Today, Ontario Campaign 2000 releases its December 2020 on child poverty, an update to the Campaign’s full April 2020 report on child poverty “April 2020 report on child poverty”:, and a companion piece to Campaign 2000’s newly released Report on Child Poverty “Beyond the Pandemic: Rising Up for a Canada Free of Poverty”.

The December 2020 Update on child poverty rates is based on the latest comprehensive data (2018) and includes:

• New data on child poverty rates for children in Ontario, both under 18 and under 6 rates
• New numbers on the depth of poverty and the poverty gap for different family types
• Rate of impact that government transfers such as the Canada Child Benefit and Ontario Child Benefit have on reducing poverty rates in Ontario

The December 2020 Update also highlights the slowing of the downward trend in child poverty rates and notes higher rates of poverty for children belonging to marginalized groups, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children, and children in female-led lone parent households. The Update raises the alarm on how many children living in poverty are being left out of the count, based on the Canadian and Ontario governments’ poverty measurement choices.

Even before the pandemic hit, the data has shown that the rate of reduction in Ontario has slowed. As families struggle through the pandemic to make ends meet, child poverty rates will likely be impacted. Pandemic or not, fragile, incremental gains in the reduction of poverty are not sufficient to achieve the goal of ending poverty for all children and families in Ontario.

Child and family poverty is not inevitable – it is created, enforced, and entrenched through systemic discrimination, poor policy design, funding choices, and political inaction. In order to put an end to child and family poverty for this generation and generations to come, Ontario Campaign 2000 recommends actively working towards ending systemic discrimination; improving labour standards, income security, childcare, and housing policy; and ensuring equitable access to pandemic-related supports. There is no time to lose.

Access the December 2020 Update

Seven months into the pandemic, it is clear that not everyone in Ontario is experiencing the same challenges and day to day realities. Though far from perfect, federal and provincial emergency interventions intended to flatten the curve earlier in the pandemic have shown that another world is possible. It should not have taken an international health crisis to unlock policy changes and additional financial supports for caregivers, low wage workers, and people receiving social assistance. The Ontario government should build on the temporary, supportive policies introduced during the pandemic to ensure that children and families living in poverty in Ontario do not face worsening hardships. We cannot stop the fight to end child poverty, even in a pandemic.

Ontario Campaign 2000 provides the following recommendations for a provincial budget designed to support vulnerable children and families: Make Policy and Funding Decisions Based on Ensuring the Needs of the Most Vulnerable are Met; Improve Income Security for the Long Term; Ensure Equitable Access to the Public Education System and Safe High Quality, Affordable Childcare; Implement Labour Reforms to Keep Workers and their Families Safe; and Support Tenants and Precariously Housed People. Read the whole Ontario Fall 2020 Budget submission.

Ontario Campaign 2000 released its most recent report on child poverty today, designed to provide the Ontario government with policy recommendations for the next iteration of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.  The most striking finding in the report shows that Ontario children face higher rates of poverty now than they did 30 years ago, when the federal all-party resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000 was signed.

The report entitled “Make Child and Family Poverty History: A Vision for Ontario’s Next Poverty Reduction Strategy” finds that 1 in 5 (18.7 per cent) of children under 18 live in poverty, and 1 in 5 children (20.2%) of children under 6 live in poverty in the province, with higher rates experienced by children who are Indigenous, racialized, recent immigrants, and in female-led lone parent families. Read our full press release here.

Ontario Campaign 2000 urges the government to focus on much needed policy changes and targeted investments designed to eradicate child and family poverty while developing the next Poverty Reduction Strategy. These include addressing inequities faced by marginalized groups; supporting vulnerable workers through increased worker protections and minimum wage; ensuring provision of public, high quality child care; and increasing the rates for social assistance and the Ontario Child Benefit.

Read the report in English or French.

Today on National Child Day, Ontario Campaign 2000 renews the call for ending child and family poverty to be a top priority for the Ontario government. There is no time to spare because the impact of poverty on children is the greatest, affecting both their physical and mental health. Although there was a slight 1.6% drop in the child poverty rate from 2015 to 2016, one in five children (544,710) under the age of 18 still lives in poverty in Ontario – this is unacceptable. With the recent changes announced by the Ontario government concerning social assistance, labour law rollbacks, and closing of the Ontario Child Advocate office, it is a difficult time for children and families who live in or are on the brink of poverty.

