Then, on February 9, Minister of Community and Social Services Minister Janet Ecker raised the possibility of introducing workfare into the private sector. Her Parliamentary Assistant, Frank Klees suggested that the program could allow private sector employers access to workfare placements in exchange for topping up welfare benefits to the minimum wage. Klees, criticized previous programs which offered a direct subsidy to employers for hiring someone, but seemed oblivious to the enormous subsidy to the private sector which his suggested program would provide. Such a proposal also ignores what will happen to people who don t get a placement. The Province also excludes the Yukon and Northwest Territories from its calculations.
Benefits there are typically higher because of the higher cost of living.
But that is the issue in Ontario as well. Such an arbitrary standard ignores the real issue, which is the actual cost of living, which welfare benefits come nowhere near meeting. The biggest ongoing expense for a household on welfare is housing. Rents in Toronto and other major Ontario cities tends to be much higher than in other major cities across Canada. Table 1 shows the average rent for a bachelor apartment in major cities across Canada in October 1997, compared to maximum welfare benefits for a single person.