Loans for People on Disability or Social Assistance in Canada

Loans for people on disability or social assistance do exist in Canada. Several lenders and cash advance apps count government benefits such as ODSP, EI and CPP disability as income. Whether a loan reduces your benefit depends on your province. In Ontario, ODSP and Ontario Works count a loan as income unless it’s approved for a listed purpose, and the amount can be deducted from your support. BC and Quebec don’t count a loan as income, but the cash counts toward your asset limit. A loan doesn’t change EI, CPP disability or the Canada Disability Benefit at all.

So before you borrow, call your caseworker and say what the money is for. In Ontario, the loan has to be approved to stay out of your income. Everywhere else, the call tells you how your program will count it.

Can you get a loan on disability or social assistance?

Yes, from some lenders. Spring Financial and iCash both name ODSP as income they accept, and iCash’s page on government benefits also names EI and CPP. Bree, a cash advance app, says government benefits count. Others set a bar that benefits rarely clear, like goPeer, which asks for $35,000 a year and won’t count EI.

The price depends more on the type of loan than on the lender. Since January 1, 2025, no lender can charge more than 35% a year. The main exception, outside Quebec, is a licensed payday lender, which can charge up to $14 per $100 you borrow. Our payday loan guide explains how that limit works. Some cash advance apps are free if you can wait a few days for the money, and their fees come with express delivery or a monthly plan. Our cash advance app comparison prices each one.

Your benefit alone may not clear a lender’s minimum. A single adult on Ontario Works gets up to $733 a month (opens in a new tab) for basic needs and shelter, below iCash’s $800. At the ODSP maximum of $1,436 a month (opens in a new tab) for a single person, a full year comes to $17,232, less than half of what goPeer asks for.

Does a loan count as income on ODSP, AISH or social assistance?

It depends on the province. Ontario counts a loan as income unless it’s approved. Quebec and BC don’t count it as income, but they count the cash as an asset. Alberta’s Income Support exempts a loan from a financial institution, but not one from family. Several provinces have no written rule on personal loans.

Ontario: ask before you borrow

ODSP’s policy (opens in a new tab) says loans “must be authorized and used for an approved purpose, otherwise they shall be treated as non-earned income and deducted from income support.” The approved purposes include:

• first and last month’s rent to secure housing
• household items such as furniture, appliances, food and clothing
• buying something ODSP doesn’t count as an asset, such as a car
• disability-related items, and medical costs no other program covers
• school, and running a business

For household items, the policy says recipients should get approval before they spend. Overdue rent and utility bills aren’t on the list.

On Ontario Works (opens in a new tab), the administrator can approve a loan for a similar list of purposes, including a vehicle you need for work and necessary house repairs. A line of credit used to pay off credit card debt is also exempt.

Some lender pages tell ODSP recipients that a loan won’t affect their payments, and one says that’s because the lender doesn’t report it to caseworkers. The rule depends on approval and on what the money is used for. Whether anyone reports the loan doesn’t change it.

Quebec: not income, but it’s still cash

Quebec doesn’t count a loan as income, as long as the amount and the repayment terms are clear. The ministry’s rules (in French) (opens in a new tab) say the contract doesn’t have to be in writing. The money still sits in your account, though, and on the Social Assistance Program your benefit goes down (opens in a new tab) once you hold more than $1,500 in cash as a single adult, or $2,500 on the Social Solidarity Program.

A loan used to consolidate debts, or to buy furniture, a car worth up to $10,000, tools for your work or adapted equipment, is left out of the calculation entirely (opens in a new tab) if you deposit it in a separate account right away and spend it within 30 days.

British Columbia: settle the terms first

BC’s policy (opens in a new tab) says money from a loan, credit card, line of credit or reverse mortgage isn’t income. It becomes a cash asset the moment it arrives, though, and a single person on income assistance loses eligibility (opens in a new tab) with more than $5,000 in assets. On disability assistance (opens in a new tab) the limit is $100,000.

BC’s policy on assets (opens in a new tab) adds that “to be considered a loan, repayment terms must exist prior to acceptance.” Agree on the terms before you take the money, even from family.

