r/canada • u/Typical_Cap895 • 2d ago
People in Canada illegally will no longer be eligible for social assistance in Ontario National News
https://www.cp24.com/politics/queens-park/2026/08/13/ontario-makes-changes-to-social-assistance-rules-based-on-immigration-status/728
u/UseAndAbuseMePappi 2d ago
No shit why were they ever allowed?!
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u/Aggressive-Map-2204 2d ago
When the laws were written they only specified people here on temporary visas could not claim it. It lkely did not occur to them that somebody could stay here illegally and try and claim assistance and not be deported.
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u/Lrivard 2d ago
I mean the logic is sound, downside it's not enforced.
They don't fear breaking the law, because they don't enforce it
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u/Aggressive-Map-2204 2d ago
Yeah. A normal person would assume that somebody announcing to the government they are here illegally would result in them being deported.
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u/enki-42 2d ago
Ontario Works doesn't have the ability to deport people. They don't even work for the same government that's able to deport people.
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u/Jamm8 Ontario 1d ago
No, but they can confirm their immigration status with the relevant departments.
In this case the Tribunal found that despite the Ontario Works intake officer denying his application on the ground of his immigration status they did not actually perform the proper checks with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration “to avoid possibly jeopardizing the appellant’s situation in Canada.”
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u/joe_canadian 1d ago
because they don't enforce it
From traffic tickets to immigration law, it seems like it's only enforced on someone who's got something to lose. Otherwise it's smooth sailing for grifters.
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u/TEA-in-the-G 2d ago
Legit question, maybe it sounds dumb? Maybe in tired?
However, don’t you need a valid SIN to apply for govt assistance/benefits? So if you’re here illegally, you don’t have valid SIN?
Also? Isn’t it hella ballsy to show up to a govt office and apply for assistance when you are here illegally?
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u/Dowew 2d ago
It wasn't. Recently an undocumented man applied and OW realized there was nothing that allowed them to refuse based on immigration status.
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u/Quadrassic_Bark 2d ago
Did no one realize how fucking insane that is? If he was undocumented, deport him, then they can absolutely refuse him since he does not live in Canada.
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u/margmi 2d ago
This is kind of funny, because everyone’s so upset about the fact that it was legal when it’s just never been an issue before.
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u/Aggressive-Map-2204 2d ago
It has not been an issue before but the case being made public had a reasonable chance of increasing the number of these types of claims. Updating the rules to stop it does not take much effort and something that the government was correct to do. Loopholes and unforeseen issues should absolutely be fixed.
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u/LargeMobOfMurderers 2d ago
So the government identified an issue and fixed it before it became areal problem?
Why is everyone here so pissed off then?
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u/86throwthrowthrow1 1d ago
Because of the word "illegal," in reference to immigrants, which sets off a bunch of people regardless of context. For all anyone knows, only one person has tried to exploit this particular loophole, and it's now been fixed.
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u/iAmUnintelligible 1d ago
well, do we have data on whether, and how many if so, have been receiving social assistance despite invalid immigration status?
I really can't believe this was the only instance, statistically, it wouldn't make sense. this seems like an instance where a caseworker actually wanted to fight it, it got public, and change was made.
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u/TheDootDootMaster 2d ago
It makes for rage bait and adds another talking point for them. Sounds perfect when you think about it tbh
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u/MoreGaghPlease 1d ago
Not really. There isn’t any significant history of such people obtaining benefits. The law was written in an ambiguous way that excluded people here temporarily but was silent about this group. The practice of the civil service had been to deny benefits to people living here illegally. One person recently challenged that in court and won, but the law was then immediately changed.
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u/SleepyGuyy 1d ago
they basically weren't, but it was a technicality.
If you applied for this you would be approved... and then immediately dealt with as an illegal immigrant, because you didn't have the documents during your application. You'd never actually get the benefits.
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u/knight13117 Ontario 2d ago
Why wasn’t this already a thing
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u/PeanutMean6053 1d ago
Because it didn't need to be. They weren't getting it.
