$229.

After rent and food, that’s all the money that’s left for a family of four receiving Ontario Works locally to spend on heat, hydro, phone, child care, transportation, clothing, out of pocket health costs and other basic needs in a month.

That’s according to the local Board of Health, who is calling on the province to increase social assistance rates to reflect the cost of living in the community, including the cost of a nutritious diet.

The Cost of Healthy Eating Report 2016 shows a family of four receiving Ontario Works spends about 90% of their monthly income on rent and food.

“Many households in our area struggle to put food on the table. Social assistance rates are not meeting people’s basic needs and need to be increased to reflect the costs of living, including the cost of a healthy diet,” said Kendra Patrick, RD Public Health Dietitian in a release.

Meantime, the Board of Health is commending the province for taking steps to implement a Basic Income Pilot for Ontario.

They say the idea behind the pilot project is to see if a basic income can help reduce poverty, as well as have positive outcomes on health, housing and employment in Ontario.