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PROGRESS

BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION

• Stronger, healthier kids and families
  • Opportunities for educational achievement
  • Families that have the resources
• Opportunity for all
  • Access to jobs
  • Fair minimum wages and working conditions
  • Safe and affordable housing
• Stronger economic and social foundations
  • A growing economy
  • Strong communities
  • A not-for-profit sector that is valued

In 2010, we continued to build on the foundational work that began in 2009. Children and families remain the key focus of our work in recognition that, through this approach, we can break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. In light of Ontario's economic climate, we have also taken quick, strategic action to meet the immediate needs of Ontarians hit hardest by the recession, and invested in building the economic and social infrastructure that is critical to achieving our poverty reduction goals.

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Stronger, healthier kids and families

High-quality early learning and child care

Full-Day Kindergarten Program

In September 2010, some 35,000 four- and five-year-olds in nearly 600 schools began participating in Ontario's first Full-Day Kindergarten Program, delivered by teams of teachers and early childhood educators. At many schools, a before- and after-school extended day option, led by an early childhood educator, is also available to families. This innovative program will expand to approximately 800 schools in 2011, offering programming for an estimated 15,000 additional children. By fall 2012, almost half of all four- and five- year-olds in Ontario will be enrolled in the program and by full implementation in 2015, it will benefit an estimated 247,000 children.

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"In these tough times, it's encouraging to see the government is sticking to a strategy that will be as good for families and children as it is for Ontario's economic recovery. Early learning is one of the best stimulus investments a government can make to stem an economic downturn."

Annie Kidder, People for Education

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Many studies have shown that full-day learning programs for four- and five-year-olds have a positive impact on academic, social and emotional development, better preparing them for Grade One. This gives children a better chance of finishing high school, going on to postsecondary education and getting a good job. These programs also give the children's parents more opportunities to work towards a better future for their families.

According to the experts, this is one of the most important investments we can make to break the cycle of poverty. In their report, Ontario in the Creative Age, Roger Martin and Richard Florida recommend the following, "Make early childhood development a high priority. This is the highest payoff investment we can make in our long-run prosperity." The government will invest $200 million this year and $300 million in 2011 to support the Full-Day Kindergarten Program. Investments will rise to approximately $1.5 billion by 2015, when the program is fully implemented in all of Ontario's elementary schools.

Quality child care

High-quality child care is critically important to the well-being of low-income families. In 2010, Ontario committed to permanently filling the funding gap left by the federal government with an investment of $63.5 million per year. This will maintain approximately 8,500 licensed child care spaces and 1,000 child care jobs, and will help ensure that low-income working parents continue to have access to affordable, high-quality child care, allowing them to play an active role in the labour force. This year's investment builds on progress previously made in the child care sector. Since 2003, Ontario has made child care more affordable by providing an additional 20,000 regular fee subsidies. In that time, licensed child care capacity has grown by over 67,000 spaces. Ontario is also supporting the child care sector through funding to stabilize local licensed child care as four- and five- yearolds enter the Full-Day Kindergarten Program.

In addition, the extended-day component of the Full-Day Kindergarten Program offers a cost-effective, seamless child care option for working parents.

Programming for the early years

We know that giving children rich developmental and educational experiences early in life is critical to building their future success. Ontario's early years initiatives provide children with high-quality early development programming, and engage parents as partners in their children's early development and ongoing education.

• The government has begun developing a policy framework and implementation plans for the creation of Best Start Child and Family Centres that will provide a seamless and integrated system of supports and services for Ontario's children and families. This important initiative will help ensure that families in every community across Ontario have timely access to a range of community-based supports for their children, to give them the best possible start in life.
• Parenting and Family Literacy Centres located in high needs communities continue to provide parents/caregivers and their children, from birth to six years of age, the opportunity to participate in play-based learning activities that help kids get a head start on development and learning. There are currently 145 centres operating in the province and in the 2009-10 school year these centres had 450,000 visits.

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Opportunities for educational achievement and success in later life

The best possible poverty reduction strategy is a good publicly funded education system. In addition to the specific initiatives described below, the Ontario government has, over the past seven years, been committed to making the province's publicly funded education system one of the best in the world. We are increasing student achievement and well-being, closing the achievement gap for struggling students and driving higher levels of confidence in publicly funded education. Working together, we are getting results: test scores are up, class sizes are down, the graduation rate continues to rise and we have labour stability in Ontario's schools.