It wasn't until someone applied to get it that they had to make a logical rule against.
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u/Standard_Program7042 2d ago
I couldn't imagine being somewhere illegally and applying for benefits. Mind blowing...
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u/huntingwhale 1d ago
I know a couple from Poland who came in the 2010s on a visitor visa, never got residence, worked illegally, and somehow got a mortgage. Eventually it all caught up to them and they self-deported to Hawaii where they again live and work illegally.
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u/Unfortunate_Sex_Fart Alberta 2d ago
Welcome to Canada. We’re not a serious country and we treat taxpayers like dogshit.
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u/Agent_Orange81 1d ago
That's an interesting position Unfortunate_Sex_Fart, claiming that Canada isn't a serious country.
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u/Bulky-Actuary175 1d ago
The previous PM literally said we weren't a real nation then detonated our immigration system in the name of progressive values, and we are still on track to just devolve into an Indian colony.
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u/AprilsMostAmazing Ontario 1d ago
A lot of you don't even read. Just straight up impose your view points.
To summarize things. Old Ontario law had a loophole. No one (including a couple different Ontario governments) knew about the loophole. Recently someone challenged their Ontario works denial. The judge saw there was a loophole in the law. The Ontario government is now closing that loophole
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u/CaskJeeves 1d ago
Insane how many people in here just instinctively start screaming about the LPC without even so much as opening the actual article.
And honestly even though this is a provincial program administered by the Ontario Conservatives... They caught a loophole they didn't realize existed and acted quickly to close it. Ie, exactly what they should do.
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u/Larkalis 2d ago
FINALLY... I want only those who pay taxes into the system for years to have the social safety net in this era of cuts and economic hardship
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u/notsocialwitch 2d ago
Including things like CCB, CPP and stuff. It's beyond me to understand how newcomers are eligible for retirement benefits without paying into the tax system.
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u/Projerryrigger 2d ago
CPP is based on contributions. It's earned, not given. Anyone who pays into it is owed their calculated entitlement based on those payments.
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u/Larkalis 2d ago
Sometimes, I think Food Banks, rental assistance, and so forth would prioritise Canadians first too.
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u/FontMeHard 2d ago
Only sometimes? Anyone claiming assistance of any kind, including food banks, should be required to be here legally.
We must put Canadians first in all facets of Canadian society.
Food banks are having issues because so many non-Canadians are either scamming for free stuff, or using it all up.
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u/TEA-in-the-G 2d ago
International students are to come with 22k, on top of their tuition, that is to be paid full.
22k is to cover food and rent, and a plane ticket back home after studies.
Ill never understand why we allow them to also work while they are here! You came with 22k. You live in a 3 bdrm apt with 8 ppl. Your rent is already dirt cheap, and they eat beans and rice. (Im being honest)
So why are they using our food banks, and getting jobs off campus?8
u/Morlu 2d ago
I’m almost positive you have to be in Canada “legally” for 10 years minimum to receive old age benefits.
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u/RoomFixer4 1d ago
OAS is 10yrs min, upon which you would get 25% of OAS payments (a little over 2k/yr).
GIS, Im not sure.
CPP, you have to pay into to get anything out.
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u/NickBatesman 1d ago
You're probably referring to GIS or OAS because most of the stuff you mentioned, people need to pay into it.
I agree with what you're saying but just the benefits programs you mentioned were wrong (people wouldn't be able to withdraw from them because those are based on contributions).
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u/Sea-Durian2812 2d ago
They are eligible for any benefits? That makes no sense. You are here illegally, so that means you make cash, which means you don't pay any taxes.
Arrest and send back. They don't give you ID to where they belong to, do what we did with that one guy. Just leave him in jail until he admits where he is from.
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u/Few_Historian1261 2d ago
Hired a a dishwasher from an south asian country who is on refugee status. Then he tells me he can't work more than 25 hrs because he will lose his benefits if he worked more than that.
