I think your system works better from what I have seen. Still abuse but from my wife's state of WV, when she was on assistance, the state paid a good chunk of her rent, gave her food stamps for food, and allowed her to work as she was able without penalizing her for her effort (up to a point I think).
Well each state is different. The more checks and balances the more scrutiny.
Here in Mass your wife could have had her whole rent paid, SNAP card to be used everywhere plus free food banks,... I could go on and on... and not had to work at all.
I think the big problem with Canada's system is they give cash. Somebody gets a government cheque, goes out and parties for the weekend and then is begging on the street because they have no more money for rent or food. There is no semblance of control. If assistance is to be provided, it should be in the form of housing and food.
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There is no cash given... but they can take their EBT cards to the ATM for that. Or they can sell their EBT card for cash and get a new one. That is done often.