Kimberly Rogers

Who was Kimberly Rogers?

Kimberly Rogers was a Canadian whose death in 2001, while under house arrest for welfare fraud, caused extensive controversy around Ontario Works. Rogers' death led to an inquest which recommended significant changes to the Ontario welfare system.

A resident of Sudbury, Rogers, who was unable to work full-time due to health issues, was receiving standard Ontario welfare benefits of $520 per month, while paying $450 per month in rent. From 1996 to 1999, she also received a total of $49,000 in student loans from the Ontario Student Assistance Program to study social services at the city's Cambrian College. Rogers was described as a dedicated and committed student, who graduated with a grade point average of 3.5.

When Rogers first began her studies, receiving both welfare and student loans was entirely legal, and in fact even encouraged as a strategy to help welfare recipients return to the workforce — but the practice was banned in 1996 by the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris as part of its welfare reform legislation. There was no evidence that Rogers was ever informed of the change in welfare regulations, and no evidence that she had not been informed at all.