• Learning opportunities – Poverty influences school-related outcomes and some students are at greater risk of academic difficulty because of their social and economic situations. The Learning Opportunities Grant (LOG) supports school boards to offer a range of programs to help students reach their academic goals. These include remedial reading, breakfast programs, tutors, mentoring, literacy and numeracy skills programs. In 2010, a portion of this grant was restructured so that funding is now better aligned with the number of students who, for socio-economic reasons, are at a higher risk of academic difficulty.
• Access to school activities – Activity fees are a barrier to participation in school activities for children in low-income households. Students should have the opportunity to fully participate in our education system, regardless of their parents' financial situation. A draft guideline regarding fees for learning materials and activities was released by the Ministry of Education in 2010, with the aim of informing school board policies on how best to support student participation in school activities. This will support the participation of all students in enriching school activities and programs that are outside the curriculum, but enhance a student's school experience. The final guideline will be released in early 2011.

• Parent engagement – Schools should foster and sustain a positive, welcoming school climate in which all parent perspectives are encouraged, valued and heard.
  • Parent Involvement Committees (PICs) participate at the school board level to support, encourage and enhance the engagement of parents in improving student achievement and well-being. PICs do this by undertaking activities to help parents support their children's learning at home and at school, giving advice to the boards on parent engagement, and communicating with and supporting school councils.
  • Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Grants continue to fund innovative local, regional and provincial initiatives designed to break down the barriers to parent engagement faced by many parents in Ontario. For example, PRO grants have been used to develop programs that provide multi-language services, help parents work with their children at home and build connections across diverse cultures in the school. A portion of funding for this program was refocused to priority schools in high-needs areas for the 2009–10 school year. In the 2010–11 school year, there was a 25 per cent increase in approved applications from priority schools, compared to 2009–10.
• Specialist High Skills Major Program – Ontario is helping more high school students get an academic and career edge by expanding its Specialist High Skills Major Program. This fall, a not-for-profit sector program was launched, offering students an opportunity to obtain hands-on experience at community agencies. In 2010-11, there will be more than 28,000 students enrolled in over 1,000 Specialist High Skills Major programs in more than 530 secondary schools – an increase of 8,000 students, 260 programs and 100 schools over the 2009-10 school year.
• Access to after-school programming – The After-School Initiative supports children and youth in low-income families, including priority groups such as Aboriginal, newcomer and northern or rural populations. This initiative continues to provide opportunities for children and youth to be more physically active, learn about healthy living and develop confidence and resiliency. The program has helped approximately 18,000 children and youth participate in enriched after-school programming offered by over 100 organizations across Ontario in more than 300 locations. In 2010, this initiative was expanded to 11 First Nations sites, serving 465 children and youth from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12.
• Summer Literacy Program – Research tells us that children in low-income communities lose academic momentum during the summer months causing a growth in the learning gap. In 2010, to help close that gap, the Ministry of Education created the Summer Literacy Program, a rich full-day of literacy and recreational activities to build skill in reading and writing, to expand vocabulary and to provide an array of traditional summer activities like field trips and swimming lessons. In the first summer, the program engaged 1,300 children in approximately 50 school boards.

Opportunities for youth

The Youth Opportunities Strategy (YOS), through the Summer Jobs for Youth and Youth in Policing programs, are providing at-risk youth with valuable work experience. This experience helps youth gain confidence and learn important new skills that contribute to their future and the well-being of their communities. The number of jobs available through YOS more than doubled in 2009. With the addition of Sudbury and 12 new police services in 2010, this program is now operating in 32 communities across Ontario and provided more than 4,700 youth with full-time summer employment this year.

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"I started working in the warehouse, and they slowly integrated me into the floor. I dealt with customers and various people. I found that one of the best things was that it allowed me to speak to people, which I wasn't that great at before. At the end of the program, I actually got hired on by the company."

Michael, Summer Jobs for Youth participant

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Youth Challenge Fund

We know that, given the right opportunities, Ontario's youth have endless potential. Since 2006, Ontario has allocated more than $30 million to the Youth Challenge Fund, which has supported 111 different youth-based projects designed to improve opportunities for Toronto's youth, specifically young people living in the city's 13 priority neighbourhoods.

