{"id":11054,"date":"2018-03-28T14:38:37","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T18:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/living-safety-information\/%e5%85%ac%e7%9a%84%e6%89%b6%e5%8a%a9%e3%82%92%e5%8f%97%e3%81%91%e3%81%a6%e3%81%84%e3%82%8b%e4%ba%ba%e3%81%ae%e8%b3%87%e7%94%a3%e5%88%b6%e9%99%90%e3%81%a8%e3%82%ae%e3%83%95%e3%83%88%e3%81%ae%e9%87%91\/"},"modified":"2021-04-16T18:51:24","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T22:51:24","slug":"increasestoassetlimitsandgiftamoutsforpeopleonsocialassistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/news\/increasestoassetlimitsandgiftamoutsforpeopleonsocialassistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Increases to asset limits and gift amounts for people on social assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

* This is a translation of \u201cIncreases to asset limits and gift amounts for people on social assistance\u201d published in september 2017, produced in English by CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario)<\/a>. Japanese Social Services is wholly responsible for the accuracy of this translation, produced with permission of CLEO.
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This month’s On the Radar gives highlights of rule changes for people on Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). These changes include increases in the value of\u00a0assets<\/a>people can own and new rules about gifts that won’t affect their assistance.
\nThe rules are complicated. There’s more detailed information on the\u00a0Steps to Justice<\/a>\u00a0website.<\/p>\n

Higher limits on assets<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Assets<\/a>\u00a0are things that someone owns.\u00a0OW<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ODSP<\/a>\u00a0have rules about the amount someone can have in\u00a0income<\/a>\u00a0and assets and still qualify financially for social assistance.
\nAs of September 1, 2017, these\u00a0amounts went up.
\nFor example, a single person getting\u00a0financial assistance<\/a>\u00a0from OW can now have\u00a0$10,000<\/strong>\u00a0in assets, up from $2,500. A single person getting\u00a0income support<\/a>\u00a0from ODSP can have\u00a0$40,000<\/strong>\u00a0in assets, up from $5,000.
\nA couple on OW can now have\u00a0$15,000<\/strong>\u00a0in assets, up from $5,000. And a couple on ODSP can have\u00a0$50,000<\/strong>, up from $7,500.<\/p>\n

\u25ceIncreased limit on gifts<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the new rules, in any\u00a012-month period<\/strong>\u00a0people can receive gifts that are worth up to\u00a0$10,000<\/strong>\u00a0and OW and ODSP won’t count this as income. This amount used to be $6,000.
\nIf people don’t spend the money in the month that they get it, the money becomes an asset in the following month. People can avoid going over their asset limit by spending the money on “exempt” assets. The rules about this are different for\u00a0OW<\/a>and\u00a0ODSP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u25ceGifts of money that are for certain things<\/strong><\/p>\n

OW<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ODSP<\/a>\u00a0do\u00a0not count<\/strong>\u00a0money in any amount that someone receives as a gift:<\/p>\n