Ontario changes regulations to prevent illegal migrants from collecting social assistance

The Ontario Legislature at Queen's Park in Toronto. Photo by Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

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The Ontario government has changed regulations to prevent people who are not legal immigrants from collecting social assistance payments.

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Doug Ford posted on social media Thursday morning that “taxpayer-funded social assistance was never meant to support people living in Ontario illegally. As of today, it doesn’t.”

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The Ontario premier was first alerted to the situation by a National Post story last month that reported on the case of a man who was awarded social assistance payments by a provincial tribunal despite living in Canada illegally for more than two decades.

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In that case, the man entered the country in 1997 on a visa that expired after four years, but stayed and worked cash jobs until 2023, when he entered the homeless shelter system. He had initially been denied benefits by Ontario Works due to his lack of legal status, but successfully appealed to the benefits tribunal.

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Ford said last month, citing the Post story, that “our government will always be there to support people on hard times — but that doesn’t include people living in Canada illegally,” and he vowed to change the regulations.

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Thursday’s announcement does that, amending regulations under the Ontario Works Act and the Ontario Disability Support Program Act to “provide clarity on who is eligible for social assistance,” according to a government statement.

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Under the new rules, those in Canada illegally and “individuals authorized to remain in Canada on a temporary basis” — on a student visa, for example — are no longer eligible to collect social assistance payments.

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“These changes will protect taxpayer dollars and ensure these programs are there for the people they were intended to support,” said Michael Parsa, minister of children, community and social services, in a statement.

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The federal Conservatives called for such a change last week, with Michelle Rempel Garner, the Tory critic for Immigration and Citizenship saying the tribunal decision was “yet another government action that undermines core principles of our immigration system: those who come to Canada should do so legally and with a clear commitment to becoming self-sufficient as quickly as possible.”

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She said then that the federal Liberal government should back any change to the regulations that the Ontario government might make.

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