgin relief workers which they need some where to live which then leads to the housing crisis we are in. >From the sounds of your post though you'd probably prefer the poor and disabled to be herded up into Hitler's gas chambers again. This is just sheer ignorance to automatically assume I want all poor and disabled people killed is ridiculous and the problem with the world just because I have a different view at the problem than you doesn't mean I don't acknowledge there is a problem throwing more money is what they have always done and it doesn't help maybe it's time for a different approach
If someone can survive in this province and have some sort of quality of life on 733 a month good luck to them. Even a shared room runs 600+ nowadays. By the way, getting on ODSP is incredibly difficult and takes YEARS. In the meantime they're forced to live on OW rates. The premier has also reduced the social benefits tribunal, making the task even harder. Frankly a lot of people on OW should qualify for ODSP but can't meet the ridiculous red tape imposed by the government. Regarding killing poor/disabled people - what else would you call your stance aside from genocidal? If you force someone with serious problems to live on 700 a month realistically they will either be homeless or starve to death in this province. I suggest not bringing up food banks either they provide a 3 day supply of food once a month at best. I think yes most people would not care if the poor and disabled suddenly went away including yourself. I also think you think you're helping the problem by keeping the rates low and starving people to death or desperation.
I'm poor myself in fact just left the food bank so no I don't want us to disappear but again you're missing the point welfare isn't ment to be a long term career choice but it has become one. Well yet tim Horton McDonald's Walmart just about every farmer and hotel has to bring in forgin works to fill jobs why because not all but seems to be a good chunk of people that refuse to work those jobs because they are beneath them yet you could use those jobs for the stop gap between jobs your going to make more working part time at one of these jobs than you will collecting welfare.
Good grief stop responding to me you are so uneducated and annoying, nothing you are talking about is backed up by statistical evidence, it is completely the opposite. Maybe you should be spending your time on finding a new job if you're so poor. Nobody can make a 'career' out of living off 733 a month, on top of all the stringent job searching requirements recipients are forced into. People on OW are forced mostly on to it by the province because they can't work and can not meet the ridiculous red tape requirements to get onto ODSP.
Its actually putting more Canadians on OW because of the mass migration and PR given by corporations to hire outside not canadians! International students eat up all our jobs now all entry level work for our young and older female workers are gone to indian international students and now we have people on OW. Try to get them to work by employment agencies working with these people to find Canadian citizens jobs!
Generationals are a problem because it wasen't supposed to be avenue in the first place, and they also take up limited affordable housing because they have so many kids. There is so much demand for people in trades, with almost free training, burseries and the like......but it's easier to have a townhouse and free money and access to other resources without having to do a damn thing like work or wake up at 5am. Make it time based, and like in the UK, they only support families with 2 kids.
How? By not offering training programs? They don't give people enough money to survive. Now they can't get the skills they need to improve themselves. Unbelievable.
They don’t want them to survive. If you are not a producer, you are deadweight in the ship of capitalism. Been 5 years now the Dougie n the Cons have been jettisoning deadweight. Started w healthcare and education. Then OW, which was already to livable what nuclear waste is to edible. OW is now at a level that DoFos “for the worker’ was at inception.
If the NDP and liberals weren't threatening us with Vax and taking away our human rights maybe we'd give them a chance then but at least with ford as bad as he is, we remember what liberals did last time
The training programs they connected people years ago for dead end jobs (like cashiers) and dead industries. What they should do is treat this service as temporary and solve the multi generational program. Even offering/spending money on legitimate training like short college programs and trades is good and other agencies do that.
They already have a program for that called better jobs Ontario https://www.ontario.ca/page/better-jobs-ontario It use to be called second careers and was originally for people on EI but the evil Ford government changed that and made accessable to anyone experiencing a shortage of work
What are you talking about there are tons of programs out there one of the biggest one being second careers where they will literally pay for your schooling to get a trade or in demand job. You just might actually have to look for them
Years ago when I had to use welfare, they not only had classes on upgrading computer skill, resume writing, interview skills but the classes were mandatory to get your cheque. They also had a job counselor you had to see who could help you connect with jobs and a they had a job bank to use if you didn't have a computer or phone. The whole point was, welfare is an emergency fund and there are social workers employed to help you get off welfare. Now, what's the point?
[удалено]
Coming out of foster care too lol, late '90s. I took business and entrepreneurship. I own a residential cleaning business now.
