06/04/2026
"WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?!"
“Where is the money going?”
Striking community & social service workers are taking the Ford government on this question after a new report draws attention to billions of tax dollars funnelled through for-profit companies, while overall funding for social services declines.
A new report from OPSEU/SEFPO argues the Ford government has been funnelling billions of taxpayer dollars into private, for
-profit intermediaries all while underfunding frontline services.
You can read the report here: opseu.org/worth-fighting-for-report-open-the-books-fund-out-services/
“Right now across this province, our community and social services are struggling, workers who deliver these services are barely able to make ends meet, and thousands of Ontarians are waiting longer and longer for the care they need,” said Tannis McGinn, Chair of the OPSEU/SEFPO’s Child Treatment Divisional Executive and leader of the Worth Fighting For Working Group.
“To hear that private companies are getting a billion dollars while we are struggling – something isn’t right.”
While the Ford government’s claim it is delivering “record funding” for the social services sector, funding actually dropped by 2.4 per cent in the latest provincial budget, once you take into account inflation and population growth.
While core funding to social services has dropped, money handed to for-profit intermediaries has ballooned. Three private, for-profit intermediaries (Accerta, Serco and WCG) administered over $1 billion of our tax dollars in 2024-25 alone.
Payments sent to Accerta, a for-profit claims administrator involved in Ontario Works, Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and the Ontario Autism Program, among others, has more than tripled since Premier Ford’s been in office.
“We don’t know how much money stays with these companies, but we do know that not nearly enough 'trickles down' to the front lines,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick.
“From the Skills Development (SDF) slush fund to these alarming 'black boxes' of funding moving to for-profit companies instead of frontline services, it’s no wonder our public services are crumbling under Ford’s watch.”
Full media release: https://opseu.org/where-is-the-money-going/
