# Need some advice: Disability assistance from Ontario (Direct Funding)



## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

I am currently disabled in a wheelchair now for about 3 years, still able to get around a bit in the house with stairlifts, but my legs are getting weaker and weaker ever year.

In the coming years, I will definitely need personal assistance and housekeeper to come in and do the things that I can't do from a wheelchair.

While there are local initiatives to help out seniors with disabilities, these services are not free and come at a cost, which would come out of my meagre Nortel, OAS and early CPP (taken at age 60).

(I am a Nortel pensioner with DB pension that has been reduced 33% due to pension funding shortfall) and now is in the long process of the pension fund being wound up.)

I recently found out that the Ontario gov't has a DIRECT FUNDING (SELF MANAGED ATTENDANT SERVICES IN ONTARIO), funding service that if you qualify, you become the employer (hiring,firing, managing and of course paying your employee, and deducting the gov't deductions from their wages..such as income tax, CPP and maybe EI..not sure about EI...and of course..and submitting those deductions to CRA.

http://www.dfontario.ca/


Question: Has anyone out there who is disabled or has a disabled family member gone this route?

It seems like a there is lot more red tape because you become an employer rather than just pay some personal care service company their hourly rate. I can certainly handle the accounting and bookkeeping as I manage a very tight budget every month for myself and am debt and mortgage free with some GIC/TFSA. 

Any thoughts from anyone?


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

Hi Carverman:

I can't help you with the disability program you mentioned but I do have experience with business registrations and dealing with payroll. If you haven't done this yourself before, I can tell you it is easy. For a guy like yourself, no problem at all.

The following is a link to set up your business number. It should give all the details you need. They are pretty quick.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bn/

As for payroll with CPP/EI and taxes deductions, the following link will do all the calculations for you and give you a report that you can give your employee (I use it as a pay stub) and a report for your remittance to CRA (for withholding taxes, CPP and EI, BOTH employee and employer amounts)

https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/rhpd/startLanguage.do?lang=English

Once you have your business number you can set up a "bill payee" for a CRA remittance account, with your bank's online bill payment system (or you can mail them in). Your business number will be your account number. Each time you pay your employee, just pay the "remittance" bill to CRA and you are done. Of course you will have to give a cheque to your employee for their after tax and deduction's pay. 

Lastly, at the end of the year (I just did mine about 2 weeks ago) you complete a T4 for your employee and a T4 summary (sort of a tax return, but is one page and is easy) for CRA. Here's the link with fillable boxes for that. Takes 30 minutes if you have kept good records. 

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/rc4120/README.html

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t4sum/t4sum-fill-14e.pdf

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t4/t4-fill-14e.pdf

I suspect some of your attendants may be "employees" and some might be "self-employed". No biggie, the only difference is if you withhold CPP/EI and taxes. With self-employed you will just issue a T4A (instead of a T4), with all the money paid to them in box 48. CRA has all the info for that as well.

Whether employee or self employed you will need their SIN number and address for this. 

Good luck.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

*Carverman *- you might want to take this or ask *cainvest* (= super-duper mod) to take this thread up to the top in the General Personal Finance Talk or Retirement section for further hits/responses. 

While my response directly to your question above is "no", my thought on getting this funding (which is alot of work and on a waiting list too? as per website info), will this affect your CPP (disability) payment? How about GIS?


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> *Carverman *- you might want to take this or ask *cainvest* (= super-duper mod) to take this thread up to the top in the General Personal Finance Talk or Retirement section for further hits/responses.
> 
> While my response directly to your question above is "no", my thought on getting this funding (which is alot of work and on a waiting list too? as per website info), will this affect your CPP (disability) payment? How about GIS?


I'm not on CPP disability..just regular CPP (started at age 60), and regular CPP doesn't care. I also believe that if you
are on CPP disability, you can only take it up to age 65, after which it becomes just the regular CPP payments.
I am not on GIS (at least so far), at least while the Nortel pension is still giving me a monthly pension, even if it
is reduced now by 33% from what I used to receive.

I'm sure that if this is a viable option, others in the low income bracket may also be interested..
provided they qualify and can manage the 'employees" and do the necessary bookkeeping.

Right now, I'm just weighing my options..as there is also CACC, (Community Access Center),

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/contact/ccac/

but they are very slow to respond for me last year..it took over a month before I got a call back,
asking if I still needed some assistance. 
By then I was able to get on my foot somewhat as the constant pain had subsided a bit.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

OptsyEagle said:


> Hi Carverman:
> 
> I can't help you with the disability program you mentioned but I do have experience with business registrations and dealing with payroll. If you haven't done this yourself before, I can tell you it is easy. For a guy like yourself, no problem at all.
> 
> ...


Thanks OptsyEagle. I saved all those links in case I go that way. I will definitely have to make a decision this year one way or another on what options to use...the most economical for me/

I would have to attend a screening at my local Direct Funding office here for an interview to see if
they think I would be a good candidate for this self managed plan. If I give them all the information
they need and convince them, I can do it, they will approve me and send me out a package with all
the necessary procedures and legal stuff .

Just came back by paratransp/wheelchair from Service Ontario after renewing my health card. My drivers licence also expired today as well, but SO wants $80 to renew that, and there is no way I will be ever driving again in this lifetime...in fact, I haven't driven for the last 3 years...can't raise my right foot from the gas to the brake..so I sold my vehicle in 2012.

I surrendered my expired license and bought an Ontario photo id card ($35) which also has to be renewed every 5 years for ..$35, but sometimes they ask for photo id and they don't always accept a health card.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Carverman
As somebody who personally pays over $30,000 a year for my own care I think it is well worth the trip to see if you can qualify .I have my own employees and pay my wsib and remit taxes so it is not too difficult to manage . I don't drive either but travel alot so I just use my passport for my ID.They are not suppose to accept a health card for ID ,not sure why but have been told that many times .


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Off topic, but I think the reason they aren't allowed to take health card as ID is to cut down on the possibility of people stealing health services by using your card #/name.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

marina628 said:


> Carverman
> They are not suppose to accept a health card for ID ,not sure why but have been told that many times .


Yes, I heard of that too., that is why I decided at the same time to go for the Ontario photo card ID. They took my drivers licence, which expired today btw, and there is no way I can drive a regular vehicle in the future with foot controls. 

Trying to get/buy a disability van is no good for me because without a driver, there is no way I could load my wheelchair into the back and then try to get into the driver's seat..even if it was equipped with hand controls and I was re-certified for those on my driving licence.

Right now, it's either para-transpo van ($2.10 each way for me), or parataxi (more expensive, but you can buy the coupons at a 40% discount from their face value and order them anytime, not having to worry about not getting a van due to overbooking......... or regular bus route..in the other 3 seasons at least.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Spudd said:


> Off topic, but I think the reason they aren't allowed to take health card as ID is to cut down on the possibility of people stealing health services by using your card #/name.


Makes sense to me. Service Ontario now demands 3 different forms of identification to even get a health card renewal, 
so they scrutinize you even more these days to prevent fraud. 

I suppose, you could give your card to someone that looks like you for any medical attention,
but if that happened, I'm sure someone would catch on at some point.


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