Bill 87 2010

An Act to amend the Ontario Works Act, 1997

Note: This Act amends the Ontario Works Act, 1997.  For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  Clauses 10 (a) and (d) of the Ontario Works Act, 1997 are repealed and the following substituted:

  (a)  the child is in the care of the adult for a temporary or indefinite period of time;

.     .     .     .     .

  (d)  the adult does not have a legal obligation to support the child, as described in subsections (2) and (3);

   2.  Section 10 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Legal obligation to support a child

   (2)  Subject to subsection (3), an adult has a legal obligation to support a child if the adult has an obligation to support the child under the Family Law Act or under the Divorce Act (Canada) or under similar legislation in another jurisdiction, except where the obligation is imposed because the adult has demonstrated a settled intention to treat the child as a child of his or her family.

Step-parents

   (3)  The exception in subsection (2) does not apply to an adult whose obligation to support a child arose from being or having been a step-parent of that child and who, in that capacity, demonstrated a settled intention to treat the child as a child of his or her family.

Commencement

   3.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   4.  The short title of this Act is the Ontario Works Amendment Act (Care Assistance), 2010.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Section 10 of the Ontario Works Act, 1997 currently provides for income assistance and benefits to an adult who cares for a child on a temporary basis, provided that the adult does not have a legal obligation to support the child.  Other conditions are specified.

The Bill amends section 10 of the Act to apply where the child is in an adult's care for a temporary or indefinite period of time.  In addition, subsections 10 (2) and (3) are added to provide the following:

    1.   An adult has a legal obligation to support a child if he or she has an obligation to support the child under the Family Law Act or the Divorce Act (Canada), or under similar legislation in another jurisdiction.

    2.   For the purposes of the section, a legal obligation to support a child does not arise because an adult, other than a step-parent, has demonstrated a settled intention to treat the child as a child of his or her family.