Join Campaign 2000, Citizens for Public Justice and Canada Without Poverty for a three-part virtual roundtable series on poverty and human rights.

In 2015, Canada committed to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  These goals are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a global call to action to achieve social, economic and environmental prosperity.  Enshrined in the 2030 Agenda is a commitment “to realize human rights for all,” including economic, social and cultural rights.

The Localizing Canada’s Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals Project (SDGs Project) is developing a community-driven indicator framework for the federal government to use to measure progress towards achieving several of the SDGs, including Goal #1: No Poverty.  The SDGs Project uses principled, community-based and participatory research approaches to engage people who experience systemic marginalization and poverty, community service organizations, advocates and organizers from coast to coast to coast that will inform the measurement framework for realizing rights and ending poverty in local contexts. 

The virtual roundtable format will include presentations, guest speakers and breakout discussions and will feature those who have been engaged through the SDG’s Project.  Participants will have an opportunity to connect with organizations and individuals dedicated to ending poverty from across the country for movement-building.

Register for all three or attend when you can! 

Roundtable 1: 
June 14, 2023 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. EST
Connecting lived expertise to public policy: meaningful engagement as a means to advancing human rights

Roundtable 2: 
June 15, 2023 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. EST
Holding government to account: legal and policy levers for ending poverty

Roundtable 3: 
June 16, 2023 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. EST
Poverty-free communities are possible: strengthening the national anti-poverty movement

Learn more or register for the roundtables on Eventbrite.

To request accommodations, please contact Mithilen Mathipalan at [email protected] by June 7, 2023. The event will be live captioned and ASL and French interpretation will be available.

Ontario Campaign 2000 releases its annual report on child and family poverty, Poverty in the Midst of COVID-19: A report card on child and family poverty in Ontario in 2020, authored by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Ontario.

This year’s report card examines the correlation between lowered child and family poverty rates in 2020 and COVID-related assistance. The number of children in poverty in Ontario fell from 498,600 to 377,040 between 2019-2020, largely as a result of temporary federal assistance. 

This report examines some of the critical factors that contribute to heightened levels of poverty and underscores the need for immediate action and sustainable support for low-income and marginalized communities. They include:

• Provincial social assistance rates that keep individuals and families in deep poverty
• Low minimum-wage rates that keep full-time workers below the poverty line
• Disproportionately higher poverty rates among Indigenous and racialized communities 
• Higher poverty rates among lone-parent families, particularly those led by women

It is a critical moment in the history of this province to tackle poverty. We know that Ontario is capable of building an effective social safety net and providing children and their families with the economic security they need. The pandemic has shown that governments can do big things much more quickly than we ever thought—if they decide to.  

Want to read more? 
English Ontario Report Card, Interactive Maps of Child Poverty in Ontario, Press Release in English and in French  

Ontario Campaign 2000 has submitted a series of budget recommendations for the 2023 Provincial Budget consultations. We call on the Province of Ontario to prioritize and invest in decent work, childcare, equitable policy-making, housing and income security free of barriers. Download or read the submission below.

2023 Ontario Pre-Budget Submission

Ontario Campaign 2000 Recommendations for Ontario Budget 2023:

1.      Decent Work & Equity in the Workplace

2.      Immediately Address the Needs of Parents & Fortify Childcare Systems

3.      Make Policy & Funding Decisions Based on Meeting the Needs of the Most Vulnerable

4.      Develop & Implement an Equitable Housing Strategy

5.      Solidify Safety Nets & Remove Barriers

As a coalition of frontline service agencies, we have seen first-hand the devastating effects of the pandemic on communities across Ontario. The 2023 Budget must address the needs of vulnerable communities across this province. Federal pandemic income support measures reduced poverty for low-income workers who could access those benefits, however, there was no additional support provided for people who rely on Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). In September 2022, the provincial government increased ODSP rates by five percent, providing a total of $1227 per month for individuals. This amount remains completely inadequate, the benefit is not indexed to inflation, nor does it lift families and individuals out of poverty. Of concern is the lack of any increase to the OW program. For many people living on low incomes in Ontario, the end of federal pandemic supports, insufficient minimum wages and record-high inflation is sending individuals and families into crisis. The rate of inflation in Ontario reached 6.9% in 2022[i] and as a result, food and housing insecurity are becoming even more of a widespread crisis.

Children and families who got a slight break from the ongoing effects of poverty in 2020 at the start of the pandemic are more likely to be struggling again. Data from 2021 suggests that 16.1% of households in Ontario are food insecure[ii]. As food insecurity increases, a family’s ability to attain necessities like housing and medication are also compromised.

