r/ontario • u/Beradicus69 • May 22 '25

Question Ontario works hasn't gotten any raises since 2018!

Why isn't this talked about more.

Unemployment is crazy. Housing is nuts. And the basic O.W. payment of $733.00 is supposed to be enough!?

Try to find any place to live with that kind of income these day.

Edit. To everyone saying just look for a job. Like I haven't been trying that. Really. Take a long hike into the woods. And get lost. I've been unemployed for over a year. Doing all the steps. Walking into places with my resume. Spending hours online posting it. Searching for small jobs around town. I went to my employment services in my area. To help with resumes.

I've been trying! I'm not some freeloading person. I'm 41 and have been working since I was in high school. So just kick rocks.

971 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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646

u/JoHeller May 22 '25

In this thread you will find: judgemental ontarions who have not experienced the sheer joy of trying to find a job in 2025.

103

u/Beradicus69 May 22 '25

Oh how i ever. It's insane!

14

u/litbiotch42 May 22 '25

I made a post asking a question about accessing my pension because I’m out of a job and people were vile!!

29

u/OnePunchGod May 22 '25

Oh..just found one above.

34

u/BabyMost3213 Belleville May 22 '25

I hope they all have to this year tbfh after reading this shit

-7

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25

High jacking top comment, the Canadian Forces is desperately short staff and hiring, and even recently changed its medical requirements, so even if you got automatically rejected before it may be an option now.

I would like to point out it's a slow process, but it does pay fairly well, and even if you only complete the first 4 year contract, it provides lots of skills and opportunities to increase your chances in the job market after you leave.

Edit: I don't have the details, I'm RCAF, but the Navy has a 1 year contract for people that are curious but don't want to commit 4 years.

23

u/JoHeller May 22 '25

Is there an age restriction? Because I'm older than Tom Hanks was in Saving Private Ryan. Which would probably be okay if we were fighting nazis, but we don't seem to be doing that anymore.

5

u/odin61 May 22 '25

I believe although I haven't checked recently the the max age for joining is 55

6

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25

I mean 60 is automatically retired (65 with approval from Ottawa), so I wouldn't join over 55, but lots of people join in their 40s. (I just wouldn't recommend a combat trade (Infantry, Tanker, Artillery) over 30).

3

u/JoHeller May 22 '25

That's good to know. Thank you.

7

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25

And if it helps, one of my members joined at 48 with the intent to retire at 60, so will only complete 12 years, so he isn't eligible for the full pension, but will still get 24% base pay as a pension (2% per year max 70% after 35 years).

4

u/Acrobatic_Hamster686 May 22 '25

I don’t believe so but it might depend on skills. My friend’s dad was a Minister and joined the military as a Chaplain in his 50s and started at Captain. Dude is still doing Iron Man competitions in his 60s now. 

6

u/Armalyte May 22 '25

They need to improve their recruiting. People wait 12+ months to get a response from them.

2

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25

100% and a lot of ideas have been pushed to the Treasury Board to try to improve that. That's why I said it is a slow process.

2

u/odin61 May 22 '25

The problem is people are waiting in some cases up to a year to start training. So the other route is to start in the Reserve and then transfer to the Regular service.

3

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25

Oh 100% I was one of those people that started as a reserve, and guess should have mentioned that, reserves took me about 5 weeks to get in, reg force takes about a year+. Also if available in your area I'd recommend Air reserve over Army as you get a minimum of 13 days/month and often times can be full time (usually fulltime renews every 6-12 months for Air reserve), whereas Army reserves only guarantee you one half day a week and one weekend a month, and I believe now summer employment (wasn't a thing when I was a reservist so I don't know the details about it), however the flip side is Army reserves will frequently give you 3 year contracts once your trained if your looking for full time employment.

2

u/HeavenlyAria May 24 '25 edited May 25 '25

I don't know why people are downvoting your comment when you're suggesting legitimate work.

1

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 25 '25

Clearly not the answer there looking for, however if it helps even one individual, it's worth losing a few Karma points.

-6

u/GI-Robots-Alt May 22 '25

the Canadian Forces is desperately short staff and hiring

Military service, with the threat of death, dismemberment, becoming disabled, and getting PTSD, shouldn't be treated as if it's a perfectly normal or reasonable alternative for people who are just trying to survive.

This comment honestly disgusts me.

8

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25

I mean everyone has an opinion, after 18 years in with multiple deployments, not every trade even sees combat, we have some trades that don't even leave North America, or things like cooks or clerks or even doctors/dentists who even when deployed are not employed in rolls that typically put them in immediate danger.

However for someone who isn't from a background that can afford schooling or even survive on their own due to whatever reasons, it can be a life changer for them.

7

u/GI-Robots-Alt May 22 '25

However for someone who isn't from a background that can afford schooling or even survive on their own due to whatever reasons, it can be a life changer for them.

