Question about ODSP

I'm sure I'll get plenty of judgment from people but I'm hoping to get some honest answers.

I was approved for ODSP on April 11th and I'm really just wondering how long it takes for my first payment from ODSP to come in, and also my retroactive pay. My funds are at there limit and my bills are extremely passed due. If anyone that's been through the process, even better if you have experience with ODSP in the Toronto area, I would appreciate it very much! Getting anxiety attacks almost constantly worrying about this.

What has your local ODSP services office said? They would be the best ones to give you that information. Hopefully some other people on here will be able to help or give some insight.

Good Luck and hope you get your payments soon. I'm sure the stress waiting won't help matters one bit, but do hang in there!:-)

I see this is your first post OP. Welcome to Smart Canucks.

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Originally Posted by kiwis-mom

What has your local ODSP services office said? They would be the best ones to give you that information. Hopefully some other people on here will be able to help or give some insight.

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agree
:)

Got a call from OW this morning and they told me my file is finally getting moved to ODSP. Just wish I knew how long I'll be waiting haha.

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Originally Posted by Shwa Girl

I see this is your first post OP. Welcome to Smart Canucks.


agree
:)

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Thank you for the welcome! I've lurked this site for a little while and decided to make a profile. There is a lot of useful info here, and seemed like the best place to ask for help.

Nothing wrong with getting ODSP, if and when the case is genuine.

Most gov. and social programs and benefits and credits, they give retroactive payments going back up to 11 months. Getting approved for ODSP is the biggest hurdle, but once you are approved there are no issues.

Lot of behind the scenes paperwork takes place, so it takes some time, when you go from OW to ODSP. Your case worker changes and so on. Try to have a good relation with your case worker and name/phone number/email of that person.

They will have more knowledge of your timeline than a a generic call centre with 1-800- Toll free number. Every individual case is different when it comes to ODSP etc, and its on a case by case basis. Some will be quicker than the others. But keep on following up, so they know the urgency of your situation.

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Originally Posted by CanadianBaconX15

I'm sure I'll get plenty of judgment from people but I'm hoping to get some honest answers.

I was approved for ODSP on April 11th and I'm really just wondering how long it takes for my first payment from ODSP to come in, and also my retroactive pay. My funds are at there limit and my bills are extremely passed due. If anyone that's been through the process, even better if you have experience with ODSP in the Toronto area, I would appreciate it very much! Getting anxiety attacks almost constantly worrying about this.

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I am sorry that I cannot help out on your question, but I can comment on the bolded portion of your comment.

I am a serious fiscal conservative. I believe that every single expense, both personal and government, should be examined extremely carefully in order to minimize the outlay by ensuring that 1) the expense is reasonable, 2) the benefits obtained from the expense outweigh the associated costs, 3) both the costs and benefits are accurately estimated with a reasonable margin for error, and 4) the expense should only be taken on after careful consideration is made regarding the "side effects" of the expense (such as determining whether or not government programs may result in undesired changes in behaviour). The flip side of this is that I also wish to maximize my income while staying within my moral framework.

Given this, I have two points to make:

1. Even if I disagree with a program altogether or believe that it has not been implemented in the most efficient manner, why in the world do people paint with a broad brush and label all those who take the benefit as therefore being morally "unfit"? Unless you possess considerable knowledge into the history of the claimant, then you are in no position to pass judgement upon them. My default position is to assume that they receive the benefit due to a genuine need. You will get no attitude from me.
2. I view the fact that if one collects a benefit after having qualified for it is nothing but rational behaviour by the person receiving it. If I were standing in the middle of a field, and saw a $20 bill lying on the ground, I would pick it up, as would most others. (Lets just ignore the moral implications of the fact that a person lost that bill - I am looking at a simple example here and don't want to open up a whole Pandora's box of moral issues). Given that you qualify for this program, it only makes sense that you would take it. And even if I were to disagree with the program (I think that this program sounds pretty reasonable after a two minute quick glance), then my problem is with the government for offering it, not for the recipients for benefitting from it. In short, if there is fault to be laid here (again, this program looks decent), then the fault lies with the government for offering it, not with the qualified recipients in taking it.

