LEGISLATED Ontario · income · housing
Crisis OW $733 frozen since 2018 Toronto 1-bed $1,985 vs ODSP $1,436 RGI 1-bed wait 15 years CDB $204.20 after “lift out of poverty” Shelter occupancy 98–100% Waterloo legal fees $1.7M to clear tents Crisis OW $733 frozen since 2018 Toronto 1-bed $1,985 vs ODSP $1,436 RGI 1-bed wait 15 years CDB $204.20 after “lift out of poverty” Shelter occupancy 98–100% Waterloo legal fees $1.7M to clear tents

Brief / One month

Interactive

Spend the cheque

Pick a program and a city. The shelter line pays first, up to the statutory cap. Rent above the cap comes out of basic needs — the same line that is supposed to buy food. Ottawa Public Health priced a month of healthy food for one adult at $343 in 2025. That figure is the entire Ontario Works basic-needs amount.

City — sets the rent slider to the local 1-bedroom average

Food is held at $343 — Ottawa’s 2025 Nutritious Food Basket for one adult. Move rent. Watch groceries disappear.

Short of a home

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Why the cheque cannot close

Ontario Works

$343 for everything that is not rent

That is also the 2025 cost of a healthy food basket for one adult in Ottawa. After food there is $0 for a phone, a bus pass, laundry, or a winter coat — and that is before any rent over $390 is subtracted.

ODSP

$825 basic needs, $611 shelter

Indexation added $28 in July 2026. A Toronto 1-bedroom at the CMHC average still costs $1,985. The $1,374 over the cap erases the basic-needs line and leaves the cheque $549 short of rent alone.

No address

Lose the shelter line

Daily Bread: if there is no fixed address, the shelter allowance is not paid. OW falls to $343. ODSP falls to $825. First and last month’s rent become unreachable on the remaining line.

City-by-city rent table When the unit is not taken