For many, the job market continues to be a primary barrier. Low wages, unequal pay for equal work, discrimination and a lack of basic benefits like paid sick days are adding to keeping families and workers in a state of outright poverty. Job losses have hit part-time and low-wage workers in Ontario particularly hard, many of whom are disproportionately Black and racialized women[iii]. While job creation is important, investments in responsive provincial services and programs that support labour market participation will also be key for supporting families.

Children experience poverty because their families experience poverty. The Ontario government must not sit back and leave children and families living on low incomes to suffer. Budget 2023 must face its responsibility to everyone in Ontario head-on and focus on supporting families who were struggling before the pandemic and were made more vulnerable because of it.  Learning from the pandemic and making the right interventions now can help accelerate the rate of poverty reduction in Ontario and positively impact generations to come.

Ontario Campaign 2000 recommends that the Ontario government:

1. Prioritize Decent Work and Equity in the Workplace

a) Increase the minimum wage to at least $20 per hour and consider the implementation of a living wage across regions. The difference between $20 and the current wage would lift many out of poverty. Inflation has increased but wages have not increased accordingly.

b) Close the gender pay gap to reduce the level of poverty amongst women. Indigenous women, racialized women and women with disabilities are disproportionately affected by the income gap. Pay equity legislation is needed so that all workers have equitable access to the labour market and are paid accordingly.

c) Implement 10 permanent sick days for all workers in the province of Ontario. Federal legislation Bill C-3 allows for industries covered by Federal labour laws to have access to 10 paid sick days. The Province of Ontario must follow suit and implement similar legislation for workers in Ontario.

2. Immediately Address the Needs of Parents & Fortify Childcare Systems

a) Increase the financial assistance allotted for children in Ontario like the Ontario Child Benefit, Ontario Child Disability Benefit and Transition Child Benefit. Benefits such as these are key to eliminating child and family poverty in this province, and research shows that income transfers such as these result in better health and well-being for children[iv].

b) Address the childcare workforce crisis as Ontario’s childcare programs cannot operate at capacity due to recruitment and retention shortage. Although the Federal and Provincial governments have agreed to reduce childcare fees by 50%, this will not be effective without implementing a workforce strategy focused on retention and the rights of childcare workers.  As fees are reduced, demand for space will increase.  The Ontario government must develop a strategy to address demand and expansion.  All expansion must be public and not-for-profit.

3. Make Policy & Funding Decisions Based on Meeting the Needs of the Most Vulnerable

a) Implement an Intersectional and Human Rights Based Analysis to inform all policies, programs and budget decision-making.

b) Collect disaggregated data and use that data to inform and support equitable program planning and funding. Augment quantitative data with meaningful, frequent and ongoing community consultation with people affected by poverty.

4. Develop & Implement an Equitable Housing Strategy

a) Investment into the construction of affordable rental properties that will ensure affordable housing for low- and middle-income families. Prioritize the construction of non-market affordable housing over luxury rentals that are unattainable to low- and middle-income individuals and families with government-mandated conditions.

b) Increase the supply of Supportive Housing.  As the homelessness and mental health crisis grow in this province, it is imperative that the province works with necessary ministries to provide adequate and stable shelters and supports for those that are unhoused and dealing with mental health crises.

c)  Fund programs that prevent unlawful evictions. We support Ontario for All’s recommendation to support efforts to enforce eviction laws and implement programs that prevent unlawful evictions. The current rent control system in the province does not protect affordability once a unit is vacant, resulting in the evictions of new tenants that are not able to afford exuberant rental rates[v]. Enforcing eviction laws and protecting the rights of tenants will preserve affordability.

d) Develop an Urban, Rural & Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy led by Indigenous communities across the province. Investment in Indigenous housing must be a priority by the Provincial and Federal government to address the housing needs and systemic inequities facing Indigenous communities.

5. Solidify Safety Nets & Remove Barriers

a) Substantially invest in rate increases to Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and ensure all income benefits work together to bring incomes up to at least the Census Family Low Income Measure, After Tax (CFLIM-AT)[vi]. People who are not connected to the labour market must not be pushed into poverty with inadequate income supports and people living with disabilities must be able to meet all of their needs with additional supports. Ensure proper investment into Ontario’s Social Benefits Tribunal, which governs the appeal process for social assistance in Ontario.

b) Reinvest all clawed-back Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) funds into social assistance programs. The federal government designed the CERB and CRB for individuals, but the provincial government chose to claw back a significant percentage of CERB and CRB from social and disability assistance recipients, despite urging from the federal Minister of Employment and Workforce Development and community advocates. 100% of clawed-back funds must be reinvested into social assistance programs.

c) Ensure immigration status is not a barrier to eligibility for income supports or public health initiatives so that all people in Ontario can access healthcare and income supports. Immigrants and refugees face a multitude of barriers when trying to attain the bare minimum of health care in Ontario. Several health issues are not covered by OHIP; hence many must opt for private insurance, unfortunately, private insurance is expensive, and many cannot afford to get it.

