2. Find out who ODSP includes in your household

The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) has rules about who they include as part of your household. They call this your “benefit unit”.  

They include the income and assets of everyone in your household when they decide if you qualify financially for income support. 

The amount of money you get from ODSP also depends on how many people are in your household.

The people they may include are:

• your spouse
• your children under the age of 18
• your adult children

Rules about spouses

OW includes your spouse in your household if the two of you live together.

Your spouse can be someone of the same or opposite sex. You could be married to one another or not.

ODSP has rules about how they decide if someone is your spouse.

If you live with your spouse and ODSP decides that both of you have a disability, you get more income support than if only one of you is a person with a disability.

Rules about children

A child under 18 who lives with you will usually be included in your household if you or your spouse is the child’s parent. 

If ODSP says they’re not including the child, contact a community legal clinic for help.

There are special rules about when ODSP includes a child who’s 18 or older in your household.