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INTRODUCTION

ONTARIO'S POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY

• About the Poverty Reduction Strategy
• Making a difference for Ontarians
• The first two years
• Supporting Ontario families
• Partnering for poverty reduction

The First Two Years

Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy – the first in our province's history — was launched in 2008 with an ambitious goal of reducing the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over five years. This report provides an important record of our progress during the first two years and describes the key steps being taken to help break the cycle of poverty in Ontario and build opportunities that enable every Ontarian to succeed and contribute.

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About the Poverty Reduction Strategy

In 2007, we made a commitment to build a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy around the Ontario Child Benefit, and to work with our partners to develop indicators and targets to measure and address child poverty. Following extensive public consultations, the first Poverty Reduction Strategy in Ontario's history was launched in December 2008. To guide and monitor implementation of the strategy, an innovative Results Table of Cabinet ministers, MPPs and external experts was established in 2009.

Poverty reduction came into law in Ontario in 2009 with support from all political parties. Recognizing that poverty reduction is a long-term provincial priority, the Poverty Reduction Act, 2009 requires the government to report annually on key poverty indicators and develop a new strategy, through consultation, every five years. Our goal is to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent over five years. That's 103,000¹ kids according to Statistics Canada's Low Income Measure (LIM50), which indicates that in 2008, the child poverty rate in Ontario was 15.2 per cent.

This Progress Report is the first time that the government is able to report on the poverty indicators using 2008 income data. We know that our initiatives are helping to reduce poverty compared to what it would have been without the strategy. However, given the two year time lag in obtaining Statistics Canada data, it is too early for the data to show the full impact that our investment is making in moving children and their families out of poverty.

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Making a difference for Ontarians

Breaking the cycle of poverty matters to every Ontarian and affects all of us. The moral imperative is clear: every child in Ontario should have the opportunity to succeed in life, and people facing challenges should be given the tools they need to get ahead. Ontario introduced a Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2008 because reducing poverty is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do. Breaking the cycle of poverty and developing a healthy, educated and employable workforce is critical to the economic future of Ontario.

The Poverty Reduction Strategy is a comprehensive plan, designed to address poverty in the short term and break the cycle of poverty in the long term. The strategy focuses first on children and their families. By helping kids living in poverty get a good start in life and have the opportunities they need to succeed, especially through education, the cycle of poverty can be broken.

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The first two years

The global economic recession and financial crisis has had a serious impact on Ontario families. While the fiscal impact has presented challenges, it has made the Poverty Reduction Strategy all the more important. Reducing poverty - providing the tools that families and individuals need to succeed and participate fully in society - and addressing the economy are common goals for a prosperous and thriving Ontario.

The Open Ontario Plan, released in Budget 2010, recognizes that we need all Ontarians working at their best to compete in the global economy. This plan will help Ontario reach its full economic potential and lead to sustained economic growth. Supporting the vulnerable and helping them to succeed is not only fair but is also good for the economy.

Poverty reduction is a crucial component of this plan. Over the past two years we invested heavily in Ontario's youngest, through initiatives like Full-Day Kindergarten, to ensure every child gets a good start in life and has opportunities to succeed. We increased financial support, through tax credits and the Ontario Child Benefit, to help families get back on their feet during these tough economic times. We took deliberate steps to keep Ontarians working through stimulus investments that kept jobs in Ontario and improved our social and economic infrastructure. And for those that did lose jobs during the recession, we introduced retraining programs to help Ontarians gain employment in our changing economy.

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"Ontario Campaign 2000 commends the Ontario government for taking leadership by developing a Poverty Reduction Strategy. The recession's impact on poverty rates would be greater, were it not for steps taken to date by the Ontario government: introducing the Ontario Child Benefit, investing in affordable housing, saving subsidized child care spaces, and bringing in Full-Day Kindergarten."

Jacquie Maund, Campaign 2000

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In the short term we must be realistic. The global economic downturn of the past two years presents serious challenges to moving our key poverty indicators forward. In the short term the recession will affect incomes. However, despite these challenges we have made progress and our long-term goals and priorities remain unchanged. This commitment to poverty reduction is particularly important in the context of the current economic challenges facing Ontario and Canada.

