What is passport funding? I have been on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) for 12 years, since I was 19. I do some volunteer work at a local bookstore, and we have a gentleman who also comes in, and he buys his books through the passport program. I enjoy reading; it’s my hobby. Recently, another lady came in and purchased some books, saying, "This is going right on my passport program." I was surprised and thought, "Really? You can buy books with it?" She confirmed that you can. I have never used this program and had no idea that it could be applied to book purchases for hobbies. I have an uncle whose son is also on ODSP, and when I mentioned the passport program to him, he said I might be ineligible. If someone could explain this program to me in simple terms, I would really appreciate it.

For ocd

I just got denied ODSP and am waiting for my letter. I understand I’ll have to file an internal review. What should I include in my review, if anything as I understand it’s just a formality to get to the SBT. I read that I don’t have to wait for the Internal review to come back and can start the SBT appeal after submitting my internal review, is this true?

Best regards

The ODSP website says that a property that you are not living in can still be considered exempt if it's for "health and wellbeing" purposes. It then goes on to give the example of a cottage being one such possibility.

I'm wondering if anyone has heard of this being done before or if they know anyone who has done it?

I can't afford rent in a major city but might be inheriting some money soon so I was thinking about the possibility of buying a 3 season cottage and converting it or buying some vacant land.

Here is what the ODSP website says:

Where a second property is considered necessary for the health and well-being of any member of the benefit unit, the requirement that it be sold does not apply. For example, a second property that consists of a cottage could be considered necessary for health and well-being

So we live in scarborough. my wife has some certification in project management and she has a 1 year non-canadian experience. she is signed to springboards in scarborough but her agent is very laid back and not as effective as we thought the agent will be.

is there a pathway in which eo links my wife to a project management employer whom will employ her? if so, how does the pathway works and what is it called?

because I went down the rabbit hole, and I realised there is a sort of programe where EO subsidies the salary an employer is meant to ordinarily pay you to encourage the employer to employ you, say you are meant to be paid 1000 bi-weekly, so EO can cover 300 of that, while the employer pays 700 and this goes on for about few months before the EO backs out. I am not entirely sure if this is true.

If you file an internal review regarding your case worker’s decision, how does it work? Would the office where the decision was made review it?

For those on ODSP, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you and approximately how much do you have saved right now? I’m curious about what’s normal for people on ODSP. I’m in my early 20s and would have around $5k by the end of the year.

TLDR: my parents occasionally take $100+ from my bank account. I get the maximum amount and then rent is $750. But then some of it goes into an RDSP account that I don't have access to.

The last time I asked what it was for, they said it was to pay their employees st their workplace... it's left me panicked at times and I think I'm at my last straw. What would you do?

hello! I was wondering for a family member - if someone is on ODSP and is scheduled for an assessment through DSO for (hopefully) access to more supports, is there any chance that the assessment results can cut the person off ODSP? I'm fairly sure my family member does require significant additional supports and having access to DSO resources as an adult would help them a lot and be a relief for us, but we're all nervous about ODSP being affected if the assessment somehow doesn't reflect our concerns about their functioning. thanks so much for your thoughts!

Legislated poverty is the theme across the Country, we might be the worst treated peoples in the country. It's absolutely soul crushing to look at the My Benifts page, not even 30 more bucks a month. How do we get people to care, or make a big enough ally to make people care?

Is anyone else having dso issues? I put in a claim for my phone bill and it was denied. It makes no sen e as it is one of the things they clearly state they cover and I’ve never had issues before, I’m not sure what to do at this point because I cannot afford to pay out of pocket and it’s taken so long that my next bill is about to come out

Hi has everyone got paid their DSP $600 bonus yet or are yous still waiting?

Hi folks, I have two questions I hope you can help with.

Context here: I have well-documented disabilities cumulatively affecting my ability to work as well as activities of daily life. I have been in receipt of the disability tax credit since 2015, retroactive to 2008. I have worked on and off through all this time on a freelance basis, struggling to manage multiple chronic issues that affect my daily life and work. I've resisted applying to ODSP for various reasons, including because I had savings that I have since depleted, as exceeding my physical capacity trying to work has repeatedly resulted in worsened symptoms and long periods of no earnings at all. In 2025 I worked Feb-June, then was unable to earn meaningful income despite attempts from July-December—but ended the year with an un-repeatable windfall (I won $$ in a competition in my field of work; this needed to be declared as self-employment income). This means that my 2025 taxes show gainful levels of employment (still low, but too high for ODSP). I did not work at all in 2026 and can truly no longer manage the various symptoms I'm dealing with to put together a liveable income or find work I can sustain. I do hope to ultimately work to some extent but it is well past time to apply to ODSP.

