The program, which merges employment services from various programs such as those offered under Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), began about a year and a half ago in Peel, Hamilton-Niagara and Muskoka- Kawarthas.
According to the government, service providers in these areas have already helped 17,200 people secure jobs, including 5,700 people on social assistance.
Speaking to CTV News Toronto, Labor Minister Monte McNaughton said this new process will modernize Ontario’s employment network.  Service providers will offer a variety of assistance to clients, including resume building, interview skills, and financial assistance for items such as uniforms or transportation.
“In the past, only one percent of people on welfare get off welfare.  So clearly, the system is failing them,” he said.  “My mission is to help people on welfare find opportunities and find meaningful careers where they can build their lives and their families.”
“So far, it’s been an overwhelming success.”
On Thursday morning, McNaughton is expected to announce that the program will begin operating in four additional areas—York, Halton, Stratford-Bruce Peninsula and Kingston-Pembroke.  The aim is to expand the network to 15 areas across the province by the end of 2023.
Each area is overseen by a system administrator, who is responsible for overseeing employment service providers.  Principals are selected through a “complex process,” McNaughton said.
In the Muskoka-Kawarthas, the manager is Fleming College, while in York Region, the employment agency is WCG, and in Halton, the global non-profit Fedcap will oversee the program.
“They make sure the providers in this area are producing results and helping to uplift the people on social assistance,” McNaughton said.  “And their pay is based on results.”
“In the past, the government never tracked the results of some of these providers that were supposed to be helping people.”
Few details were given on how the government would monitor employment outcomes, with the minister saying only that funding was previously provided after a client got a job – regardless of whether the job lasted a day or a month.
However, it’s unclear what results will trigger funding and what will happen if a provider doesn’t reach that threshold.
The reward-based approach is meant in response to a 2018 Auditor General’s report that found the ministry was not measuring “whether recipients are finding stable employment to become self-sufficient,” the ministry said.
Officials say the government is currently selecting system administrators in Durham, London, Windsor-Sarnia, Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie and Ottawa as part of the next phase of expansion.
Ontario’s jobless rate rose 0.4 percentage points in August to about 5.7 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
The changes come as the province battles criticism over funding provided to those in need of social assistance through OW and ODSP.  The government recently increased ODSP payments by 5 percent, adding about $58 to the roughly $1,169 a month people with disabilities receive.  Supporters and opposition parties have called for a doubling of ODSP rates to tackle both inflation and the fact that payments have been frozen since 2018.
OW recipients have not received an increase in payments and typically receive about $733 per month.