Financial Inclusion Inventory: Trusteeships

8.1 Overview and Summary

There are two main types of trusteeships: 1) The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee for individuals deemed incapable of managing their finances and 2) Voluntary trusteeship programs assist individuals to manage their finances until they are ready to manage independently. The focus of this inventory will be on voluntary trusteeships. A brief definition of each program is described below.

The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) is part of Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General and manages the financial affairs of people assessed as incapable who have no one else who is authorized to do so. (http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/family/pgt/). As a public guardian, the OPGT makes all the financial decisions and conducts transactions including receiving and depositing income, making investments, maintaining and selling property, applying for benefits, filing tax returns, paying bills and acting in legal proceedings.

Voluntary trusteeship programs are those in which an appointed guardian assumes responsibility for receiving income and paying expenses on behalf of an individual. Trusteeships have been used to assist individuals who experience homelessness as a means of building financial stability for program clients. Ideally, strategies are put in place to restore progressive degrees of individual control over his or her resources.

One voluntary trusteeship program exists in Waterloo Region at Cambridge Shelter Corporation. This program is intended to support people who are experiencing or have a history of homelessness.

8.2 Programs

8.2.1 Cambridge Shelter Corporation