Ottawa was gifted a $4.7-million surplus towards social services by the Ontario government – and nobody on the receiving end knows why.

The provincial government is projected to fully fund the Social Services branch’s ‘Council Priorities’ category in 2018 – an increase from 97.2 per cent last year, according to figures in Ottawa’s 2018 municipal draft budget.

The funding is filed under the ambiguous category, ‘provincial upload.’ The City’s media relations department did not respond to a request for a financial breakdown.

The ‘Council Priorities’ amount makes up $5.2 million of increased revenue over last year, or 43 per cent of this year’s total change in revenue of $12.2-million. Based on the tabled 2018 draft budget, the extra revenue will be reinvested in the 2018 Social Services budget, lowering the branch’s net spending by over 15 per cent compared to 2017.

Coun. Riley Brockington, vice-chair of the Community and Protective Services Committee, appeared to be unaware of the surplus.

“It’s odd that the City would be able to make such a significant increase on its own, because we get our funding from taxpayers and we’re trying to keep things at two per cent,” he said.

Presented with the budget table, Brockington declined to comment on the numbers. He said he was unfamiliar with the finances of the committee – one for which he is vice-chair.

“Usually these questions are sent to our city staff – they’re the experts in that subject matter and they can give you a very detailed explanation,” he said. “I really need to send this chart to social services – I need to get staff to explain before I can do an interview.”

Similarly, the office of Coun. Diane Deans, chair of the Community and Protective Services Committee, asked that budget questions be sent to the City’s media relations department. Deans was unwilling to give comment after multiple attempts to contact her office by phone, email and in person.

READ: Ontario Works Program opens eligibility to thousands more applicants

Looking over the budget tables, Christopher Waddell said the Social Service’s branch’s financial activity is based largely on the Ontario Works program, whose eligibility criteria was expanded in September 2017.

“If they’ve changed the rules so that more people can apply, it’s logical to think that they would then increase the amount of money that’s available, because they expect more people are going to be applying,” said the Carty Chair in Business and Financial Journalism at Carleton University.

The social assistance program is run by the province. Funds are distributed through various city councils, including Ottawa’s.

Given the approaching provincial election in June, there may be other motivations behind the Ontario government’s gift.

“That may let more people benefit [from the Ontario Works funding] and people may think, ‘Well, that’s a good reason to re-elect these guys,’” Waddell said.

“Now [the City] will take that four-million and spend it on something else for sure, but that’s what it is.”

Does Waddell have any ideas before the final funding amount is revealed by the provincial budget in the spring?

“One thing that everybody seems to be talking about and worried about is that the O-Train might be running over budget. So anything they can do on that front, it may go up there. But who knows – it’s a big piece of the pie, and this is a little tiny sliver of it.”

In times of increasing need for social supports, news of the multi-million dollar funding comes unexpectedly to social service organizations.

Simone Thibault is the executive director of Centretown Community Health Centre. She had not been aware of the surplus, and the news is encouraging for her organization.

“I’m very surprised!” Thibault exclaimed. “It would be interesting to see where that came from.”

Thibault would use a portion of funds to train her social support workers, who serve LGBTQ refugees, opioid addicts, street youth, those with severe mental illness, and many others with diverse needs.

“I think we’re at a tipping point in the city,” Thibault said. “Beyond the housing crisis, we have a social support crisis, because all of the community social service agencies – whether it’s [Centretown Community Health Centre] or our partners – are struggling to keep up with demand and are under-resourced – badly.

“We are the nation’s capital – we have the opportunity to show how we’re a compassionate, caring city, and we need to come together.”

Funding amounts will be confirmed when the provincial government releases its 2018 operating budget by April.