 

Contact: Mithilen Mathipalan
Coordinator, Ontario Campaign 2000

Family Service Toronto
355 Church St., Toronto, ON M5B 0B2
416-595-9230 x 298
[email protected]

 

 

About Ontario Campaign 2000

Ontario Campaign 2000 is a provincial coalition of over 70 active partner organizations committed to eradicating child and family poverty in Ontario. Our membership is broad and diverse. It includes faith groups, members of the healthcare and community sectors serving children and families, educators, academics, racialized communities, and low-income and working families from Thunder Bay to Peel Region to Windsor. For nearly 30 years, Campaign 2000 has carefully monitored child poverty rates and related social policies at the federal and provincial levels through our annual report cards on child and family poverty. For more information, visit www.ontariocampaign2000.ca.

[i] Statistics Canada, Table 18-10-0004-01 “Consumer Price Index, not seasonally adjusted,” 2022, www150.statcan.gc.ca.
[ii] Tarasuk V, Li T, Fafard St-Germain AA. (2022) Household food insecurity in Canada, 2021. Toronto: Research to identify policy options to reduce food insecurity (PROOF).
[iii] Sheila Block and Grace-Edward Galabuzi. (2018). “Persistent Inequality: Ontario’s Colour-coded Labour Market,” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Pg 7.
[iv] Milligan, Kevin, and Mark Stabile. (2011) “Do Child Tax Benefits Affect the Well-Being of Children? Evidence from Canadian Child Benefit Expansions.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 3 (3): 175-205.
[v] Ontario for All. “GTA Nonprofit Sector Joint 2023 Ontario Budget Submission”
[vi] Statistics Canada (2022). Technical Reference Guide for the Annual Income Estimates for Census Families, Individuals and Seniors. T1 Family File, Final Estimates, 2020, Table F.

 

Ontario Campaign 2000 released the 2021 Report on Child and Family Poverty in Ontario Poverty in the Midst of Plenty. The report was produced in cooperation with Campaign 2000, a national coalition of 120 organizations devoted to ending child and family poverty, and it calls on governments to treat poverty reduction as an urgent priority.

While Ontario is a wealthy province in a wealthy country, the child poverty remains a pressing social concern in every community. The report shows that in 2019, the most recent year for which data are available, one in six children across the province lived with the day-to-day reality of never having enough. Half a million children still lived in poverty in 2019 despite recent progress which brought the child poverty rate from 23.4% in 2013 to 17.6% in 2019.

View the interactive map of Canada showing child poverty rates by federal riding.
Read: Poverty in the Midst of Plenty: 2021 English Ontario Report Card and Press Release;
French versions: La pauvreté au cœr de l’abondance and Press Release

While the COVID-19 pandemic rages into a third wave in Ontario, Budget 2021 – “Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy” – reads as a response to only some of the challenges of the 2020 pandemic, and not the 2021 pandemic which Ontario is currently experiencing. It does not address deepening challenges faced by low income families, who have endured increased stress, illness, and instability in their homes and workplaces for over a year.

Budget 2021 includes a reliance on federal funding, multiple funding re-announcements, and one-time investments which will still be needed into and beyond 2022. While some notable short-term investments to alleviate poverty for some children and families are included, overall, the budget does not address the core factors contributing to family poverty, economic and wealth inequality.

Budget 2021 states: The government’s continuing efforts to meet the needs of vulnerable populations including Indigenous, racially diverse, newcomer and low‐income communities is a measure that benefits all of Ontario. It is only when every community has effective measures of prevention, protection and control of COVID‐19 that Ontario can beat this virus.

In a budget that favours tax credits, tax cuts, and investments in business over investments in the medium and long-term needs of women, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, urban and rural Indigenous Peoples, single parent families, racialized people, low wage workers, people with disabilities, and families who face marginalization due to poverty and discrimination, this statement rings hollow.

Children and families living in poverty deserve better.

