2. Learn about the rules for paying back ODSP

The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) can ask you to pay back income support out of money that you get in the future. This can include Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits.

Getting CPP disability benefits could affect:

• whether you’re eligible for income support from ODSP, or
• the amount of income support that you get.

It takes time for the CPP to decide about giving you benefits. So when they decide, you may get “retroactive payments”. This means that the CPP pays you money that you were eligible for before they approved your application.

So, you might get CPP disability benefits for a period of time that you got income support from ODSP.

Signing forms

To prove that you agree to pay ODSP back, you have to sign a form called an Agreement to Reimburse. This is a promise that you'll pay back what you owe out of the money you get in the future.

ODSP can also ask you to sign a form called an “assignment”. This form tells the CPP to pay ODSP back the money you owe when you start getting CPP disability benefits. After you sign the form, ODSP sends it to the CPP.

If you don't sign the forms to show you agree, ODSP can cut off your income support.

Paying back money

If you don't follow the agreement to pay back money that you owe, ODSP will say that you have an overpayment. And they'll take steps to collect the money.

And you have to pay back the money to ODSP if:

• CPP is supposed to send money to ODSP because of an assignment, and
• they send the money to you instead of sending it to ODSP. For example, they might do this by mistake.