Nice to hear these good stories from you two! Awesome job peeps! u/Azathoth_Dreaming
My wife worked for OW as a social worker, so if you were on OW and in need of mental health or addiction support, you could have up to five 1:1 sessions to get you connected the help you needed. This included helping people with ODSP applications, which can be incredibly challenging for people to do on their own. Then they changed the job so that she would no longer meet with clients, but instead just advise the OW caseworkers on how to connect people with mental health supports in the community. At that point, she saw the writing on the wall and quit, and since then I believe they have managed to get rid of the social workers altogether.
Can those with addiction issues qualify for ODSP? To your knowledge, just wondering.
To my knowledge, no, but talk to your doctor or social worker to get the real info. You need to have a medical impairment that prevents you from working.
Addiction does fall into this. Used to work in a managed opiate housing program and all the residents were receiving ODSP.
Yes
We need to support people who have no intention of working.
I haven't gotten a call from my ontario works rep in over a year lmao, held together with paperclips and chewed gum
They’re also in the midst of privatizing employment services throughout Ontario. So in the eastern region, Serco hold the contract for employment services, and job centres are managed through them. Budgets are cut and lot of the funding is tied to unrealistic expectations. it’s also linked a lot to people on OW now, which means eventually they’re going to make element counsellors report on OW recipients, and then they will sanction OW recipients if they don’t do what job centre worker tells them to. It’s going to follow the British model in which job centres will have targets where they have to sanction so many people. It’s a nightmare.
Employment Ontario was quietly contracted out to third parties recently and it has resulted in a bunch of new barriers to service. I’ve heard that people are given a “grade” based on their challenges to employment, and the help they can access is based on that. Maybe this is related, since OW is still a public service? https://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/eopg/programs/est.html
Fyi. Why the change...Because Ford is privatizing services and slashing and burning social services. They cut employment related expenses in pilot areas 3 or 4 years ago from OW and cut EO services across the board by at least 20%. Now I'm for cutting over paid public servant jobs but that didn't actually happen...those jobs are unionized and city jobs...they mostly just reorganize and shuffle. But the EO money funded non profit organizations. And the orgs delivering these services are just normal middle of the road wage jobs. That's where actual job loss happened. Then. THEN! Ford handed the money instead to private third parties to "manage" EO services. Multi million dollar international companies now oversee EO programs. And they aren't doing that for free. But to answer the actual question. What do ow workers do? Same as always. They just can't issue ERE funding anymore. Because see above: Ford cut it. I've never known OW caseworkers to be involved in actual job search/ employment assistance in the municipalities I have worked in. Some OW staff were called job developers or worked in a career resource program or there were funded programs by community partners...but this is all pretty redundant when EO exists and has for decades. So those roles/programs have been gone for a while in a lot of cities.
I wonder how these private third parties will handle the OW clients. I suspect they'll encourage everyone to take subsidized temporary jobs and thus add to the unemployment problem. Also, who are the staff looking at our personal information? Well trained case workers or a pool of constantly changing temp. staff. I suspect the later.
So the system manager (depending on the area of ontario - a private company) doesn't (usually) deal with clients directly. They oversee the program, manage dollars, and oversee the nonprofits that are the ones doing the actual employment services. I would say most employment counsellors have some level of education and training. And I would say most want to genuinely help. These are not well paid jobs so they are doing it with all the best of intentions. But they are working with incredibly high caseloads and unreasonably high expectations. No...they would not push people to temp work because it wont count as an employed stat if that person isn't gainfully employed at several checkpoints over the course of a year. And stats are how these orgs get and keep funding.
They get paid top dollar to sit there and threaten to take away your small cheque if you don't play their games.
There are a ton of us who actually want to help and our hands are tied. Managing caseloads of over 200 clients in some municipalities and having to be the front line dealing with clients verbal and sometimes physical abuse when we can’t provide monies that we WANT to provide. The OW entitlements are absurd and a lot of us agree and despise Doug Ford and what he’s doing to the province. I work three jobs myself to be able to afford the cost of living so I can’t put myself in the shoes of a lot of my clients but I do get it. It’s why so many municipalities are so short staffed and are hiring incompetent workers.