Looking forward, it is important that we continue to invest in Ontarians, and specifically, in Ontario's children. This is an investment in Ontario's future growth and prosperity. Policies and programs that improve education, training, and early childhood education lay the foundation for a smarter, better-equipped workforce that positions Ontario to prosper.

We are in the early stages of a long-term plan and know that much remains to be done. This Progress Report outlines the important investments we have made to help families hit hardest by the recession and to stimulate the economic recovery, and highlights the many new initiatives and ongoing progress we are making on the Poverty Reduction Strategy.

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Supporting Ontario Families

In 2009-2010 we took important steps to move forward on poverty reduction, while providing help to those most affected by the economic downturn.

We know that the best way to break the cycle of poverty is to invest in our kids, invest in education, and in programs that support our kids to stay in school. This year about 35,000 four- and five-year-olds in almost 600 schools are attending Full-Day Kindergarten. Research shows that children who participate in Full-Day Kindergarten get a solid foundation for future learning. The program will be expanded over time, with a goal of having it available in all publicly funded elementary schools in five years.

We also know that a critical part of poverty reduction is to ensure that low-income working parents continue to have access to affordable, high quality child care so they can go back to work or school. In Budget 2010, 8,500 licensed child care spaces throughout Ontario were saved when the province committed funding to permanently offset a funding gap left by the federal government.

The Ontario Child Benefit (OCB), the cornerstone of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, represents a historic transformation of benefit payments that helps all low-income Ontario families. The benefit's flexibility is allowing families to move from social assistance to employment more easily. The phase-in of this monthly financial support was accelerated by two years in July 2009, providing up to $1,100 annually per child to low-income families. It now reaches over one million Ontario children making a positive difference in their lives.

Ontario's minimum wage was increased this year for the seventh time since 2003 to $10.25 per hour, while tax relief of $12 billion is being provided to Ontarians over three years, to enhance ongoing sales and property tax relief, cut personal income taxes, help individuals adjust to the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), help northern residents with their energy costs, and proposed help to parents with the costs of enrolling their children in activities to be healthy and active. The combined benefits of many of these initiatives - tax credits, OCB increases and minimum wage increases - are making it easier for low-income working families to make ends meet. A single mother with a small child, working full time would have an annual income of $28,600 in 2010. This is now above the poverty line and represents an increase of $10,500 from the household's 2003 annual income of $18,100.

This year we also introduced Healthy Smiles Ontario, a prevention-based dental program which is helping low-income working parents get the care their kids need. In addition, we announced a review of social assistance and released a Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy that will transform housing delivery in this province.

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Partnering for poverty reduction

Reducing poverty in Ontario continues to require the efforts of many. We acknowledge in particular the dedication of the many poverty experts, organizations, communities and individuals living in poverty across the province who remain committed to this valuable initiative and who are making a difference every day in every corner of the province. We could not have moved forward without your continued support.

A sustained effort to reduce poverty also requires the commitment of all levels of government. We continue to look to the federal government, which has a critical and necessary role to play in lifting Ontarians out of poverty. While some positive steps have been taken – the Canada Learning Bond provides eligible low-income families with up to a $2,000 government contribution to their child's Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) – there is much more to do. The Senate Subcommittee on Cities' report In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness highlights the need for Canada, the provinces and territories to work together and make lifting people out of poverty a common goal. By working in partnership, more progress will be made.

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"The evidence is very clear that in order to reduce poverty in the long-term we must make early investments that support families and ensure healthy child development. The introduction of Full-Day Kindergarten, the stabilization of child care funding and the continuing efforts to strengthen early learning programs in Ontario signal that this government understands the tremendous return on investment that is possible when we invest in the early years."

Paul Johnson, Chair,
Hamilton Best Start Network

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¹Based on Statistics Canada's revised methodology for calculating the Low Income Measure. For further information on the revised LIM, see www.ontario.ca/breakingthecycle.   Return to text

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Breaking the Cycle: The First Two Years

• 2010 Report Home
• Minister's Message
• Introduction: The First Two Years
• Progress: Building on the Foundation
• Measures: Indicators and Outcomes
• Outlook: for 2011

Download full report (PDF).