Familialism and the Meaning of ‘Spouse’ in Social Assistance Law

Ontario’s two income support social assistance programs disentitle beneficiaries if they enter into spousal relationships with people with more resources than them. By undertaking a survey of the jurisprudence of the Social Benefits Tribunal, the article presents the two main ways in which poor people’s choices about their family lives are constrained through the operation of Ontario’s social assistance regime. The article elucidates how social assistance law, policy and adjudication act as a form of family law for poor people using welfare, and how the constraints it imposes interfere with the autonomy of society’s poorest.