Ontario. Unemployment Relief Branch

Identity area

Type of entity

Lower-level Ontario government office (type C)

Authorized form of name

Ontario. Unemployment Relief Branch

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

    • Unemployment Relief Branch

    Other form(s) of name

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1933-1958

      History

      Although Ontario citizens could claim unemployment relief as early as 1930, this aid was temporary and invoked only in individual cases of emergency. After the passing of The Unemployment Relief Act in 1933, the Unemployment Relief Branch was established as an agency proper within the Ontario Department of Public Welfare and assumed the administration of a comprehensive program of financial relief for long term unemployables.

      Throughout its existence the branch reported directly to the Deputy Minister.

      On January 1, 1959, The General Welfare Assistance Act replaced The Unemployment Relief Act and accordingly the General Welfare Assistance Branch replaced the Unemployment Relief Branch.

      Places

      Legal status

      Functions, occupations and activities

      The Unemployment Relief Branch provided financial assistance to Ontario residents unable to work for a variety of reasons (e.g. illness, physical disability, desertion by the wage earner). In the areas of Ontario represented by counties, the branch, in conjunction with the Dominion government, provided municipalities with grants . In these areas, the actual administration of Relief was performed by the municipalities although the branch inspected and audited municipal accounts. In the province’s eleven territorial districts the branch administered Relief directly. The branch also provided free medical care to aid recipients.

      Address

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

      Relationships area

      Related entity

      Ontario. Dept. of Public Welfare (1930-1967)

      Identifier of related entity

      AA39

      Category of relationship

      hierarchical

      Type of relationship

      Ontario. Dept. of Public Welfare controls Ontario. Unemployment Relief Branch

      Dates of relationship

      1933-1958

      Description of relationship

      Related entity

      Ontario. General Welfare Assistance Branch (1959-1967)

      Identifier of related entity

      CA960

      Category of relationship

      temporal

      Type of relationship

      Ontario. General Welfare Assistance Branch is the successor of Ontario. Unemployment Relief Branch

      Dates of relationship

      Description of relationship

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Epithet

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      CA989

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

      Status

      Approved

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Department of Public Welfare Annual Reports, 1932-1958.

          Maintenance notes

          Archivist(s):
          Bill Hughey