Ontario will invest up to $10 million over four years in a pilot program to help low-income residents save for an education or start a business, according to provincial budget documents released today.
The new initiative, which will provide matching funds to encourage savings, has been recommended by social activists for many years as a way of helping financially vulnerable Ontarians build equity and escape poverty.
Details of the program, including specific goals and savings targets, will be announced later this year, provincial finance officials said.
As expected, the budget also includes a 2-per-cent increase to social assistance in November. The hike will bring monthly payments for a single person on welfare to $572, and to $1,020 for a single person on Ontario’s disability support plan.
A single parent on welfare with one child under 12 will receive $970 a month in provincial benefits including monthly Ontario Child Benefits of up to $50 per child for all low-income families starting in July. For a similar family with a disabled parent, the monthly benefit will increase to $1,473.
The budget also includes a previously announced $135 million investment over three years to develop a plan to provide free dental care to low-income families, $32 million over three years to expand the provincial student nutrition program, and $100 million in one-time funding to rehabilitate the province’s aging social housing.
As promised during last fall’s provincial election, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government is introducing a new property tax grant for low- and moderate-income seniors, worth $1 billion over the next five years.
In 2009, about 550,000 senior homeowners would be eligible for a grant of up to $250. The maximum grant will jump to $500 in 2010 and subsequent years.
As reported in the Star last week, the budget will invest more than $13 million over four years to expand Ontario’s 211information service.
The integrated telephone and internet-based service provides callers and users with one-stop information and referrals to local community health and social services. When fully implemented, Ontarians across the province will be able to dial 211 to be connected to a qualified information and referral specialist who can answer their community service questions, budget documents say.