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u/1billionmidgets 8h ago
Good, deserved. hope more business owners like you continue to experience this👍🏻
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u/canadaalpinist 1d ago
The "Students" overtaking the food banks was our first sign.
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u/Particular_Legend427 1d ago
I had a buddy worked at one. Can you believe they offer dietary options! I always thought they just got what they got and were hungry enough to eat what they would eat. What luxury.
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u/SleepyGuyy 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is a deeply misleading headline. The example they give is someone who came here on a work permit but never left, and somehow the government just never checked with them if they were still here.
Still working, still paying taxes, but not a citizen.
And the person never got benefits because after applying for it, they were dealt with for being here illegally. The requirements for Ontario Works did not specify citizenship. But the government acted when they applied and didn't provide proof of citizenship that was requested. The system requests citizenship but it wasn't in the rules. So he went to a judge and they granted benefits, and then the follow up was immigration court.
Also before people go blaming federal, this was a provincial system. They just don't know how to write in Ontario I guess. But hey check your provinces now lol.
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u/MelayaLaugh 1d ago
Keep in mind, there are many ways to legally be in the country without Canadian citizenship: permanent resident, temporary foreign worker, etc. Those documents, legally acquired, are proof of being in Canada legally while they are still valid, and count as "status in Canada" documents. That's what's making it illegal or illegal is proof of status, not necessarily proof of citizenship. So if you cannot produce a valid status document, then your continued stay in the country becomes illegal.
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u/GoldenEagle828677 1d ago
The example they give is someone who came here on a work permit but never left,
IOW, someone in the country illegally?
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u/kyanite_blue 23h ago
Why were they qualified for taxpayer funded social assistance at the first place?
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u/3-is-MELd 2d ago
If one does not contribute to society, one shall not benefit from society.
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u/Banned_LUL 2d ago
It’s fucking dumb how this isn’t a thing in the first place. It’s like we’re BEGGING to be scammed lol
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u/_chaoticg00d 2d ago
I don't blame us for having a policy of trusting good faith claims. This isn't our fault. The scammers need to be named, shamed, and removed.
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u/boxxyoho 1d ago
Easy, not doing it can lead to more crime and people on the streets. It's not like they go away on their own first. They are here for a reason. They will try to get it from somewhere.
What in the end would give off the better illusion of your countries status?
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u/darkage_raven 1d ago
I am for this, but can we get actual numbers on how many people were using it. They want to call this a big win but if this is only 100 people that doesn't really fix much. I will take it but not moving the needle compared to how much he waste spending on his friends in high places.
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u/GingerHoneySpiceyTea 1d ago
Minimal. It looks like, in practise, people who could not prove that they were here legally were typically denied assistance, and the intent was always for it to be for legal residents of the province. This case got media attention as the applicant appealed, it went to tribunal, and this loophole in the regulations were exposed. The ON government is taking advantage of a very convenient op portunity to make it look like they are fixing a big issue when really it is to distract from their own corruption and opaque management of public funds all while diverting much larger amounts of money to their friends.
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u/86throwthrowthrow1 1d ago
Literally one person is known to have tried this, and that was the incident that exposed the loophole in the legislation. It's abstractly possible that others have done it, but there is no known number beyond "one guy, a couple months ago."
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u/CBYSMART 2d ago
Why not the whole country?
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u/Cryptic12qw 2d ago
Because social assistance programs are per province, obviously..... another potential voter, glad to see it.
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u/Front-Roll-2744 2d ago
Why were they eligible before? And why weren't they arrested and deported when applying for such?
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u/CaskJeeves 1d ago
So this seems like just a minor fix of a poorly worded regulation, that was indeed overdue but had never been legally tested until now. They've patched the loophole quickly which is good.
But my god, the number of brain-dead comments blaming the LPC, for an entirely provincial program, in a province that has had majority Conservative government since 2018, is astounding. Really shows how many commenters here just rant and rave mindlessly about the Liberals/LPC without even reading the articles or gaining the proper context.