In short, with pretty well everyone on the political spectrum paying lip service to having a disdain for prejudice, it shocks me how quick these same people will immediately label others. This is especially true when, as discussed above, the true fault (if indeed any such fault exists) is with the program, not the recipients, and the recipients are simply displaying rational behaviour.

So this fiscal conservative says "I am glad that you are getting this, and hope that it helps".

Two things you need to know:

1) The month you switch over from OW to ODSP will be a cash crunch. OW pays for the month on the first of the month, ODSP on the last day of the month. This means that in one month you will get a payment from OW on the first and then a payment from ODSP equal to (ODSP amt - OW amt) on the last.

E.g. using max amts:

June 1 OW $706
June 30 ODSP $1128 - OW $706 = $422
July 31 ODSP $1128
Aug 31 ODSP $1128, etc.

2) Many people expect retroactive pay from the time they applied to the time they receive ODSP and that is not how it works. You only get retroactive pay if you have applied, been denied, reapply, and then are granted ODSP, in which case you are paid for the months between decision 1 and decision 2 (nothing to do with application dates).

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Originally Posted by lecale

Two things you need to know:

1) The month you switch over from OW to ODSP will be a cash crunch. OW pays for the month on the first of the month, ODSP on the last day of the month. This means that in one month you will get a payment from OW on the first and then a payment from ODSP equal to (ODSP amt - OW amt) on the last.

E.g. using max amts:

June 1 OW $706
June 30 ODSP $1128 - OW $706 = $422
July 31 ODSP $1128
Aug 31 ODSP $1128, etc.

2) Many people expect retroactive pay from the time they applied to the time they receive ODSP and that is not how it works. You only get retroactive pay if you have applied, been denied, reapply, and then are granted ODSP, in which case you are paid for the months between decision 1 and decision 2 (nothing to do with application dates).

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That's basically how my case went. Applied, denied. Appeal, denied. Hearing with SBT, approved. I'm really hoping I don't have to wait until the end of July for fund from odsp or I'll be completely screwed.

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Originally Posted by CanadianBaconX15

That's basically how my case went. Applied, denied. Appeal, denied. Hearing with SBT, approved. I'm really hoping I don't have to wait until the end of July for fund from odsp or I'll be completely screwed.

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If they approved you in April then you are ready to go for May, and the May payment date is May 31.

They can suspend your payments if your assets (bank balance) are over $5k so I hope you have a lot of bills to blow that cash on. Good time to pay back relatives too - ODSP will check on you and ask where the cash went.

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Originally Posted by lecale

If they approved you in April then you are ready to go for May, and the May payment date is May 31.

They can suspend your payments if your assets (bank balance) are over $5k so I hope you have a lot of bills to blow that cash on. Good time to pay back relatives too - ODSP will check on you and ask where the cash went.

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I really hope my first payment will be at the end of the month. I wish I had $5000 in my bank haha. Wouldn't be so stressed if that were the case. I had to call my ODSP office to find anything out. Turns out I've already been assigned a case worker. Nice of them to let me know. Waiting for her to call me back now.

Just a random question-the new system that is being used for ODSP payments, has it been resolved with regards to over, under, and missed payments? I do not recall the Toronto Star updating its readership that the woes of the new system have been fixed and affected recipients notified.

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Originally Posted by Ciel

Just a random question-the new system that is being used for ODSP payments, has it been resolved with regards to over, under, and missed payments? I do not recall the Toronto Star updating its readership that the woes of the new system have been fixed and affected recipients notified.

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This is the first I've heard of this. I hope that isn't still an issue. Hopefully someone who knows more can help us both with this.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...nt_issues.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/queensp...m-rollout.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...n-welfare.html

I would like to believe those issues were fixed, seeing that they started in 2014, but who knows. Given the way things are handled with the government, it could still be an issue. Let's hope not.