6 Year Old Ontario Works Debt -Sponsored Spouse 

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If there is a valid undertaking, CIC automatically sends a warning letter to defaulting sponsors to advise them that there is a potential sponsorship breakdown and reiterates the requirement to resume full support obligations and that they will not be allowed to sponsor again unless they meet their obligations.

If the sponsored person is at risk of domestic violence as a result of the notice to CIC, this must be noted on the referral and no letter is to be sent by CIC.

Once a sponsored immigrant is in receipt of any amount of social assistance, Ontario Works staff sends a letter to notify the sponsor that debt is being incurred.

The letter reminds the sponsor of the obligation to provide for the sponsored person, advises that the federal government has been notified of the default, and
advises that any social assistance paid to the sponsored person is a debt, which is subject to collection by the federal government. In addition, the sponsor will not
be allowed to sponsor while the debt exists.

If a defaulting sponsor and/or a co-signor reimburses the delivery agent for the full amount of social assistance that was paid to the sponsored immigrant while the sponsorship agreement was in force, staff will notify CIC that the repayment has been made by sending the Confirmation of Repayment of Social Assistance Benefits form to CIC.

If a defaulting sponsor and/or co-signor does not respond after fifteen days and/or does not resume their support of the sponsored immigrant, the delivery agent uses the Notification of Sponsorship Debt Form to confirm the default to CIC.

The case is then referred to the ministry's centralized Overpayment Recovery Unit (ORU), by emailing the electronic Validation of Sponsorship Debt form to ORU. The ORU staff will pursue the sponsorship debt by sending letters at 45 and 90 day intervals to the defaulting sponsor. If the sponsor does not begin repaying the debt, the ORU will refer the case to the Canada Revenue Agency to begin the Refund Set-Off process.

Where there is an outstanding sponsorship debt that was not addressed at the time of application under the previous policy, the staff should accept voluntary repayments from sponsors. If the repayment is less than the total amount of the sponsorship debt, staff must advise the sponsor that reimbursement must be made in full before CIC can be notified that the debt is satisfied. The amount of the sponsorship debt is not negotiable.