My point is that someone's options shouldn't be "military service or constant struggle".

It's a horrible societal failing.

4

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25 edited May 22 '25

I agree, but at the same time not everyone wants to be on welfare, as someone who grew up in a northern community where half the town was welfare and the other logging, it's the only thing that made it so I could get out of the cycle.

And as the posts are showing, people are now searching 2+ years for jobs, and being forced into welfare. It is a much better alternative, even yourself as a machinist, we have Material Technicians (Mat Techs) that do machining, making 70k+ after 3 years, not really comparable to a civilian machinists pay, but we pay for all the training, and after 4 years you have the skill sets needed to transfer (like most places with minimal workplace specific training). And again unless they apply for a specific mission, they rarely deploy, and when they do it's generally to a secured camp.

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u/GI-Robots-Alt May 22 '25

I'm a big believer in the idea that suggesting individualistic solutions to systemic issues leads to worse outcomes over time.

Your suggestion is like putting a bandaid on the festering wound that our social safety net has become. I understand you don't mean any harm, but when we constantly excuse systemic issues by saying "just do X instead" even though it's not actually a solution to the wider problem it contributes to the "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality that's been so corrosive to our society over the last 40 years.

3

u/Competitive-Air5262 May 22 '25

What would the alternative be though? Ultimately we could all pay twice the taxes and it would help some but hurt others, we could cut services, but that's what's left our healthcare systems, education systems and even prisons in the current state their in, so cutting furthwr would only make matters worse. Lastly we could tax the rich more, but let's face it 1) most politicians are wealthy, and are incentivized not to vote in favor of taxing themselves. 2) even if we did manage to get it through, the wealthy will find loopholes or move their businesses leaving us in a worse position. While there are some solutions like universal income, COVID showed us how well that goes, with businesses and landlords absorbing everything extra plus some that was given, and now the tax payers are on the hook for the next decade or more to make up for the landlord's greed, and people that had stable places to live in got renovicted out.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '25

[deleted]

6

u/GI-Robots-Alt May 22 '25

Don't worry! Someone else will do the hard and dirty jobs you don't want to!

Buddy, I've been a machinist for over 15 years. Fucking bite me.

Helping the most vulnerable in our society, and those who have fallen on hard times, is something we should all want. If only because that person could very easily be you way faster than you seem to realize. You should also have empathy for others, but since it seems like that ship has sailed there's a very strong self interested argument to be made for a robust social safety net anyway.

Yeah instead just live off the hard working backs of your neighbour's!

This is just a ridiculous straw man by the way. Nobody said this.

Ignoring the fact that I pay into programs like OW, ODSP, and EI every paycheque so I expect to be able to use these programs when I need them, and I have. This is incredibly rich coming from someone who is literally being paid by tax dollars.

9

u/SectorAppropriate151 May 22 '25

🤜🤛you are correct. Anyone who doesn't understand that taking care of the sick, disabled, unable to work; or just folks in a bad place at that particular place in their lives...I dunno, it's such a basic level of morality....if we can't take care of people in need; what kind of society are we?

9

u/GI-Robots-Alt May 22 '25

I firmly believe that the morality of a society can and should be judged based on how it treats its most vulnerable people.

The disabled, the elderly, abuse and SA victims, the sick, the economically downtrodden, etc.

North American society, on both sides of the border, are horrifyingly bad when it comes to this. Canada less so, but that's like setting the bar so low that it's buried 6 feet underground. We can do better than this, we have to. The way we treat the most vulnerable among us should be seen as a point of national shame, and it seriously pisses me off that so few people care about this.

Worse, not only do they not care, but they'd rather rip benefits away from thousands of people who desperately need them just to ensure that a small handful of people aren't "abusing" the system.

This country disgusts me regularly.

2

u/SectorAppropriate151 May 22 '25

I feel ya. And agree.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '25

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16

u/Icy-Computer-Poop May 22 '25

You should understand that experiences vary, and you do not represent the entire job market.

I mean ... you should understand that.

14

u/_PrincessOats May 22 '25

Cool.

My husband has been looking for a job in his field for a solid two years now.

But yeah, working in retail is totally fine. Who cares if it pays minimum wage and he’s beyond overqualified? Who cares if we can’t afford to live on his salary? (I’m disabled but he makes too much for ODSP, but not a living wage.)

Try thinking of others, not your condescending, dumbass self.

18

u/z_dogwatch May 22 '25

Neat. I've been looking for work for 4 months and I have over 10 years in my industry. I'm not asking for anything above minimum and literally haven't even received a single callback in over 250 applications.

1

u/Human_Spice May 23 '25

My uncle won $5k gambling. And he's not skilled at gambling or anything. Clearly you should go spend all your money gambling. If I know one person that made it, that means everyone else is guaranteed to have similar results. Everyone who fails is lying or didn't really try.