ODSP rules leave Windsor, Ont. widow without survivor’s pension after husband’s death

Ontario’s Disability Support Program is allegedly putting a Windsor woman at risk of losing her home. With the details, here’s CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru.

A Windsor, Ont., widow says Ontario’s disability support system is blocking her from receiving the survivor’s pension she expected after her husband’s death, leaving her at risk of losing her home just months after he passed away.

Britt Warren’s husband, Daniel, died on Aug. 29 at the age of 66, following a rapid decline from dementia.

In the years before his death, the couple survived on a combination of his disability pension, CPP income, and federal top-ups — an amount Warren said was far more than the $2,200 she currently receives from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

While ODSP’s base rate for a single person is $1,408, Warren’s payment is higher because she also qualifies for additional supports — including $941 in shelter benefits and an extra $88 in shelter assistance — which are added on top of the standard rate, according to a payment statement reviewed by CTV News.

Before Daniel died, his income reduced Warren’s ODSP eligibility because it counted as household income. After his death, her ODSP payment rose to around $2,200 — the amount she normally qualifies for — but she said that still falls far short of what the household relied on when Daniel was alive.

She also expected to receive a $610 monthly survivor’s pension to help replace part of her husband’s income.

A survivor’s pension is a monthly payment the federal government gives to the spouse or common-law partner of someone who contributed to the Canada Pension Plan and has died.

However, ODSP will deduct that full amount from her disability benefits, meaning Warren will not receive any of it.

“We will have to sell the house next year because I can’t afford the payments,” she said.

“It’s just insult to injury that they would take a widow’s pension away. I don’t think that’s right.”

In a statement, the province said ODSP is a “program of last resort,” meaning income-replacement programs such as CPP, CPP-Disability, and survivor’s pensions are “not exempt and would be deducted dollar-for-dollar from any social assistance payments.”

NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky said Warren’s experience reflects a growing crisis affecting people with disabilities across Ontario.

“This is why we have seen an increase in the number of people having to access food banks,” she said.

“It is government policy that is actually keeping people in legislative poverty.”

Gretzky said ODSP rates should be at least doubled and tied to inflation, noting the current support leaves many people unable to afford both rent and food.

“It’s shameful that someone’s partner dies and they should be entitled to a survivor’s benefit, and the government is clawing that back, especially when we’re looking at the number of people who are living in deep poverty,” she said.

Advocates with the ODSP Action Coalition, an advocacy group led by people receiving provincial disability benefits, said Warren’s situation highlights long-standing flaws in the program’s structure.

In an email, coalition co-chair Trevor Manson said ODSP’s status as a “program of last resort” requires recipients to pursue all other income sources — including survivor benefits — which are then treated as “unearned income” and deducted in full.

He noted that his own CPP-Disability income is clawed back entirely.

“I get all the joy of dealing with two bureaucracies for the price of one,” Manson said.

The coalition’s recent pre-budget submission warns that ODSP’s shelter allowance of $582 a month is “symbolic at best,” far below real-world housing costs.

It cites data showing social assistance recipients are four times more likely to become homeless than the general population and warns that stagnant rates have pushed more disabled Ontarians toward homelessness, food insecurity and even medical assistance in dying.

The group is calling on the province to double ODSP rates and treat income-replacement programs — including CPP-D, EI, WSIB and survivor benefits — like employment earnings, allowing recipients to keep more without losing their entire ODSP payment.

For now, Warren is trying to keep her mind off her dire financial situation by preparing her home for the holidays — the first season without her husband — while gathering the strength to face what she fears may be her final months in it.

“I love when he made me laugh and just being around him,” she said.

“My kids miss him. I miss him. We all miss him.”