Ontario Child Poverty Infographics & Media Release, November 2018

Please click on the Media Release and five infographics listed below:

Ontario Campaign 2000 Media Release, Nov. 2018

Poverty Hurts Ontario

Income Security

Workers’ Rights

Universal Childcare

Affordable Housing

Reference List

Ontario Campaign 2000 is deeply troubled by the Ontario government’s announcements regarding the social assistance system. Yesterday’s announcements deepen the instability, uncertainly and poverty suffered by low-income families in Ontario.

Citing ‘compassionate grounds’, government will roll back a planned 3% increase to social assistance rates to only 1.5%. Despite committing during the election campaign to continue the Basic Income Pilot, the pilot was cancelled. Important regulatory changes slated to take effect in the fall and meant to improve the lives of recipients of social assistance have also been lost. Government now plans to undertake a review of both Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program (OW and ODSP) in the next one hundred days. No detail was provided about how recipients and others familiar with the system will be involved in order to improve recipients’ lives and ensure dignity.

Read our response.

Ontario Campaign 2000’s new infographics will help you pose questions to candidates at your doorstep and at townhalls.

Share these infographics on social media to help you and your networks keep the heat up for party commitments to end poverty before the June 7th election!

Click for shareable infographics for Facebook and Twitter on these important issues: housing, income security, child poverty targets and poverty reduction strategies, child care and work.

If you want to print up the graphics – use these PDF files on housing, income security, child poverty targets and poverty reduction strategies, child care and work.

There are many ways you can get involved in the provincial election before it is time to vote on June 7, 2018 in Ontario. You can ask questions about poverty when candidates come to your front door, speak up at all-candidates debates, post questions on social media and submit an Op Ed to local media outlets.

This booklet contains resources to assist our partners and friends in engaging with your local candidates prior to the Ontario general election. Click here to download and print the full 2018 Ontario Election Resource Kit.

Budget 2018 makes important strides to fill gaps in services and affordability faced by low income children and families, according to Ontario Campaign 2000. The proposed budget will support low income families today and in the long term with game-changing investments in child care and expanded access to loans and grants for post-secondary education.  The coalition is disappointed that the incomes of people in receipt of social assistance are only modestly improved with a 3% increase in rates annually over three years and that the Poverty Reduction Strategy received no new funding.

“For families struggling to secure affordable, quality, licensed child care, the provision of free child care for children from 2.5 to 4 years old starting in 2020 will be transformational,” says Anita Khanna, Campaign 2000’s national coordinator. “Low income families will finally enjoy barrier-free childcare, they will be able to enjoy the benefits of early learning for children while parents are enabled to return to work or upgrade their education.”

Read the full budget response. Download infographic.

Child and family poverty continues to be a serious problem in Ontario and it is imperative that the 2018 Ontario budget provide sufficient and sustainable funding in a variety of key areas to end poverty. The most recent Taxfiler data show 17.2% of children under the age of 18, and 18.8% of children under the age of 6 live in poverty in Ontario (LIM-AT).1 This equates to one in six children and youth in the province. This rate increases exponentially for children who are Indigenous, racialized or are recent immigrants.

This is simply unacceptable.

With bold targets, timelines, and a strong commitment from all provincial parties, Ontario can eliminate child and family poverty. Ending child and family poverty is not negotiable. Every child and family in Ontario deserves not only to live free from poverty but also to thrive and we call for immediate action!

Pre-Budget Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.

In a newly published Op Ed, Campaign 2000 and partners write about how sitting politicians’ responses to sexual misconduct allegations must move beyond shock and disgust. We call for them to use their power to take concrete action through gender responsive budgeting and investments in services for women, girls and LGTBTQ people in low income. Without concrete action by these politicians, their reactions will ring hollow and the momentum and potential to stamp out sexual harassment that has been created by #MeToo will be squandered.

Leaders Who Truly Support #MeToo Should Prove It At Budget Time