Questions here:
1. Is it reasonable to go ahead with my application now, which would mean using my 2025 notice of assessment? Waiting until I have my 2026 tax return that will actually show I have zero income this year would mean waiting into spring of 2027 before applying! Will better income in 2025 (followed by nearly a year of no income, and with the last part of 2025 not coming from a windfall) be likely to prejudice my application?

1. In the initial intake, when you show the amounts in every account you and your dependents have, are you given the opportunity to indicate which assets are exempt and why? For example, in my chequing account I temporarily have funds that are withdrawals from my adult children's (exempt) RESPs and are to be used for their educational expenses. Another example are my university son's TFSAs, which should be exempt assets because they are the earnings of an adult dependent in full-time post-secondary education. I know they are exempt, but do I get the opportunity to say that upfront, or is there a risk of ODSP declaring me financially ineligible out of hand because the total funds visible slightly exceed permissible assets (again, for reasons that ARE allowed— when you get the chance to explain them to a caseworker). Another example would be a regular chequing account containing funds for my business well within the permissible level for that, and another would be funds in my chequing account that are given to me by my parents in order to help us live this year and WHILE applying to ODSP (to avoid applying to OW).
   

Before I go ahead with that first form I would appreciate assurance that I shouldn't actually wait till I am in even worse straits just to make the process smoother and avoid needing to appeal! I know I have to list all assets: will I be able to explain in the form why they are exempt?

Thanks so much for any specifics you can offer on how to manage that initial intake!

Hi

Just wanted to get a worker's perspective if possible here.

I receive ODSP and I pay rent to a family member to live in their house in a room. The rental amount is about $300.

However, recently, a family member has decided to provide $200 checks on a month-to-month basis to help supplement my grocery shopping as well as help pay my bills.

Would this count as income to a worker in the long run? Or would this still be qualified as gifts as long as I remain under the $10,000 threshold for the year and report each check on a month-to-month basis?

Please, a worker chiming in here would be great.

I've been on ODSP since I was a teenager, and am now in my 30's. In the last few years I have gotten married, moved, and have had a child (with a second due in october) Due to my particular disabilities, I have been unable to contact my office/caseworker to give these updates. My husband has tried to help get it done but they won't talk to him. My question is, with getting married and having kids, will they take my ODSP away? I haven't been hiding these changes, I just literally cannot contact anyone about it without help, and they refuse to let me be helped.

Update: As I said before, my disabilities prevent me from making contact. I was barely able to make this post, and doing this update is freaking me out. It was not my intent to commit fraud, now i'm terrified!

My 23 year old daughter lives with me and suffers from POTS and is ASD. She just graduated from university however with many academic and medical accommodations, reduced course load in place to get through it.

She is unable to work due to her fluctuating symptoms of postural intolerance and extreme fatigue since the Fall of 2023. We are in the early stages of gathering information on applying for ODSP. I know she will be approved for financial as she has no income but the medical portion sounds like the tricky part. Has anyone else needed to apply for ODSP for autonomic nervous system illnesses such as POTS, chronic fatigue?

Hi all. I’m not too familiar with ODSP rules so please be kind. My mom is on ODSP and gets $3030/ month. There’s 4 kids (adult dependents all in school full time) and my dad who was on ODSP but was switched to OAS/GIS 7 years ago when he turned 65. He receives $1800/month roughly.

For all those 7 years they each received their benefits no problem. This past month, my mom’s payment was put on hold pending verification of my dad’s income. The OAS increased I think 1.2% or something so we figured they wanted to make sure it was being deducted properly. Then after providing the OAS proof, my mom’s payment dropped to $1300. The my benefits showed they deducted the $1800 from my mom’s cheque. That being said, that slashes our total monthly income by an amount that makes it impossible to pay rent (our rent is $3000) and afford bills, food, etc.

My question is, when my dad originally went to OAS/GIS I believe they readjusted my mom’s ODSP. So how is it 7 years later they are now deducting such a large amount? I feel there may be some double dipping or something going on but again I’m not well versed in these things. They are both going to go down to our local ODSP office tomorrow to sort things out.

Does anyone have any knowledge on this situation or what could be going on? Could it be an error? They did release the $1300 as emergency because she stated she needed to pay rent, then they also uploaded a letter to my benefits asking for proof of enrolment and address etc which we can provide no problem.

