Ontarion Trillium Benefit for Sponsored Parents

[Sergey]

Hello,

I am sponsoring my parents to come to Canada and they just got cleared to come to Canada. The plan for them is to leave separately and I will support support them financially as needed. Can they apply for Ontario Trillium Benefit or participate in any other government programs as they are older than 65 years and will have limited income? Any general guidance as to what is considered social assistance and what’s not would be appreciated.

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us. My apologies for the belated response, but I hope this information is still helpful.

The types of benefits they are eligible for as sponsored immigrants may vary. The Ontario Trillium Benefit is a tax credit that does not identify immigration status in the eligibility criteria. Still, there are a few programs like the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) they may not be eligible for as sponsored immigrants. Here is an excerpt from a Steps to Justice article on the topic:

Sponsored immigrants are generally not able to get the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), the Allowance, or the Allowance for the Survivor, while their sponsorship undertaking is still valid.

Your sponsorship undertaking refers to how long the person who sponsored you is financially responsible for you.

[…]

If your child or grandchild sponsored you, the length of your sponsorship undertaking is 20 years from when you became a permanent resident. So you won’t be able to get the GIS or the Allowance until those 20 years are up.

There a few situations where you may be able to get the GIS and the Allowance, even if your sponsorship undertaking is still valid. Some examples are:

• your sponsor dies
• your sponsor is bankrupt
• your sponsor is in prison for more than 6 months
• your sponsor is convicted of abusing you

IRCC has also identified what is and isn’t considered social assistance here in their Help Centre article, What’s considered social assistance when sponsoring my parents and grandparents? Here is an excerpt:

What is considered social assistance
Some benefits (money, goods or services) from provinces or territories are considered to be social assistance for the purpose of sponsoring. This includes assistance from the government to cover basic needs like:

• food
• shelter
• clothing
• fuel
• utilities
• household supplies
• health care not covered by public health care (extra benefits paid by the government to low-income people or others in need)

What isn’t considered social assistance
Social assistance doesn’t include:

• Employment Insurance
• provincial student loans
• immigration loans
• subsidized housing
• tax credits
• child care subsidies
• public health care (services your province or territory gives to all people who live there)
• other benefits widely available to residents, including people who are working

Provinces and territories have created temporary programs to help people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t consider these benefits to be social assistance if they aren’t considered as such by the province or territory.
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit isn’t considered social assistance.

We hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to follow up with us if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org team