An Investigation into the City’s Handling of a Resident’s Social Assistance Overpayments

What happened

A Toronto mother and resident complained to Ombudsman Toronto after the City of Toronto’s Employment and Social Services (TESS) division told her she had received $25,546 in excess social assistance benefits over the past 10 years. TESS had not informed her that she was under financial review. The news arrived without warning, and her benefits were immediately reduced.

Dina (as she is named in the report) accepted responsibility for half of the amount. But TESS claimed she still owed about $13,000 because she and her adult child had not reported income they had earned. Dina said she had provided City staff with documents showing that her child’s income was exempt because they were a full-time student. Dina asked questions, resubmitted documents and tried to speak with management in person, but did not receive a fair response. Unable to resolve the issue on her own, Dina turned to Ombudsman Toronto for help.

What we did

Ombudsman Kwame Addo launched this investigation into how TESS handled overpayments on Dina’s file on April 25, 2025. The investigation focused on:

• whether TESS followed policies and procedures for administering her social assistance benefits

• whether TESS communicated clearly to Dina

• whether TESS gave Dina the opportunity to be heard

We interviewed Dina as well as 15 TESS staff members who were either directly involved in Dina’s file or gave us important information about TESS processes. We also reviewed hundreds of documents provided by TESS.

What we found

• TESS has good procedures in place, but staff failed to follow them and could not explain why.

• City staff did not inform her they were doing a financial review of her benefits, so the news she owed $25,546 in overpayments came without warning.

• Before giving her a chance to respond, City staff finalized overpayments and immediately began deducting her assistance by 10 per cent (about $96 per month.)

• City staff did not keep proper records that would have meant thousands of dollars of Dina and her adult child’s income was exempt. Additional mistakes occurred because staff worked from incomplete and confusing information.

• Two separate reviews that act as safeguards failed to catch and correct errors. City staff never spoke to Dina to understand the facts during either review.

• After reversing almost half of the overpayments, TESS still sent Dina a decision letter that said she owed the full $25,546.

• Dina went to a local office to speak to a supervisor, but after waiting for hours, she left without being seen. This fell short of the TESS’s customer service standards, which state that clients should be able to speak to management within 30 minutes of arriving.

• Management’s involvement was marked by delays and inaction. For two years, supervisors and managers took no action to correct about $2,400 in overpayments that were assessed incorrectly. TESS did not reverse the overpayments until after Ombudsman Addo launched this investigation.

Our recommendations

Ombudsman Addo has made 18 recommendations designed to strengthen TESS’s processes concerning overpayments, financial reviews, related safeguards and communication. The City has accepted all the recommendations and provided a thoughtful and detailed response. Our office was encouraged to learn about the measures that TESS is already undertaking to address the recommendations.

A strong public service requires that it be accountable for its decisions. TESS staff we interviewed care about their work and the people they serve. They recognize they could have done better. Ombudsman Toronto will be following up to ensure the recommendations are implemented.

Read the report

Read the full report, An Investigation into the City’s Handling of a Resident’s Social Assistance Overpayments, including detailed findings and recommendations.