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Financial Assistance
Who is Eligible?
Applicants must be residents of Ontario, 18 years of age or older and have status in Canada. Assistance may be issued to applicants who are 16 or 17 years of age under special circumstances only.
Basic Financial Assistance
People who qualify for Ontario Works Assistance will receive money to help cover the cost of their basic needs and shelter expenses. The amount of money they are eligible to receive will vary depending on their:
- Family size;
- Age of their dependents;
- Income; and
- Shelter expenses
All people in receipt of Ontario Works assistance will receive a drug benefit card each month that they are eligible. The drug card covers most prescription medication.
In addition to basic financial assistance and the drug benefit card people in receipt of Ontario Works assistance may also be eligible to receive the following benefits:
- A Special Diet Allowance which provides additional assistance with the cost of a special diet that is required due to an approved medical condition.
- Pregnant or breast-feeding women are eligible for a Pregnancy/Breast-feeding Nutritional Allowance to assist with the costs of the nutritional needs associated with pregnancy and breast-feeding.
- Each member of the family who is 65 years of age or older is eligible to receive the Advanced Age Allowance of $44 per month.
Temporary Care Assistance
Temporary Care Assistance refers to assistance that is available to an adult who is caring for a child who is not their natural or adopted child and they are not receiving money to provide for the child’s basic needs from another agency such as the Children’s Aid Society. The income and assets of the adult applying for Temporary Care Assistance is not taken into consideration when determining eligibility for Temporary Care Assistance. The maximum amount of assistance that may be issued for a child in temporary care is $274 for the first child and $224 for each additional child. The maximum amount of assets a child in temporary care can have is $500 per child.
How to pay back an overpayment
If you would like to make a repayment towards your overpayment, the preferred method is electronic funds transfer (EFT). You can email your payment to owpayments@simcoe.ca. You must include your full name, date of birth, and member ID (you can find this number at the top of the letter) in the comments section of the transfer.
Alternatively, you can make a cheque, bank draft, or money order payable to the “County of Simcoe Ontario Works.” Be sure to include your name, date of birth, and member ID (you can find this number at the top of the letter).
The payment can be mailed to:
County of Simcoe, Ontario Works
1110 Highway 26, Midhurst, Ontario L9X 1N6
You can also make a repayment at your local Ontario Works office with exact change.