Adding partner to ODSP

Sponsoring Family
1

Hi,

I am a Canadian citizen, I don’t work and I receive odsp payments on monthly basis. I sponsored my partner to Canada. I used to live with my family and it was a great help for me to save money that was how I could afford to hire a lawyer to help with sponsorship.

My partner and I now live together on our own. When I talk to my caseworker in odsp she said to provide all the immigration papers and details so she can add him to my file to receive money as he’s not working and we need an income.

It’s clear to me that ODSP recipients can sponsor their spouse but will my caseworker not ask me how I could afford to hire and pay my lawyer or will she ask ircc to send her my case that she can read all the details? I’m very stressed that I may stop receiving ODSP benefits due to not using the money for myself and I saved it. Well I used some of it when I needed but mostly I was saving for a better future and life.
Can you please help me out???
Thanks

2

Your caseworker might ask about your current financial situation. You can explain that you saved some of your ODSP for the sponsorship process, and that’s why you may not have a lot of savings now.

3
  • Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does require financial verification during the sponsorship process. They typically ask for proof of income for the previous six months. However, they are not concerned with how you saved the money, only that you could meet the minimum necessary income.
4

Hello,

I just want to clarify some details and provide you with my own opinion concerning your case. To start with, the financial assistance you receive under the ODSP program is based on many criteria. One of them is your health status. You have been approved to receive the ODSP benefits based on the approval of your health report. Whatever you do with the financial assistance you receive is your concern. Reviews of the recipients’ eligibility is a common practice. But as long as you are eligible, you will keep receiving the benefits-Does not matter how you use it-. As for the IRCC application, receiving income support from ODSP does not disqualify you from sponsoring a spouse.

Thanks.

5

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your question and situation, in addition to the helpful responses above, Lahbib70 and Alex Cray are right, disability assistance is not a type of social assistance that will disqualify you from sponsorship. If your case-worker is thinking of applying for social assistance on behalf of your sponsored spouse, you might find helpful information in the Ontario Works policy directives, section 3.11 – Sponsored Immigrants

[…]

[…]

It is best that you speak with your ODSP caseworker to clarify what this process may look like, and how to plan for debt repayment. You may also benefit from reaching out to a community legal clinic for advice regarding your situation. StepstoJustice has compiled a list of free to low-cost services that can offer you assistance with ODSP.

We hope this information is helpful, please follow up with us if you have any follow-up questions.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org team