2025–2026 Ontario Works administration and employment assistance: program delivery funding
Component: Ontario Works Administration and Employment Assistance Includes
Expenditure Lines
- Program Delivery Fund - 100% Provincial
- LEAP Incentives
- Program Delivery Fund 50-50
- Program Delivery Fund 50-50 Time Limited Projects
- Program Delivery Fund - FN - 100% Provincial
- FN-LEAP Incentives
- Program Delivery Fund FN 50-50
- Program Delivery Fund FN 50-50 Time Limited Projects
Service objectives
Ontario Works Delivery sites shall:
- Unless otherwise directed by the Province, provide financial assistance to eligible recipients, including applicants who have immediate financial need and have applied for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP); and
- Provide employment assistance that includes assistance for person-centred supports that help recipients move toward participation in employment services. Program Delivery Funding (PDF) can be used for employment assistance and may include payments to individuals to support employment activities or towards bulk purchasing of related services
- Deliver discretionary benefits to Ontario Works and ODSP recipients and employment assistance to non-disabled ODSP members of a benefit unit
- Set local policies and governance, administer the program, specifically areas of discretion in legislation (e.g., discretionary services, such as vision care, dental benefits, etc.)
Eligible program delivery costs are defined in Ontario Works Policy Directive 11.3 - Cost-Sharing. Delivery sites can also refer to Ministry’s Stability Support Policy framework guideline on person-centered supports.
Service Delivery
Ontario Works program is delivered by 149 delivery sites:
- 37 Consolidated Municipal Service Managers (CMSMs)
- 10 District Social Services Administration Boards (DSSABs); and
- 102 First Nation delivery sites
Reporting Requirements
First Nations
The Ontario Works outcomes-based PDF strategy is designed to maximize responsiveness to local needs, giving delivery sites the flexibility to focus on employment related strategies that best reflect their community.
First Nation sites must include a minimum of two weighted outcome measures, totaling 1,000 points in their annual service contracts. Proportional weighting represents the priority that delivery sites place on each outcome measure during a planning cycle.
The minimum required weighting may be as low as zero for all but two measures to allow First Nations to invest in strategies that better reflect their caseload and local conditions and offer the best results to their clients.
The maximum weighting that can be assigned to any one earnings and/or employment outcome is 600 of the 1,000 annual points. The four outcome measures (as indicated in the table below) are the only outcome measures to be used to negotiate service contracts.
Targets for a given planning cycle are to be reported in accordance with Schedule E of the agreement.
| Outcome Measures | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Average Employment Earnings per Case | Average monthly net earned income per case | Calculated as the total amount of net earned income reported by all cases divided by the total number of cases that reported earnings. Includes net earned income reported by all members of the benefit unit whose earnings are not considered fully exempt by policy and are not noted by the caseworker as exempt income |
| % Caseload with Employment Earnings | Proportion of caseload that reported employment earnings | Cases with employment earnings as a percentage of the preliminary (/month-end) caseload |
| % of Terminations Exiting to Employment | Proportion of all terminations that consisted of cases that were closed with employment noted as the reason for leaving the program | Cases closed for employment reasons as a percentage of all cases closed regardless of reason for closure/termination |
| % of Caseload Exiting to Employment | Proportion of the caseload that were closed (by month-end) with employment noted as the reason for leaving the program | Cases closed for employment reasons as a percentage of the preliminary (/month-end) caseload |
Municipalities and DSSABs
Delivery sites have been provided their annual targets for each of the four (4) performance outcome measures identified below. Performance measures and its achievements will be tracked throughout the year and reported in accordance with Schedule E of the agreement.
Delivery sites must use the “EST OW Service Contract Metrics” report to track progress of performance targets.
Performance Measures
- % of Ontario Works adults and ODSP non-disabled adults with participation requirements that have a proper
footnote 1 Action Plan created - % of Ontario Works adults and ODSP non-disabled adults with mandatory participation requirements who are referred to Employment Ontario
- % of Ontario Works cases (individual or family units) that exited to employment
- % of Ontario Works cases (individual or family units) who exit the program for any reason and returned within one year
Footnotes
- footnote[1] Back to paragraph A proper Action Plan must have at least one goal that links to a barrier or to a referral to supports. Action plans used only to issue benefits are excluded.