from Ted Hildebrandt:   The Economic Impact of Social Assistance in Hamilton - Econometric Research Limited   This content is also posted on the Hamilton Consortium page.   Introduction   There is a general presumption that Social Assistance in Ontario or elsewhere, whether through Ontario Works (OW) or ODSP benefits, is a general burden on the tax payers in the province with no or little benefits for the people of Ontario beyond the small cohort receiving it. The results of the economic impact analysis we undertook show that this is not true. Rather, the expenditures the beneficiaries make (incidentally it is typically the case that the recipients of these benefits spend all what they receive) in the local economy tend to generate significant impacts in both the local and provincial economies.   Econometric Research Limited (ERL) used its standard Regional Impact Model (RIM) to estimate the economic impact of both Ontario Works and ODSP expenditures in Hamilton. The data was derived from accounts gathered by the Community Services Department of the City of Hamilton that show that in 2009 OW benefits were about $123.6 million and ODSP benefits exceeded $244.1 million. These expenditures were further broken down into several subcomponents of expenditures on shelter, basic needs and several other items.   The economic impacts of the two programs were estimated separately as they involve different compositions of expenditures. Impacts were estimated at the local level (Hamilton-Wentworth) and at the provincial level.