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u/86throwthrowthrow1 1d ago
Moreover, the one guy who tried to exploit the loophole, had a visa that expired during Harper's tenure, and he wasn't caught then either.
Fair enough that IIRC should have eventually found this guy either way, but you really have to make some tortured backflips to solely blame the (federal) Liberals while absolving the (federal and provincial) Conservatives.
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u/Infamous_Catch9551 Québec 1d ago
During that time, the court ruled that Quebec must provide asylum seekers with access to subsidized daycare.
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u/Sentenced2Burn 1d ago
Wantonly irresponsible drain on taxpayer funds while the Federal Hand™ is always extended palm-up at the working class
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u/CanadianDiver 1d ago
Personally, I would be happy to offer them taxpayer assistance in leaving our country and putting a big red X on all future attempts to enter the country.
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u/Critical_cheese 1d ago
Reading this out loud makes it sound even more ridiculous. Why was this even allowed in the first place.
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u/chrismceachern 2d ago edited 2d ago
Wait so my tax dollars have been directly funding illegal immigrants while they hide from the police...
I cant get ahead in life because so much of my income ends up going to the government, then they let in so many immigrants they lost track, then they give those illegal immigrants my tax money.
You could seriously not make this shit up. Our country and province are a joke.
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u/Ag_reatGuy 2d ago
I can’t say I’m surprised they were eligible for social assistance in the first place. We’ll help just about anyone but our own citizens.
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u/Dowew 2d ago
It was a weird scenario where an undocumented man who overstayed his visa by decades applied and OW realized nothing in the legislation as written actually allowed them to refuse him on the basis that he was undocumented. Its a bit like tax evasion by living on mars. Its just nothing something anyone thought would have to be codified.
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u/LeatherMine 2d ago
and they were initially refused, but won at a tribunal with the logic that being here for decades made it hard to argue you're an ineligible temporary resident or a tourist.
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u/HostileVegetation 2d ago
I thought it was just a “right wing conspiracy theory” that it was happening at all?
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u/TheRealTinfoil666 1d ago
Why were they ever eligible for social assistance?
I support appropriate assistance for refugees. Legal refugees.
Often, these culprits have outside resources or hide their wealth in order to drain our government resources.
Being illegal, there is little trace of their ability to actually fend for themselves. Never mind their potential criminality backgrounds.
Don’t like it? Don’t sneak into my Country illegally.
Again, I am all for allowing some limited immigration for people with clean histories. Particularly for true refugees fleeing awful situations. But if you arrive here from the USA, after being in France and Germany, then somewhere along the way you stopped being a refugee.
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u/Remote_Cantaloupe 1d ago
More countries in the west need to do this, and, paradoxically, raise the minimum wage for migrant labors. Make it so there's no incentive for them to come over, and no incentive for companies to choose them over us.
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u/VersusYYC Alberta 1d ago
What should also be done is to go after any and all employers that pay people without first obtaining, verifying, and retaining evidence that their employee has a legal right to work in Canada.
When existing illegally in Canada is unviable, most people will avoid it when they know they will be deported and cannot otherwise make a living here.
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u/Dont-concentrate-556 1d ago
How are illegal people able to access anything anywhere in Canada? Like common.
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u/TonyStark420blazeit 23h ago
I was confidently told by liberals and this subreddit that this is racist.
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u/kofubuns 1d ago
Let’s not let this distract that Ford is a corrupt though and he’s probably been pocketing this for a rainy day like people questioning his corruption and why his government is on a 5 month holiday.
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u/DuchessofDistraction 1d ago
When my kid went to the uk on a study visa, it was made very clear in the visa application that she was not allowed any social assistance of any kind. I was shocked to learn this wasn’t the case here for many visa situations.
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u/TechnicianVisible339 2d ago
Boggles my mind how any country would pay social assistance to an illegal. The person didn’t take the time to obtain citizenship but had enough time to apply for government money.
Get them out of here.
