In Quebec, people who receive social assistance benefits have the right to work and receive a salary of up to $200 per month to supplement their income. If they exceed this threshold, their service is cut. Voices are being raised for the government to allow them to earn more without being penalized. But where should we draw the line?
Denis, 59, has been receiving social assistance for several years. He works a few hours a month in a restaurant in Quebec as a dishwasher. “Since I have been working, I have had collections,” he relates. I owe them $500. » “I work five and a half hours a week and I don’t earn [un sou]. At $15 an hour. »
Before being eligible for the assistance program, Denis was a chef in a renowned restaurant in Charlevoix. He loved his job.
But his situation took a turn for the worse following a severe depression around fifteen years ago. He now depends on a basic benefit of $725 per month. Since he is nearing retirement age, he is entitled to an additional $205. He gets by as best he can because he has social housing.
If he works in the restaurant, it is also a lot for his psychological balance. “After my depression, I had suicidal thoughts. Since I started working, things have been much better. Both physically and psychologically. »
He does not want to work full time, not even part time since his physical condition prevents him from doing so anyway. But maybe ten hours? At minimum wage, that could be $600 a month, three times the current limit.
The chef of the restaurant that employs him, Alex Gallant, is outraged by the situation. “In catering, if we don’t have a dishwasher, the restaurant runs slower and less smoothly. It’s really important to us. »
Apart from Denis, the restaurant has no dedicated dishwasher. When he is not there, the kitchen employees take over. We have to refuse customers and certain take-out orders, she explains.
“Instead of having Denis two big evenings a week, we have him for just one. It doesn’t make sense to me that he is only allowed to earn as little as that. This should really be increased. It doesn’t help anyone. »
Collecting cans
The associations which defend these providers are campaigning for this threshold to be raised. “It hasn’t been increased for 24 years,” protests the spokesperson for the Association for the Defense of Social Rights of Metropolitan Quebec (ADDS-QM), Laurent Lévesque.
The Common Front of People on Social Assistance points out, for its part, that the limit is less severe everywhere else in Canada. In Ontario, for example, claimants are allowed to earn $200 per month. Beyond this threshold, the government deducts $0.50 from the benefit for each dollar earned.
In British Columbia, the limit is $500 for a single person; $750 if she is in a relationship or has a child.
Front spokesperson Steve Baird adds that Denis’ case is quite unique because most employers won’t hire people for just a few hours a week. Therefore, most people on social assistance who receive income work in more informal sectors such as housekeeping or snow removal.
Many give up or go to work undeclared, argues Solange Laliberté of the Association for the Defense of Social Rights of Metropolitan Montreal (ADDS-MM). “That’s how they manage to get by,” she said. They don’t want to be declared, so they prefer to collect cans. » Mme Laliberté, who has already received social assistance herself, also pleads for the $200 to be increased.
“It’s not right to let men who are capable of working go and collect cans in the alleys,” she said.
But on this account, why wouldn’t these people return directly to the job market? “It’s not as easy as you think,” replies Mme Freedom. Employers, she continues, ask that people have completed high school, be bilingual, have this or that training…
Limit of the new basic income
Last April, the minister responsible for the file, Chantal Rouleau, showed herself open to raising the threshold by $200. “Is it going to be $500, […] a percentage, a number of hours? I don’t know,” the minister told The Canadian Press.
The Common Front of People on Social Assistance would like them to have the right to double their income before suffering penalties.
A concession already offered to people who qualify for what is called “basic income”, a program offered since January to people deemed unfit for work due to disability or illness. Previously, these people were subject to the social solidarity program. The benefits were more generous than those enjoyed by people without constraints like Denis. But for the rest, the programs were very similar.
However, the entry into force of the basic income in January created a small revolution for these people (there are approximately 88,000 in Quebec). Not only are their benefits up to 40% higher than those of the social solidarity program, but the government no longer controls their other sources of income as before.
They can therefore live with their spouse without being penalized, receive inheritances, have greater work income, etc.
The minister who made the change in 2022, Jean Boulet, said he wanted to “make a strong gesture of solidarity” with this new program by “improving the situation of the most vulnerable people in society”.
To be eligible, you must have been a social solidarity recipient for at least five years and have a recognized incapacity to work. A change which cost the State 1.5 billion in 2023.
Not so rich
Marie is one of those who benefit from it. The big difference, she says, is her stress. “I no longer have to be accountable all the time […] It was very stressful. They could ask us at any time for our bank statements, we had to justify everything,” explains this very eloquent woman in a calm tone.
Aged 49, Marie has a recognized disability because she suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. She gets around with a cane and has difficulty walking for long periods of time.
Despite everything, she is very active and does a lot of volunteer work. She heads the board of directors of a community organization helping women like her in Quebec. And “I’m an adapted soccer coach [pour les personnes ayant des limitations physiques ou mentales] for 22 years,” she says.
A soccer fan? No, not basically, she said. Her sons — both disabled — got her interested in it. It was also to take care of them that she interrupted her literature studies at university and had to apply for social assistance when they were young.
She is very active, but not to the point of returning to the job market. “It’s more difficult on the job market because you have to give a return. I cannot, for example, commit to giving three days and promise that I will be able to do it. »
She says basic income hasn’t made her that much richer since January. “Inflation has worked so hard against us! » She lives with one of her sons. The other lives in an intermediate resource and the price of his housing has increased in proportion to the increase in basic income. “It has increased so much, food and other services, that I have the impression that we are caught by the throat all the same. »