5. Answer questions about living together
Beware of scams
People have been getting phone calls with a pre-recorded message telling them their Ontario Works account has been deleted.
This is a scam to trick you into sharing your personal information. If you get a call like that, hang up the phone. You can report these calls to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
Question & Answer
Someone is moving in with me. Can this affect my OW?Make sure you first read Steps 1 to 4.
In Part 3 of the Questionnaire (for Applicants or Recipients who are living with another adult), Ontario Works (OW) asks questions about whether you live together as a couple.
OW will ask the questions from Part 3 if your answers to Part 2 suggest that you have a financial relationship like that of a married couple. You should not have to answer the questions in Part 3 if your answers to Part 2 did not show this.
Questions in Part 3 of the Questionnaire
Part 3 is about whether the two of you are living together as a couple, which means that your relationship is like a marriage.
To find out about this, OW asks questions like:
- Do friends, family members, and others who know you, think you're a couple?
- Do schools, daycare centres, doctors, or other services and organizations you deal with, know the two of you as a couple?
- If you have children from another relationship, do they treat the person you're living with as a parent? Do your children think this person is your spouse?
Whether or not you have a sexual relationship with each other does not matter. OW is not allowed to ask about that.
If you disagree with the decision
If OW decides that the person you're living with is your spouse, they'll say that you have to apply for assistance as a couple.
If you disagree with their decision, you may be able to appeal.
Talk to a community legal clinic if you disagree with the OW decision. They may be able to help you appeal the decision.