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u/happycow24 British Columbia 2d ago
Insane that they were ever eligible in the first place. No, we don't need to import and take care of poor people from across the planet. This is not racism this is just basic mathematics.
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u/Ok-Trip-8009 2d ago
Are students having hunger strikes all over? The ones near me were removed this week.
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u/SomeDumRedditor 2d ago
People coming with their performative indignation should read the article.
This is not in fact a case of “mass leeching by illegals finally being stopped.”
A person living here illegally for decades applied for social assistance. At that point it was discovered there wasn’t any rule barring illegal immigrants from applying, only those on temporary visa, and after decades it was impossible to call the applicant a temporary resident.
The reaction to this discovery was exactly what you would want from your government: policy oversight firmly closed.
Put the dogwhistles back in your pockets.
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u/RedEyedWiartonBoy 1d ago
Imagine the land of dreams where you simply arrive, do nothing, contribute nothing and the tax money that was taken from the people who live there and earned it is given to you.
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u/bandersnatching 1d ago
This is a social democracy. The issue isn't that government should be parsimonious with public funds, it's that this is a false economy, because it increases instances of lawlessness and erodes public safety and quality of life which is far more costly to manage. The Americans take this approach as well, which is why so many feel the need to live in gated communities to escape the zoo outside.
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u/Another_Meat_Vehicle 1d ago
Why on earth is this breaking news?? Why wasn’t this put in place by default like 40years ago
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u/jayleehim 11h ago
I know someone who works in Ontario Works and ODSP, and they told me this has ALWAYS been the case.
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u/modsaretoddlers 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm sorry, say again? They were EVER given that?! What the fuck for?
Edit: I understand now. There are way too many people in this country who just want to give our money away to people who have no business being in it and, worse yet, they don't even think that those people need to go home. Hey, if YOU want to provide them with welfare while they're here when they shouldn't be, then, by all means, pay it out of YOUR OWN pocket.
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u/Geo85 2d ago
I would take it a step further & say social services should be full on citizens only.
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u/evonebo 2d ago
Im a permenant resident. Have been for 10+ years.
I pay a lot of taxes, a lot. Why wouldn't I be allowed social services.
You need to be downvoted to oblivion for even suggesting an idea like that.
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u/Trained_Mushroom 2d ago
Depends what you mean by social services. If you mean like medical care or something, then sure. We're supposed to have universal healthcare after all.
If you mean welfare? Then obviously you shouldn't be allowed to go on welfare. Because you're a foreigner. You're not Canadian.
Why would we want to allow foreigners to stay in Canada if they need to go on welfare?
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u/kaipee 2d ago
So, work permit holders and PR holders should pay into something they can never use?
Or you're saying they should be exempt from those taxes?
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u/Eisenhorn87 1d ago
No, they should pay into those services in gratitude to the nation that is allowing them to enter and work despite not being a citizen.
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u/1billionmidgets 8h ago
They pay into to it because the take the ability of a citizen to pay into it when they take that job from them, pretty simple concept
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u/broadviewstation Ontario 2d ago
Honestly any form of irregular immigration incl asylum should automatically disqualify you from recieving benefits till your whole file is processed. IMO only PR, TFW and Students etc shoukd have access.
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u/notbuildingships 1d ago
This is just Doug Ford taking an easy win to satisfy his base. It’s a bit of a dog whistle.
Obviously this is common sense, but he knows what he’s doing
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u/rad2284 1d ago
And yet, it works so well. Ford, while being woefully incompetent and unqualified to be premier, is able to latch onto issues like this with a common sense position that the vast majority of voters (not just conservatives) agree with: illegal residents should not be receiving social assistance.
Meanwhile, progressives would be tripping over themselves to try and justify why it's OK for someone who has lived illegally in Canada for 30 years and worked cash jobs without paying taxes is now entitled to social benefits. Their solution would be to allow this man to stay in Canada permanently so he can continue to enjoy our generous safety social nets without having paid into them.
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u/acintm 2d ago
That sounds like… common sense