Income and Loans

Employment Income
ODSP takes 50% of all employment income but gives you $100 through the Employment Benefit.

The 1/2 of your income is deducted after they subtract what you are entitled to for childcare, your mandatory deductions are taken off of your pay cheque, (eg.EI, CPP, taxes) and your disability related expenses.

Income Exemptions
There are a lot of income exemptions. They can be found here.
Some of the biggies are:

• Ontario Child Benefit, the Universal Childcare Benefit and the National Child Tax Benefit
• money back from your taxes or GST cheques
• WSIB payments so long as they are not for economic loss
• donations from charities or benevolent associations so long as they don't go over $100,000 per person in your benefit unit for your lifetime
• money you get for pain and suffering from a lawsuit or settlement
• any income from your dependent child
• income from a dependent adult on your cheque who is in high school school or a training program

Loans
If you get a loan, it is counted as unearned income and they will count the entire amount as an overpayment. This is always the case unless you get approval in advance and it is:

• for necessities and approved by your worker
• so you can operate a business
• for a car if you need it to do training or to keep a job
• for a medical need that isn't covered under any other program
• for expenses approved for disability-related items and services that aren't covered under other programs like ADP
• the purchase of an exempt asset
• for the purchase of household items that you need for the well being of one or more members of your benefit unit
• a student loan for a educational costs that are not living expenses
• for first and last month's rent (however, you should get Community Start-Up for this in almost all circumstances.)
• a personal loan for you to get education or training and it is used in a reasonable amount of time
• through the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program or the Home and Vehicle Modification Program

Bursaries and Scholarships
You can get a bursary or scholarship as long as it will be used for tuition, supplies, books, transportation, fees, equipment, etc.