Ontario Works is a fundamental component of the Ontario welfare system. It transforms the delivery of social assistance from passive income support to a mandatory program focused on getting people back to work and breaking the cycle of dependency on social assistance.

Initial application is by contacting the local office at 539-9800 or 1-800-265-1015. Qualified applicants can access ongoing information on their case file through the interactive voice response system at 1-800-808-2268. Contact with the Ontario Works office at Woodstock by telephone is 519-539-9800 and Ingersoll is 519-425-1020.

Participants who are receiving income support are expected to actively participate in a plan of activity to support their eligibility for benefits, and at present must participate in at least one of three components. Disabled, seniors or sole support parents with pre-school age children are not required to participate, but may volunteer if they choose.

Three components of Ontario Works are:

Community Participation
Employment Support
Employment Placement

Community Participation -which is unpaid. Community activity of a community improvement nature and/or with public or non-profit organizations. (top)

Employment Support - activities that promote job readiness and support job search, job clubs, active referral to employment, referrals to basic job-specific skills training but not generalized training.(top)

Employment Placement - job placements for participants who are job ready to find and maintain paid employment. Referral is to placement agencies and also includes participants interested in self-employment, i.e. Southwest Centre for Community Program Development, Tillsonburg Multi-Service Centre and Ingersoll Learning and Employment Resource Centre. (top)