Finance Minister Charles Sousa

Finance Minister Charles Sousa: Reforms to the province's welfare and disability programs will allow people who work while getting support to keep the first $200 of their monthly wages before their benefits are docked, and let them hold on to more cash and assets without cutting them off, according to Times Colonist. Under the current rules, social assistance benefits are reduced by 50 cents for each dollar earned through work and TORONTO - Ontario residents receiving social assistance will get to keep more of their own money without losing benefits starting this fall, the result of several "fundamental" changes meant to reduce job barriers and improve fairness, Finance Minister Charles Sousa said in releasing his budget. "Without this reform, some people risk falling farther and farther behind, while at the same time becoming less likely to seek work because the current system takes back some of the gains of employment," Sousa said Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.