Application Process

Telephone Screening

To apply for social assistance, contact the Ontario Works Delivery Site in your area.

The first stage of the application process includes a telephone interview.  It will take approximately 25 to 40 minutes to complete the telephone interview for a new applicant.  If an application has been completed in the past, the telephone interview will take approximately 5 to 15 minutes.  A screener will ask a series of questions relating to your financial situation and will be recording your answers in the confidential province-wide computer database.  Questions include the details of your benefit unit, accommodation, income and assets.  The information collected will be retained a minimum of one year.

The following information is needed from all members of the benefit unit for the first stage telephone interview:

  • Date of Birth - Legal Registered Name
  • Social Insurance Numbers
  • Health Card Numbers
  • Immigration documents; if you were not born in Canada
  • Sources of Income such as; earnings (present & for past 12 months), Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, WSIB, support payments, etc
  • Bank Account Information
  • Asset details, including RRSP's, vehicles, property, life insurance
  • Accommodation costs including; mortgage, taxes, rent, heat, hydro, insurance, water, water tank rental as well as your landlord's name and phone number.
  • Address history for the past 12 months (street name and number, date you moved in and date you moved out).
  • Employment history for the past 12 months (Employer Name, start date, end date, gross and net monthly earnings).

In some situations, telephone screening may be by-passed and the applicant may be scheduled directly to a verification interview at the nearest delivery site.

At the end of the telephone interview, the screener will advise the applicant if he/she appears to be eligible for social assistance.  If the applicant is determined to be potentially eligible, a verification interview will be scheduled in the local office.  The verification interview could take up to 1½ hours.  In exceptional circumstances the verification interview may take place in the applicant's home or in the hospital.

If the applicant is determined ineligible for social assistance, he/she will be given the option of attending a verification interview for the purpose of appealing the decision of ineligibility.

 

Verification Interview

The applicant, spouse and dependent adult are required to attend the verification interview.

The verification interview consists of the following:

  • The applicant will be required to provide verification documents  confirming the information given to the screener and sign the required forms
  • The applicant, spouse and dependent adult must provide proof of Grade 12 graduation, proof of learning disability, or write a Literacy Assessment
  • The applicant, spouse and dependent adult receives Employment Information Booklet
  • The applicant, spouse and dependent adult discuss mutual Rights and Responsibilities The applicant, spouse and dependent adult must each complete a Participation Agreement
  • The applicant is required to sign consent forms authorizing the Caseworker to obtain third party information from Equifax, Human Resources Development Canada (EI), Province of Ontario Child Support (MECA), Ministry of Transportation and the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP)  Information received from the third party information sources is compared to the information provided to the Caseworker by the applicant
  • To cancel or reschedule the verification interview, call the Ontario Works Delivery Site in your area.

Applicants in need within five working days

It is understood that there are situations where an applicant is not currently in need but may be eligible within five working days. Examples of situations  where the applicant may be eligible within five working days may include (but are not limited to):

  • Discharge from facility / institution (long-term care, correctional facility)
  • Excess assets but will be using portion of assets to pay shelter costs resulting in asset levels meeting eligibility requirements
  • Expiration of financial resources from other source(s) (EI, OSAP)
  • Leaving a residential program for the treatment of substance addiction
  • Leaving a situation of domestic violence
  • Moving out of the parental home
  • Reaching the end of a period of ineligibility for non-compliance or quit / fired