Ontario Premier Doug Ford is vowing to look into changing provincial regulations after discovering an immigrant living in Canada illegally for 25 years has been found eligible for social assistance benefits from the province.
Ford took to social media over the weekend to comment on the case of a man heard by the Ontario Social Benefits Tribunal in May. The man told the tribunal he came to Canada in 1997 on a four-year temporary work permit and never left.
The tribunal ruled the man, who was not named in its decision, is eligible to receive financial benefits.
Ford said he disagreed with the decision.
“Our government will always be there to support people on hard times—but that doesn’t include people living in Canada illegally,” he said in a July 12 X post.
The Case
Tribunal adjudicator Eric Brown heard during the course of the case that the man supported himself with cash-paying jobs until 2023. It was at this point that he entered the homeless shelter system.
The man submitted an application for welfare benefits last fall but the administrator of Ontario Works, the province’s social assistance program, rejected his request on the grounds of his illegal status, according to the tribunal documents.
Under the Ontario Works Act, the province specifies three groups of people who are ineligible for social assistance benefits on the basis of their status: tourists, visitors, and individuals with an enforceable deportation, departure, or exclusion order to leave Canada.
The tribunal said an immigration search in 2023 found there was no active removal order against the man. It also determined that an Ontario Works case officer failed to perform an immigration search in 2025 to assess the man’s eligibility.
“Although the check was not performed in October 2025 the Tribunal found little reason to believe the results would differ, or in the alternative, finds that the Administrator could have performed the check if there were cause for concern,” Brown wrote.
He noted in his ruling that the man also could not be classified as a tourist or visitor because of the “sheer length of time and the roots the appellant had established while in Canada.”
Brown agreed with the man’s argument that legal immigration status in Canada is not a requirement for welfare under Ontario’s legislation, as long as the applicant does not fall under any of the three exclusionary criteria.
As a result, he deemed the man’s benefits denial to be “incorrect” and rescinded the Ontario Works denial.
Ford has said he plans to take action to prevent migrants from going on assistance.
“If provincial regulations need to be changed to make that crystal clear, we’ll change them,” he wrote on X.
Tory MP and shadow immigration minister Michelle Rempel Garner also commented on the case, calling the ruling “yet another government action that undermines core principles of our immigration system.”
“Those who come to Canada should do so legally and with a clear commitment to becoming self-sufficient as quickly as possible,” she said in a July 13 post on X. “This ruling should offend anyone who values an immigration system grounded in fairness and public trust.”
Eligibility for financial assistance through Ontario Works requires individuals to be at least 16, be residents of Ontario, and participate in employment-related activities, according to the provincial website. They must also be in financial need and cannot have assets that surpass $10,000 for an individual or $15,000 for a couple.
The current guidelines state that a single person with no dependents can receive up to $733 per month while a couple with two children could receive up to $1,553.
