5. Answer questions about living together
The Ontario Human Rights Commission has released their latest take on mandatory vaccines, passports and testing, here: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/ohrc-policy-statement-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-and-proof-vaccine-certificates. In light of this update, and the new directives that the Province released a few weeks ago, we are in the process of updating our covid testing content. Please re-visit the site to access the updated content when it is available.
Question & Answer
Can I get OW if I live with another adult?Make sure you first read Steps 1 to 4.
In Part 3 of the Questionnaire (for Applicants or Recipients who are living with another adult), Ontario Works (OW) asks questions about whether you live together as a couple.
OW will ask the questions from Part 3 if your answers to Part 2 suggest that you have a financial relationship like that of a married couple. You should not have to answer the questions in Part 3 if your answers to Part 2 did not show this.
Questions in Part 3 of the Questionnaire
Part 3 is about whether the two of you are living together as a couple, which means that your relationship is like a marriage.
To find out about this, OW asks questions like:
- Do friends, family members, and others who know you, think you’re a couple?
- Do schools, daycare centres, doctors, or other services and organizations you deal with, know the two of you as a couple?
- If you have children from another relationship, do they treat the person you’re living with as a parent? Do your children think this person is your spouse?
Whether or not you have a sexual relationship with each other does not matter. OW is not allowed to ask about that.
If you disagree with the decision
If OW decides that the person you’re living with is your spouse, they’ll say that you have to apply for assistance as a couple.
If you disagree with their decision, you may be able to appeal.
Talk to a community legal clinic if you disagree with the OW decision. They may be able to help you appeal the decision.
