Someone is moving in with me. Can this affect my ODSP?
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.
It might. You must let the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) know as soon as someone moves in with you.
If you don't tell ODSP and they find out about it later, they could decide that you got money you should not have received. This is called an and they can take steps to get the money back.
If they think you broke the rules on purpose, they can ask the police to charge you with fraud.
After 3 months
If you're getting ODSP as a single person or a , ODSP may contact you 3 months after someone has moved in with you to set up a meeting.
Make sure you respond to them right away and go to the meeting. If you don't, ODSP will cut off your assistance.
If ODSP decides you’re spouses
If ODSP thinks you live with someone who is your spouse, neither one of you will be able to get assistance as a single person or as a sole-support parent.
Instead, ODSP will look at the and that both of you have to decide if you can get assistance as a couple.
The amount of assistance you get as a couple is less than what you would get as two single people.
But if both of you have a disability, you may be able to get more money than if only one of you has a disability.
How much you get from ODSP depends on a number of things.
If ODSP decides that the person you're living with is your spouse, and you disagree, you may be able to appeal the decision.
If you have to apply for assistance as a couple, both of you have to sign all of the forms that are part of the application.
Getting help
If you need help to decide whether ODSP will see you as a couple, contact a community legal clinic.