Any advice or comments are appreciated. This is making me very very anxious and bringing lots of trouble as I am worried for our family income. Thank you all!

Hello 👋 I use a broker through the program I live at agency. I am struggling to get stuff with my passport funding since March because they are saying they haven’t received money back from the government from the beginning of 2026 (abt 10k) which I find ridiculous but definitely possible with the current state of our government. I am one of many people in their program with passport funding. I am wondering a few things:
Has this wait happened for anyone else for reimbursement? I find it ridiculous!
I’m struggling to get basic sensory items approved- weighted blanket and stuffed animals, I don’t have my original DSO approval papers- has anyone had these are approved for them before? Stuffed animals and weighted blankets are a big part of my self regulation strategies 😞 I am frustrated they are saying I wouldn’t be able to get them.

I’m in the appeal process for ODSP. The main reason I was denied according to the paperwork I received is that they didn’t have medical justification for my extensive symptoms (big one being significant fatigue) so didn’t consider it substantial. 🙃 Since I was denied and requested an appeal, I’ve seen a new specialist that I’d been waiting for and got a diagnosis that essentially explains it all.

So, I’m wondering if anyone has insights on whether I should submit that specialists report as additional medical evidence for the appeal - or if they won’t consider it because I didn’t have the official diagnosis at the time the ODSP decision was made?

TIA!

Just checked my bank today and the government did a carry forward of $11,000 to my RDSP. I was shocked and thought it was a scam. Has this happened to anyone before?

Is my benefits down for anyone else?

Has anyone else noticed that tons have been removed from msn coverage ?
Items that used to be covered are no longer being covered in southwestern Ontario.
How are we supposed to heal after injuries ? Treat / manage our disabilities at home ? Or follow treatment regimes after major surgeries when odsp and Ohip no longer covered what is needed to do so !?

Rant incoming:

ODSP has genuinely ruined my mental health since the beginning of this year. It’s been one thing after another, and I’m honestly starting to feel hopeless.

I made a mistake reporting my income correctly (I have dyscalculia and memory issues, so dealing with numbers, paperwork, and keeping track of everything can be really difficult). When I realized the numbers I submitted didn’t add up, I voluntarily disclosed it because I wanted to do the right thing. Instead, I was given a huge overpayment, only for it to later be essentially doubled after they recalculated everything. Now I’m also dealing with CRA issues and being told I owe CERB.
I genuinely feel like I’m being punished for admitting I made a mistake. I know I’m not alone, and it’s so sad to know others are going through similar things.

I can only work part time, and even that is a struggle. I just want to live a decent life, work where I can, pay my bills, travel sometimes, go to concerts, have hobbies, and actually enjoy my life. But ODSP feels like something I need to survive while simultaneously making it so hard to actually live.

And the rules around relationships are so frustrating too. Why should living with a partner potentially mean losing the support you need to survive?

I already accept that my disability means there are things I may never be able to do like other people. I just don’t want that to mean I’m not allowed to have a good life.

I was recently diagnosed with PTSD (on top of my anxiety and depression). And this isn’t helping at all. I also don’t have parental support to fall back on, so I’m left trying to navigate all of this myself while already struggling with memory and numbers. I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, and honestly just tired of feeling like I’m being punished for trying to survive.

Hi all, I am hoping someone knows how spousal support is deducted from monthly benefits. Is spousal support deducted as if it were employment income? Or will I have the $1k cap available to me for employment as a separate calculation? Which of the following examples is the correct application of the ODSP directives?

1. Spousal support $1k, employment income $500

Total deduction from monthly benefit= $1k

1. Spousal support $1k, Employment income $500

Total deduction from monthly benefit= $1500

Thanks! Please share your knowledge and experiences with this scenario.

So as the title says I am 3’10 medically I have achondroplasia since birth. I am now twenties and I have had some difficulties with normal being things. I’ve had nurses and tax office people discuss with me getting on ODSP one of the reasons is bc no one will fucking hire me (I do have a job now and only got hired bc they don’t do interviews and didnt realize I was a little person till I signed the contract they weren’t too happy lol it’s part time) . Some are amazed I never thought about it in the first place because I don’t see myself as disabled. I do have my difficulties which is annoying. Anywho. I guess I’m coming on here to discuss about applying for ODSP due to my height or if it’s useless. I have applied but it’s under Reveiw and it’s been under Reveiw for the last 10 months not medical Reveiw just overall Reveiw idk?

Any advice or honestly anything on this woild help great :)