Health care and other benefits

If you receive Ontario Works, you may qualify for other benefits to help you pay for things like:

• Starting a job or training
• Items you need for work (safety boots, for example)
• Drugs and medical supplies
• Travel to medical appointments
• Eye care
• Diabetic supplies, surgical supplies and dressings
• A special diet
• Mobility or hearing aids 

Reporting requirements

If your living situation or income changes while you are receiving Ontario Works, you will need to inform your caseworker. You may also be required to submit your earnings every month (money that you or others living with you receive through employment or paid training). You can use the online Ontario Works tool (MyBenefits) to do this.

Overpayments

Changes in your life, such as getting a part-time job, a change in rent amounts, or moving in with a partner, can impact how much money you are eligible to receive from Ontario Works. Depending on when you report these changes to your caseworker, you may receive money you aren’t eligible for.

When this happens, it is called an overpayment. That money must be repaid. Each month that you receive assistance, five to ten percent of your benefits will be deducted until the extra amount is paid back in full.

If you still have an outstanding overpayment balance when you stop receiving Ontario Works, you will still be required to pay back the amount you were overpaid. When your file closes (when you stop being eligible to receive assistance from Ontario Works), you will receive a letter from the local office that provides details about any outstanding overpayment amounts.

For one month following your file closure, you can make payments to the local office by one of the following methods:

1. Online through your online personal banking. Follow the instructions to add Waterloo Region Social Services as a new payee, and use your SAMS ID# as the account number to set up the payee.
2. Visit one of three Community Services Welcome Spaces. You can make a repayment by cash, cheque, or debit.
3. Write a cheque payable to the Region of Waterloo. Send by mail to Region of Waterloo, Corporate Finance – Ontario Works Finance, 150 Frederick St., 4th Floor, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 4J3.

After one month has passed, since your file was closed, we will no longer accept payments at the local office. This is because we are then required to transfer your outstanding overpayments to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services for collection. This is a new requirement for files that are closed anytime after May 2025. You will receive a letter from the local office after your debt has been transferred to them for collection. After this has happened, they will contact you directly to arrange repayment options.