OASW’s Response to the 2018 Ontario Budget

 
In response to the 2018 Ontario Budget, Joan MacKenzie Davis, OASW’s CEO stated, “It is always a challenge for government to consider the needs of Ontarians against a balanced budget. We applaud the government for investing in mental health and reducing poverty today because it will provide a significant return in the form of future cost savings for government, particularly in health care, the largest expenditure in the province.”

Based on our Pre-Budget Submission, OASW commends the Government of Ontario for prioritizing mental health and addictions services, including the expansion of access to publicly funded structured psychotherapy, a key recommendation of OASW.  

OASW welcomes the expansion of access to interprofessional primary care teams on which social workers play an essential role. We appreciate the Government of Ontario’s renewed commitment of $330 million over the next three years to support the recruitment and retention of health care professionals, including social workers on primary care teams in Ontario and we will continue to advocate with government that any future budgetary increases ensure that this funding is distributed equitably across health care professionals on such teams.

OASW has long championed increases to social assistance and transformation of this system into one that promotes respectful and meaningful collaboration to move Ontarians out of poverty. While the investments made by the Government of Ontario to increase social assistance rates in the 2018 Budget is not what OASW recommended, it is our hope that these signal a sustained and progressive approach by government to address poverty and we are committed to assisting the government in this process.

To read full news release click here.
 
 
 
About OASW
 
OASW is the voice of social work in Ontario. It is a voluntary, provincial, non-profit association representing approximately 5,200 social workers. All practicing members have a university degree in social work at the bachelor's, master's or doctoral level. OASW works actively to speak on behalf of social workers and advocate for the improvement of social policies and programs directly affecting social work practice and client groups served.