CERB a slap in the face for Ontarians scraping by on disability payments

Omar Dabaghi-Pacheco, CBC News, May 3, 2020
Some Ontarians who rely on provincial disability support say the federal government’s new emergency benefit for people affected by COVID-19 is laying bare a double standard when it comes to the question of what’s considered a livable income. The federal government’s Canada Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) provides about $2,000 per month to people who have lost their income because of the pandemic. The maximum amount someone available through the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) is just $1,169. No lost income, no CERB. Ottawa lawyer Ken Pope, whose firm specializes in disability and estate planning, agrees ODSP payments are barely enough for most people to live on, and notes that ODSP payments have failed to keep up with inflation since the program was introduced in the late 1990s.