YWCA Toronto Responds to Ontario’s Harmful Amendments to Social Assistance Policy
August 2026
YWCA Toronto is deeply concerned by the Ontario government’s recent announcement to restrict access to social assistance eligibility criteria based on immigration status. As an organization that supports women, girls and gender diverse people, many of whom are newcomers, survivors of gender-based violence, and experiencing poverty and housing insecurity, we are deeply concerned by this decision and the impact it will have on our community.
Through our array of programming and services, including emergency shelter and housing, we see firsthand the difficulties women and gender diverse people face as they navigate precarious immigration and complex systems, often while fleeing violent homes, workplace exploitation, or other threats to their safety and wellbeing. These challenges disproportionately impact single mothers, caregivers, women and gender diverse people.
Even in their current, deeply inadequate state, social assistance supports function as a critical emergency net. For many of the women and gender diverse people we serve, that basic income security offers a pathway to safety, a roof over their head, or food on the table.
No one should face precarity or harm as a result of administrative delays beyond their control. Under the policy changes introduced by the provincial government, year-long federal backlogs in temporary and permanent residency applications mean that even those who have followed every rule while awaiting due process will be stripped of life-saving, stabilizing support.
Access to income supports can be the difference between stability and crisis – not just for an individual but for entire communities. Removing access to these supports does not eliminate the need – it forces people to look elsewhere for support. It shifts the pressure to municipal and community organization-led programs and services – shelters, food banks, drop-in centres and crisis services – that are already chronically underfunded and stretched beyond capacity.
The human cost of this is profound, and the financial cost is simply shifted.
Public policy must account for the intersecting barriers of gender, poverty, and immigration status. Access to justice begins with basic survival; individuals cannot meaningfully navigate complex legal and administrative systems while facing homelessness and deep poverty. We urge the province to uphold both its moral duties and international human rights obligations – including under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – by ensuring everyone in Ontario has the essential supports needed to access justice, safety, and dignity.
As an organization that supports women, gender diverse people, newcomers, and families experiencing poverty, violence, and housing insecurity, we know that access to income supports can mean the difference between keeping and losing housing, between safety and further harm, and between recovery or deeper, prolonged crisis. To truly protect Ontario, the government must ensure that no one is left without the support they need to access safety and move forward with dignity and care.
MEDIA
Sami Pritchard, Director of Advocacy and Communications, YWCA Toronto
437.286.9627 | spritchard@ywcatoronto.org