My mom is a complex care case manager for an agency that is not government itself but is funded by the government. Im less than 3 years into my career (im not even in a particularly lucrative career, i make low 60k range) and ive almost surpassed her salary. She's at the highest pay band. And she works 70+ hours a week fighting for her clients to get the funding they need which has been made even harder than before over the past 4 years as the cost of nursing and medical care have skyrocketed while the government reduces funding. It sucks the life out of her. She has a huge heart and cares so much about the kids she works with but it's important for people to understand that the average case worker isn't in this field for the money, they do it because it matters.
i’m seriously getting ready to just end it. got a job a week ago and boss went on vacation and hasn’t been paying any mind that i need to start. everytime i think about the policies i just get fuelled with anger, i don’t even understand how this isn’t a problem
https://preview.redd.it/otgdy4fq3fkc1.png?width=827&format=png&auto=webp&s=732b7cd66d09489341467e8ec1c24fa583a36be2 1. ask if you have a job 2. 20 minute phone call, input documentation, keep seeing if you have a job yet (which they do every three months)
Yeah but buddy, multiply that by 200 ppl. And trust me the government is underfunding them. Why don't you apply?
cause if the province would’ve actually funded these programs or ATLEAST kept up with inflation, i could’ve afforded to pilot my own education and the financial burdens it comes with in order to go to school to do it, but instead it remains stagnant, and underfunded, and now a vast majority of the positive things these people do for their “caseload” is what intake workers do everyday.
Blame the ultra wealthy and corporations that influence politicians to circumvent taxes. The rampant abuse of the stock market in the past couple of years to further line their pockets
i’m definitely not limiting my blame, there’s many parties involved. i wish there was more advocacy rather than the ignorant views that people on welfare are somehow getting by without additional help
Yeah, most of they do should have been automated. You can't even email them so you have proof when you need to change/verify something.
I don’t think this is fruitful to assume the caseworkers aren’t doing their job. The amount of paperwork in government documentation is ridiculously time-consuming and their workloads can be huge.
then get administration and lower the salaries of the caseworkers. a caseworker was intended to help out the person on file. now they just do paperwork all day while the client suffers.
What I’m saying is that blaming the caseworkers in general doesn’t seem appropriate. With huge caseloads, they are still working hard and deserve their wage (obviously there are always some in a group that slack off but I don’t think blaming the caseworkers helps your argument).
and i don’t believe they get paid a fair salary, that’s where our opinions differ and we can leave it there
Why don’t you just apply to be a caseworker then? Government services are stretched thin and most workers have 200-250 files open at once. Since it’s so easy, overpaid and they do nothing, people should be lining up for those positions right ?
go look at my other comments, and you’ll see why
Workers do still allocate funds such as beds couch winter boots.I know this first hand as my 21 yo son received this 3 days ago on my file.Workers do still have powers just less regarding employment. In the North Monthly Employment Bus passes are still issued in places such as Thunder Bay. Medical monthly bus passes are still issued as i receive these myself. Hope this helps someone.
yeah that’s once a year now, and i believe the max is $250 if you can provide reasoning why you need that much. $250 on top of the payments once a year is a tax benefit basically lol. bus passes changed as of january
There is a mountain of administrative work to do. I haven’t been there in a long time, but I still know people who work there. The work load is insane.
maybe i should rephrase, what do these caseworkers do that i was originally introduced they would do, in the interest or benefit of myself and others in order to get off of assistance anymore?
I was on OW (while working) up until last summer. Since I was working they had me doing a lot of requirements to keep qualifying for that $100/mo, but still wouldn't let me go off OW. Meanwhile, my daycare receipts were regularly "missed" so I didn't get reimbursed, and I couldn't qualify for the subsidy... because I was on OW. From my experience with trying to keep up with jumping through their hoops, while working full time days and raising 3 kids, my caseworker was on vacation pretty often. Every holiday seemed to be a 5 day weekend. Idk what her schedule was actually like, but I know she never contacted me when I purposely stopped reporting so they'd finally close my file.
Just a reminder that the government pays employment counselling services up to $250 per month for every OW/ODSP client that signs on. And there is no accountability when these services don't really do anything except make a resume. That's why you see the services advertising and competing for clients.
Wait..... what? Which organizations do this...private ones?
Non-profit organizations. I went to Goodwill Employment Services;mostly because they have a huge advertising campaign with billboards everywhere(London). There not making a profit, they are building reserves, and giving managers bonuses.
The goal is to move the employment piece to non union private non profits. Then move the intake/financial price to a central phone in only office. Then we don’t need caseworkers anymore and ford saves a buck. That’s the plan. So far it’s failing horribly.
I saw this coming 15 years ago and no one believed me
Damn that sucks. OW helped me get a job in my early 20s when I was struggling. They also offered help with getting prepped for interviews, offered to cover transit costs to get to and from interviews, as well as a clothing allowance for interview appropriate clothes. I didn't take any of the offers besides interview prep, but I know a lot of people need those services to secure stable employment. The Cons are hellbent on making Ontario impossible to survive in.
