Direct Funding

What is Direct Funding?

The Direct Funding Program is an innovative, self-directed program that empowers adults with physical disabilities to take control of their attendant services and live with greater independence, flexibility, and choice. Through Direct Funding, participants receive individualized monthly funding to hire and manage their own attendants. Rather than receiving services through an agency, participants become employers, choosing who provides their support, when services are delivered, and how their needs are met.

Attendants assist with routine activities of daily living, such as:

Dressing

Grooming and personal care

Bathing

Transfers and mobility assistance

Other disability-related support needs

Because every person’s circumstances are unique, funding is determined on an individual basis according to assessed support needs.

A Self-Managed Approach

Direct Funding is designed for individuals who are willing and able to take on the responsibilities of managing their own attendant services. As self-managers, participants are responsible for:

Recruiting, hiring, and training attendants

Scheduling staff

Supervising employee performance

Managing payroll and employment obligations

Maintaining financial records and reporting requirements

This model provides participants with the freedom to direct their own care and make decisions that best support their lifestyle, whether at home, at work, at school, or in the community.

Flexibility and Portability

Direct Funding is available across Ontario and is fully portable within the province. Participants can live, work, study, and travel throughout Ontario while maintaining control of their attendant services.

Eligibility

You may be eligible for Direct Funding if you:

Are 16 years of age or older

Are a resident of Ontario

Require attendant services due to a permanent physical disability

Are able to complete the written application independently, in your own words (physical assistance may be provided; however, applications cannot be completed on your behalf by family members, professionals, or other representatives)

Are able to participate in an interview with the Selection Panel to discuss your needs and determine eligibility

Are able to schedule attendant services

Are able to hire, train, supervise, and, if necessary, terminate attendant employees

Are able to meet the legal responsibilities associated with being an employer

Are able to manage and account for program funding in accordance with Direct Funding guidelines

Program Administration

The Direct Funding Program is administered by the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT) in partnership with the Ontario Network of Independent Living Centres (ONILC) and is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health.

Direct Funding supports independent living by placing decision-making power directly in the hands of people with disabilities, allowing them to build support arrangements that reflect their individual goals, preferences, and lifestyles.

Self-Assessment: Is Direct Funding Right for You?

Direct Funding may be a good fit if you require attendant services, want greater control over how those services are delivered, and are willing to take on the responsibilities of managing your own support team.

As a participant, you become the employer of your attendants, giving you the flexibility to choose who provides your care, when services are delivered, and how your support needs are met.

More than 700 people across Ontario successfully self-manage their attendant services through Direct Funding.

What Does Self-Management Mean?

To participate in Direct Funding, you must be able to:

Understand your disability and the support you require.

Direct attendants by explaining what assistance is needed and how it should be provided.

Recruit, hire, train, supervise, and, if necessary, dismiss attendants.

Schedule services and arrange backup support when needed.

Manage employer responsibilities, including payroll and record-keeping.

Oversee and account for program funding.

While many participants choose to hire a bookkeeper to assist with payroll and reporting, the self-manager remains ultimately responsible for all program requirements.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for Direct Funding, you must:

Be at least 16 years of age.

Be a resident of Ontario with a valid Ontario Health Card.

Have a permanent physical disability.

Have stable attendant service needs that have remained consistent for at least one year.

Be able to live safely in your own home with attendant support.

Attendant Service Needs

You must require assistance with at least two of the activities below, with one need coming from the first four categories:

Transfers, lifting, positioning, or turning in bed

Bathing, washing, grooming, or personal care

Dressing or undressing

Toileting, catheterization, or bowel routines

Breathing support or respiratory equipment care

Eating

Meal preparation, laundry, housekeeping, or related household tasks

Essential communication

Self-Direction Requirements

You must be able to:

Understand your support needs and communicate them clearly.

Direct attendants regarding when, how, and how much assistance is required.

Schedule services and make alternative arrangements when necessary.

Train, supervise, and communicate effectively with attendants.

Employer Responsibilities

You must be willing and able to:

Recruit, hire, and manage attendants.

Fulfill the legal responsibilities of being an employer.

Manage and account for program funding.

Monitor and evaluate the services you receive.

Accept the responsibilities and risks associated with self-management.

If you're looking for greater independence, flexibility, and control over your attendant services, Direct Funding may be the right choice for you.

Need Help Getting Started?

If you have questions about the Direct Funding Program or would like support determining whether it is the right fit for you, we're here to help.

You can schedule an in-person consultation with the Regional Program Coordinator to discuss your eligibility, review the program requirements, and receive assistance completing the application process.

Prefer to get started on your own? You can review the application package and complete the application independently, apply today.

Contact us today to book an appointment, ask questions, or receive guidance through the application process. We're happy to support you every step of the way.

Apply Today

"Today marks six months since I started Direct Funding.

Over the past few years, I’ve done a lot of work rebuilding my life. I worked through grief and trauma. I learned about boundaries. I became more comfortable advocating for myself and asking for what I need. I started figuring out who I am and what I want my life to look like.

But even with all of that growth, something was still missing.

I once described Direct Funding as the missing ingredient.

Six months in, I think that description fits even more than it did then.

Getting here didn’t happen overnight. I spent nearly a year preparing for Direct Funding and for the responsibility of becoming a self-manager. That meant learning, planning, interviewing, hiring, scheduling and taking responsibility for managing the support I need every day.

It was a lot of work to get here, but it has been worth it.

Being disabled means that independence doesn’t always look like doing everything physically by yourself. Sometimes independence means having the right support so that you get to decide how your life is lived.

As a self-manager, I have much more control over that support. I hire and schedule my own staff. I decide what assistance I need and when I need it. And because those pieces are in place, there is so much more room for the rest of my life.

In these six months, I’ve been swimming, kayaking, exercising at Parkwood, volunteering, getting involved in my community, reconnecting with people, helping my parents, spending time with neighbours and their children, enjoying my squirrels and my porch, and recently pouring myself into preserving the history and memories of the town where I grew up.

My world has gotten bigger.

Direct Funding didn’t give me my strength, my curiosity, my determination or my desire to participate in life. Those things were already there.

It gave those parts of me more room to move.

And maybe that was the missing ingredient all along — not someone else deciding what independence should look like for me, but having the support and freedom to build a life that actually feels like mine.

I am incredibly grateful.

I’m grateful to the people who helped me through the long process of getting here, to the Direct Funding program for giving people with disabilities the opportunity to have greater choice and control over our own lives, and especially to my staff who help make this life possible every single day.

I don’t take any of it for granted.

There is still plenty I’m learning and figuring out as a self-manager. But when I look at how much my life has changed in only six months, I know all that preparation was worth it.

This life feels increasingly like my life.

And that means everything. ❤️" - Holly K.