3. Learn about claiming child-care expenses
Question & Answer
Can I work and get ODSP at the same time?If you have to pay for child care so you can go to work, you might be able to claim child-care expenses. You do this when you report your earnings to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). This could mean that you get to keep more of your monthly .
ODSP has rules about claiming expenses for child care and how much you can claim.
When you can’t claim
You can't claim child-care expenses if:
- A family member who is part of your household provides child care.
- Someone who has a legal duty to support the child, such as a parent, provides child care.
- You get money from another source to pay for your child care, for example, money from your local government, which is called a “fee subsidy”. But if you get less than what you pay for child care, you can claim the difference.
If you live with your child’s other parent
If you live with your child's other parent, the general rule is that you can't claim child-care expenses if only one of you is working.
But you can claim them if your child's other parent has a disability that prevents them from taking care of your child.
Or, you can claim them if your child's other parent is doing activities Ontario Works (OW) wants them to do to get a job. This applies when they don't have a disability.
How much you can claim
The amount you can claim depends on who you get child care from.
| If your child-care provider is: | You can claim: |
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Getting money right away to pay for child care
If you have to pay for child care when you're starting a job or training program, you might be able to get money from ODSP. This is called an Up Front Child Care Payment.
The most you can get as an Up Front Child Care Payment is the amount of child-care expenses you can claim in one year. That amount depends on the type of child-care provider you use. The rules about that are in the table above.