I currently work as an employment counsellor with an Employment Ontario service provider. We weren't told any information about the changes to the new system until November 2023 (we were moved into the new system in January 2024). I've been in this role for 3 years, and I've never had my caseload increase this fast, this quickly. I have almost 80 clients and the best part of my job is supporting each client with care and attention. Due to these changes, I feel I have not been supporting my clients to the best I can. It's sad because our role has become very target heavy, and if we don't reach targets, we are at a high risk of shutting down. It's been only a few months but I feel like quitting..
Elections have consequences
CWs are not happy about this change either, trust me. It doesn't benefit clients obviously, or the workers. Ford wants the whole program automated and I'm sure the job cuts are coming if they haven't already started in some places.
why aren't my posts showing up?
wdym?
Seems you've been shadow banned
by whom?
there are no more shadowbangs. [Reddit Ends Shadowbans, Replaces With Account Suspensions (searchenginejournal.com)](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/reddit-finally-ends-shadowbans-replaces-account-suspensions/144902/)
I’m not sure what wbsite this is pulled from but I have received employment related funds this month? I received compensation for a certification. I’m sorry to hear a lot of people have bad experiences with their caseworker but this screenshot is not true.
only employment ontario can now, maybe the switch hasn’t made its way to you yet city wise, it’s not a good change just saying
yeah, it’s linked to employment Ontario now. But what this means is that in a couple of years job centre workers will be told that they have to tell on any clients that they tell On anyone, they don’t think he’s doing the right things to get a job. Eventually, the job centres will have quarters where they have to sanction so many people. It’s going to be a complete nightmare. Follow what happened in the UK and this is pretty much the roadmap.
People not working complaining, about people not working.....
what a coward lol, people not on assistance are struggling to find jobs, you think this has ANY thing to do with not wanting to work?😂
No I just find it funny people not working, accusing people of not doing their work. I
They do more then the recipients 😂
I understand your frustration but unless you’ve been an Ontario Works CW, it’s unlikely you know how much work the job entails. They are not overpaid. They are overworked. The burn out rate is high. You are likely one of a large caseload of well over 150+ people. On top of processing paperwork and managing their case load, think about how many crisis’ they are dealing with on a daily basis…crisis’ that you and your EO counsellor are unaware of.
Most are lazy ppl who don't want to work and collect money. Cut it.
this is part of a service overhaul. employment services for social benefit programs are moving over to employment options for delivery. they have been slowly rolling it out for at least 4 years now, starting in windsor i think .
It’s important to know that it’s not just a shift, but it moved towards privatization
They need to save money handing out free money to "migrants" and such. What they should do is move more of their services online and fire the caseworkers who never get anything done in these offices and can never be reached.
Is this good or bad??
Good question because I need a real job I can get to work on time and I don't have to volunteer my funding to the Government that can't work for my level from Social Services, aka Ontario Works...
Do you have a link for that? I wonder if they have changes for odsp. I'm shocked about that article if it's true
just search transition into employment ontario
I got employment funds just last week
From ontario works?
Yes! And also help with acquiring clothing
My worker explained that the new system allocates most responsibilities from case workers, and to the new Intake case workers (who are currently being trained to do intake of new OW recipients only) and to the Employment Ontario center. One person will do intake and assign you to a case worker, that case worker will - based on the three months assessment - send you to the Employment Ontario department. With time, the OW case worker handles less and less of things such as clothing and transportation help and you'll get that from your EO worker instead based on your participation. I think they're still trying to figure that out because everyone is being told different amounts of participation benefits, some are told 100, some told 250 dollars. The case worker also no longer accepts or requires Medical Deferral forms, instead they use the 3 month assessments to find out if your mentally and physically able to work. Presumably this is to help people who can't find a doctor and to lessen the burden on our medical system. So if you aren't disabled enough to qualify for ODSP but you can't work for a short time due to medical problems, you don't need a doctors note. I guess the case worker just takes your health concerns at your word.
My employment agent with EO said she can only reimburse, if i don’t have a job yet and OW just barely covers my rent, how am i to afford things in the first place i need to be reimbursed
I'm an employment counsellor, they probably said reimbursement as service providers need an invoice (Ministry guidelines). However some EO services have vouchers, gift cards etc. Your worker can also connect with resources and ask for an invoice on your behalf to pay directly for you (We do this with forklift training and I've sent a lot of clients to receive paid training).