Click here to read the whole response, including analysis of Budget 2021’s investments in and policy directions for Equity-Related Policies, Childcare, Housing, Income Security, Service modernization and digital access, and Work & Employment Standards.

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

Ontario Campaign 2000 is outraged by the continued systemic violence and police brutality against Black bodies and the hostile responses to protests opposing anti-Black racism and supporting civil liberties.  We grieve with our Black and Indigenous colleagues and community members who are suffering.

We denounce all forms of anti-Black racism, colonialism and white supremacy, and any effort to erase or deny the legacies and ongoing impacts of these systems of oppression and repression.    

As an organization focused on poverty eradication, we know that Black and Indigenous communities have much worse health outcomes and exponentially higher rates of poverty than white Canadians and that this is a both a result of and a strategy to maintain systemic oppression. Poverty rates for Black (33%), First Nations (ranging from 32%-48%), Inuit (31%), and Metis (21%) children in Ontario are astronomical, particularly in contrast to the national average (17%). This should serve as a sobering reminder that systemic inequities based on discrimination become intergenerational quickly. This cycle must be ended in our lifetimes.

ONC2000 supports the calls from Black leaders and organizations to:

• Declare anti-Black racism a public health crisis. 
• Enhance accountability infrastructure to address police brutality, police violence and harms to Black communities.
• Strengthen the Toronto Anti-Racism Directorate with a clearly articulated, targeted and systemic anti-Black racism strategy. 
• Demand the province of Ontario commit to the allocation of protected funds to provide culturally appropriate health and well-being support within Black communities. A critical component of undoing anti-Black racism is working towards making Black life livable. Culturally appropriate organizations must be given the support they need to continue providing these services. 

ONC2000 also support the calls from the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) to:

• Fully implement the recommendations of the 2017 Andrew Loku inquest.
• Fully implement the 2019 Ontario Human Rights Commission recommendations on ending racial profiling in law enforcement.
• Strengthen the Ontario Anti-Racism Directorate and the Canada Anti-Racism Secretariat with a clear mandate to end anti-Black racism.

You can read the full C2000 statement, produced with Family Service Toronto, our host organization

Stop the Cuts to Social Assistance Campaign launched last month. Ontario Campaign 2000 joined 2 dozen organizations to figure out what to do about the many cuts coming to social assistance. With the Transition Child Benefit due to be eliminated November 1st, the definition of disability due to change shortly thereafter, and hundreds of millions in cuts due shortly after that, there is a lot to worry about.

In response the groups have formed a coalition called the Campaign Against the Cuts to Social Assistance.

We hope you will join in.

Over the next few weeks, we are working to raise awareness about the TCB cut. Since we are just 37 days from the end of a program that serves approximately 32,000 children, and makes up as much as 30% of the income of vulnerable families, we are zeroing in on that.

The first step of that is to launch our new coalition, which we announced today with the attached release.

The coalition is off and running, with our web site launched as of today at www.stopcuts.ca . Our Ottawa partners will be holding a Town Hall this evening while Windsor, Thunder Bay, Hamilton and Toronto activists are raising the issue in municipal and provincial venues this week.  As we move forward more partners will be tabling motions for their local councils, writing open letters to their MPPs, inviting their networks to sign our online petition, and posting on social media (hashtagging #TransitionChildBenefit and @ mentioning @stopcuts1). These and other action are all ways to make noise in every part of the province about the TCB, and this coalition is here to support that work. 

We hope you will join in the advocacy and we hope you will join the coalition.

Please let us know if you’d like to be a member, and send along a logo if you’d like us to add you to the web site.

Please also let us know about actions your organization is taking , however big or small, and we will add it to updates

And of course take a moment to go to stopcuts.ca, where we have tools like:

               • Links to our online petition

               • Some sharable graphics for social media

               • A draft of an open letter you can send out

               • Backgrounders and information on the TCB
As well, we will soon be adding:

               • A draft of a motion you can take to your local council

               • A guide to how to lobby your MPP

We look forward to working with you to turn around the pending cuts to Ontario’s most vulnerable people.

Thanks for taking a stand on this important issue.

On September 18th, we submitted a letter to Mayor Tory and Executive Committee on behalf of 30 organizations and individuals supporting the development and resourcing of a Gender Equity Lens and a Gender Equality Office for the City of Toronto. 

Read the City’s report and our response.

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Income from social assistance should play an important role in poverty reduction among families in Ontario.  As we approach the provincial budget, we feel it is an appropriate time to reflect on these proposed changes and to highlight where government can fulfill its promise to provide a caring and compassionate system for those who need it most. Read our full analysis.