Social assistance policy manuals are an important source of detailed information about such questions as initial and ongoing eligibility, the treatment of assets and income, how benefits are calculated, special needs and rules regarding a wide range of program issues (recovery of overpayments, appeals, fraud prevention and detection, etc.)

NOTES : The amount of information provided in online policy manuals varies from one jurisdiction to another, and they're not all continuously updated. For a more complete picture of social assistance policies, be sure to check the relevant legislation as well (a few provinces actually include their welfare legislation in the manual itself).