What can I do about an ODSP overpayment?

Long delays for appeal hearings

If you're appealing a decision made by OW or ODSP in 2020, your appeal hearing may not happen for a long time. People report that they're getting hearing dates from the that are between 9 and 16 months in the future. We'll update this information as things change.

The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) will say you have an if they think that you got more social assistance than you should have.

This could be money from ODSP or from Ontario Works (OW).

This means that when you're getting from ODSP, they can collect an overpayment that happened because:

  • you used to get from OW, and
  • OW paid you more than they should have.

Paying the money back

ODSP will want the money back.

If you're getting income support from ODSP, they'll try to get the money back by reducing the amount they give you each month.

If you're no longer getting assistance, ODSP will send you a letter and ask you to pay back the money. The letter might come from your local ODSP office or from a government office in Toronto called the Overpayment Recovery Unit.

If you don't pay back the money, there are things ODSP can do to try to collect the overpayment. See Step 2.

Getting help

Overpayments happen for many reasons. See Step 1. What you can do depends on your situation.

For example, you may be able to appeal a decision about an overpayment to the Social Benefits Tribunal.

But it's important to get legal advice to help you decide what to do.

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