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Are there disability benefits besides CPP?
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Depending on your situation, you may also be eligible for other benefits if you have a disability.
For example, you may be eligible for:
- Ontario Disability Support Program payments
- Employment Insurance sickness benefits
- workers’ compensation
- a private insurance plan
- Veterans Affairs disability benefits
- pension benefits from another country you lived in
Learn more about ODSP
ODSP is sometimes called provincial disability benefits. It can give you money to help with living expenses, such as:
- food and housing
- prescription drugs
- some dental services
Qualifying for ODSP
To qualify for ODSP, you must need financial help to have enough money to live on. There are also some other rules, including limits on how much money you can make.
Learn more about Employment Insurance
If you are not able to work because of illness, injury, or quarantine, you might qualify for up to 15 weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits.
Even if you don’t qualify for EI sickness benefits, you may be able to take up to 10 days off each year as personal emergency leave if you are covered by the Employment Standards Act. You have the right to be paid for 2 days of personal emergency leave each year if you’ve been working for your employer at least one week.
Your employer does not need to pay you during personal emergency leave.
To find out more about EI, please see the question “I am too sick to work. Can I get EI?”
Learn more about workers' compensation
Workers’ compensation benefits are payments for injuries or diseases that are related to the work you were doing. Workers' compensation is paid by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). The WSIB may also help you return to work with your employer or with another employer.
The WSIB has 3 main types of benefits to help you while you’re injured. These are:
- Loss of earnings (LOE) - benefits that pay for wages you didn’t get because of your injury
- Health care benefits - benefits that pay for healthcare costs, like physiotherapy, medication, etc., to help you recover from your injury
- Non-economic loss (NEL) - if your injury is serious and permanent, the WSIB may pay you for the impact of your injury. This type of benefit is sometimes called a “permanent impairment benefit”.
Most employers in Ontario must be part of the workers’ compensation system and pay into a province-wide insurance fund that is run by the WSIB.
To find out more about WSIB benefits, see the question “What type of worker’s compensation benefits can I get from the WSIB?”