6.3 — Board and lodge

On this page Skip this page navigation

Summary of Policy

The amount of income support payable to an applicant or recipient who receives board and lodging from the same source is calculated on a monthly basis and determined by the family size, age of dependants, geographic location and the individual circumstances of the benefit unit. Income support is calculated differently for recipients with a current immigration sponsorship agreement.

Legislative Authority

Section 11 of the ODSP Act
Sections 23, 24, 29, 33, 35, and 40 of the ODSP Regulation

Summary of Directive

When calculating a board and lodging amount, the family size, age of dependants, the geographic location and individual benefit unit circumstances must be considered.
Immigration sponsorship agreements must be considered when calculating a board and lodging amount. The living arrangements and any support from the sponsor are to be considered when determining the board and lodging amount.
Periods of ineligibility can cause a reduction or removal of the non-compliant member from the board and lodging calculation depending on the issue of non-compliance.

Intent of Policy

To ensure that recipients receive an appropriate board and lodging amount based on their family size and circumstances.

Application of Policy

Verification of living arrangements must be requested at the time of application and at each subsequent update review.

All ODSP recipients who are in board and lodging arrangements receive the maximum board and lodging rate subject to any applicable income deductions. An annual adjustments tied to inflation will be applied to the board and lodge rates each July.

To determine who is included in the benefit unit for purposes of calculating income support please refer to Directives 6.1 Basic Needs Calculation, 2.1 Who is Eligible: Dependent Adults, 2.2 Who is Eligible: Dependent Children and 2.3 Spouse.

What is Board and Lodging

A board and lodging situation is one in which a recipient receives food and shelter from the same source.

In situations where the recipient’s circumstances are not clearly defined as either rent or board and lodging, the shelter arrangement is determined by reviewing the recipient’s food preparation practices.

If the landlord purchases and prepares the food, the recipient is a boarder. If the recipient purchases and prepares food separately for himself/herself and his/her dependants, then the recipient is in a rental situation. To be considered a renter, a recipient does not necessarily need to be living in self-contained quarters, but must purchase and prepare his/her own food.

A co-resident calculation does not apply to recipients living in a board and lodging situation. A co-resident calculation is applied to recipients who have their shelter amount assessed separately from their basic needs amount.

Board and Lodging Amount

Annual adjustments tied to inflation will be applied to the board and lodge amounts for singles and families each July. All ODSP applicants/recipients in a board and lodging situation will have their budgetary requirements calculated based on the maximum board and lodging rate, as follows:

$924 for a single person;
$1,376, if there is a spouse included in the benefit unit; if both spouses are aged 65 and are not each a person with a disability, in receipt of CPP-D or grandparented from FBA;
$1,840, if both spouses meet the double disabled rates criteria (e.g. are each a person with a disability, in receipt of CPP-D or grandparented from FBA).
$71 automatic special boarder allowance per benefit unit.

In addition to the board and lodging amount and as part of budgetary requirements, the recipient may also receive:

An amount for a special diet allowance and/or pregnancy/breast-feeding nutritional allowance if he/she or any member of the benefit unit meets eligibility requirements for those allowances. (See Directives 6.4 Special Diet Allowance and ;6.5 Pregnancy/Breast-Feeding Nutritional Allowance for details).
A Remote Communities Allowance for recipients who live north of the 50th parallel and are without year-round road access (see Remote Communities Allowance table).

If the applicant/recipient has dependants other than a spouse, the following amounts are added to the income support:

Additional Amounts for Dependants Other than a Spouse

Benefit unit with no spouse included

Dependant	18 years and over	13 - 17 years	0 - 12 years
First dependant	$518	$313	$272
For each additional dependant, add to the amount in item 1	$255	$155	$114

Benefit unit with a spouse included

Dependant	18 years and over	13 - 17 years	0 - 12 years
For each dependant, add	$255	$155	$114

Remote Communities Allowance

Number of Dependants other than a Spouse	Recipient	Recipient and Spouse
0	$272	$417
1	$420	$506
2	$511	$599

For each additional dependant, add $99.