News: Poverty in Canada

According to a new report by CPJ, millions of Canadians are considered low income and living in poverty.

As we recover from COVID-19, we need our leaders to decisively chart a course that addresses the health crisis, prejudice and inequity, and the climate crisis.

The City of Toronto’s shelter resident death statistics haven’t been updated since January — owing to decisions to delay certain “routine” reports during the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto Public Health told PressProgress. CPJ’s socio-economic policy analyst Natalie Appleyard told PressProgress, “reporting publicly on the health outcomes and mortality rates of people experiencing poverty and homelessness is critical…

We need to better understand who is most affected by COVID-19 and who has the decision-making power. This requires an intersectional gender-based analysis.

The future to which we return must look different from the past. Not just in defending against an infectious virus, but also in resisting a society marred with poverty and ecological devastation.

COVID-19 has laid bare what we already knew about the precarity and inequity of our existing systems: millions were already living in poverty; climate change was already affecting northern communities’ access to food; a lack of affordable housing stock was already barring newcomers to Canada from successful economic integration; and inadequate funding and disputes between levels of government left many Indigenous communities without the healthcare they need.

CPJ joined Campaign 2000 and over 250 other groups and individuals in sending a letter calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal COVID Cabinet Committee to ensure children living in poverty from marginalized communities are central to the pandemic response and recovery plan. 

CPJ says more changes are needed in the way poverty is measured in Canada for a better snapshot of what is actually happening.

Revisions to the MBM bring welcome improvements, but measure still falls short

CPJ has co-signed a letter to Finance Minister Bill Morneau, asking for the necessary commitments for pharmacare in this year’s federal budget.