Alberta: it depends who lent it

Alberta’s Income Support policy (opens in a new tab) says money lent “by a financial institution, under a written repayment agreement, is not income,” and whatever is left the next month counts as an asset. Money lent by anyone else, family and friends included, “is considered a resource. It is not exempt.” The policy doesn’t say whether a payday or online lender counts as a financial institution, so ask your worker before you rely on the exemption.

AISH’s guide (opens in a new tab) doesn’t say how the program treats borrowed money. It’s a separate program from Income Support, so ask your AISH worker rather than assume the same rule applies.

The other provinces and territories

Saskatchewan’s SIS counts a loan as income unless it pays for repairs to your home, but since May 1, 2026, the first $200 a month a household gets from gifts, loans and similar one-off sources is exempt. SAID exempts the same $200. Yukon lists personal and payday loans as income. The Northwest Territories counts any loan, written or verbal, in the month you get it, unless the Director exempts it because of what it’s for.

Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador don’t say in their published rules how they treat a personal loan. New Brunswick exempts only student and government-program loans, and PEI counts “monies received from any source” as income. In all five, ask your worker before you count on a loan staying out of your income.

Will a loan affect EI, CPP disability or the Canada Disability Benefit?

No. The federal EI rules (opens in a new tab) say “a loan received by a claimant is not earnings for EI benefit purposes,” because you have to pay it back. CPP disability (opens in a new tab) pays a flat monthly amount plus an amount based on what you paid into the CPP while you worked. The income it asks you to report (opens in a new tab) is pay from work, once it’s more than $7,400 in 2026.

The Canada Disability Benefit (opens in a new tab) is based on the net income on your tax return, plus your spouse’s or common-law partner’s if you have one. A loan doesn’t go on a tax return. The benefit pays up to $204.20 a month from July 2026 to June 2027, and you need disability tax credit approval to get it.

Can a lender take your benefits if you can’t pay?

Not by garnishing them. The laws behind ODSP (opens in a new tab), Ontario Works (opens in a new tab), BC income assistance (opens in a new tab) and Quebec’s social assistance (opens in a new tab) all protect the payment from garnishment and seizure, and the CPP Act (opens in a new tab) does the same for CPP.

That protection covers the payment, not a debit you agreed to. Most lenders and apps collect by pre-authorized debit on the day your deposit lands, so a missed payment usually means a bounced debit, a charge from the lender and an NSF fee from your bank.

In Alberta, AISH and Income Support payments are exempt from seizure (opens in a new tab) only while they aren’t mixed with other money in your account. If you’re falling behind anywhere, call the lender before the debit date. Our payday loan guide covers what happens next when a payment bounces.

What can your program give you instead of a loan?

Several programs pay something in an emergency to people already on assistance. It’s usually smaller than a loan, and most of it doesn’t have to be repaid. In Ontario, ODSP recipients ask their local Ontario Works office for discretionary benefits, not ODSP.

Each one has conditions, usually a risk to your health or safety and no other way to pay. Saskatchewan’s doesn’t cover rent or utility arrears, and in Alberta, money for home or appliance repairs has to be paid back. Anywhere in Canada, 211 (opens in a new tab) can point you to local help, and our emergency money guide sorts the other options by what they cost.

A cushion your program lets you keep

Most programs let you keep some cash. On Quebec’s Social Assistance Program, you can hold $1,500 before your benefit drops. The limit is $5,000 on BC income assistance, $10,000 on Ontario Works (opens in a new tab) and $40,000 on ODSP (opens in a new tab). Quebec also lets you set aside up to $5,000 for a specific project, like going back to school or buying a car, in an individual development account (opens in a new tab), with the ministry’s permission. A few hundred dollars fits under every one of those limits, and it’s what lets you handle the next surprise bill without a loan.

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Start with a small cushion

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This page sums up each program’s published rules as of October 2026, and it isn’t legal advice. Program rules change, and your worker’s decision is the one that counts, so check with them before you borrow.

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