Support for Crown Wards

Crown wards remain some of the most vulnerable children in Ontario. In order to improve outcomes for these kids, a number of initiatives have been developed to provide additional supports and services that will help them achieve success in later life. Some of these additonal supports include the following:

• Funding equivalent to the Ontario Child Benefit is providing increased access to educational, recreational, cultural and social activities for children and youth in care, and a savings program for older youth to support their successful transition to adulthood.
• Ontario is helping more Crown wards succeed in school. Crown Ward Education Championship Teams offer mentorship, peer support, motivation and guidance to Crown wards across the province.

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Families that have the resources and tools to support their children's well-being

Financial stability

Providing improved financial stability to Ontario families and tax relief for all low-income Ontarians is an important component of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. As a result of investments and the government's comprehensive tax reform package, a single mother with one child, working full-time at minimum wage and accessing all available benefits, is now above the Low Income Measure (LIM50). See figure on page 12, adjusted to 2010, and learn more about the government's tax reform.

Ontario Child Benefit

The Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) is the cornerstone of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. It provides support to low-income families so they can provide the essentials to help their children reach their full potential. This support can mean many things: food, clothing and shelter, or giving a child or youth the opportunity to take part in enriched summer or after-school programming. This support also reduces the barriers to moving from social assistance to employment by continuing to provide benefits to families, regardless of their source of income.

In the 2008 Poverty Reduction Strategy, we committed to further increasing the maximum Ontario Child Benefit annual payment to $1,310 per child within five years. In July 2009, planned increases to the OCB were accelerated by two years, providing low-income families with up to $1,100 annually for each child — almost $92 per month. This represents an increase of 83 per cent over the 2008 maximum payment and an increase of 210,000 children receiving the benefit. The full impact of the OCB increases are not fully reflected in the 2008 income indicators because of the lag in receiving Statistics Canada data. In 2010, the OCB is benefiting over one million children.

Access to health care

Important steps have also been taken to ensure that low-income families can support their children's health care needs.

• Healthy Smiles Ontario, introduced in 2010, expands and builds on public health dental investments by providing a range of preventive and early treatment dental services to children and youth from low-income families who have no access to dental coverage. Services include check-ups, cleaning, fillings and x-rays. This program is expected to serve up to 130,000 children and youth up to age 18, and will lead to healthy teeth and better overall health for kids living in poverty.
• The Children In Need Of Treatment (CINOT) program continues to provide access to urgent or emergency dental care for children and youth who cannot otherwise afford treatment. In 2009, the program was expanded to include children up to age 18, and provided emergency dental care to 50,779 children and youth with serious oral health problems which might otherwise have gone untreated.
• High-quality nutrition is a very important predictor of school performance. Kids are not ready to learn when they are hungry. In 2008, as a down payment on the Poverty Reduction Strategy, an annual increase of $9.4 million was provided to the Student Nutrition Program, bringing the total annual investment to $17.9 million per year. The program supports approximately 1,000 breakfast programs in highneeds communities across the province, serving snacks and meals to over 520,000 kids in 2009–10.
• The government also provides $4.4 million through the Early Childhood Development Agreement of the Canada Social Transfer for delivery of the Aboriginal Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Child Nutrition Program, delivered to 180 Aboriginal communities, both on- and off-reserve.
• The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is reviewing the report from the Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions, Navigating the Journey to Wellness: The Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan for Ontarians, as well as the report from the Minister's Advisory Group on Mental Health and Addictions, Respect, Recovery, Resilience: Recommendations for Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Strategy. Both these reports will be used in developing the government's Mental Health and Addictions Strategy. In addition, the ministry has provided 1,000 supportive housing units for people with problematic substance use issues, which will help them to maintain housing in their community.

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"Research from around the world has shown that early intervention and access to preventive care are key to improving kids' oral health. Healthy Smiles Ontario is a good first step at addressing the oral health needs of this province's children. No child should have to suffer the often painful effects of dental decay, which is one of the leading causes of absences from school."

Dr. Lynn Tomkins, President,
Ontario Dental Association

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Opportunity for All

Tax relief for Ontarians

Ontario's comprehensive tax reform will lead to more jobs and higher incomes, and help sustain key public services, such as health care and education, by creating a stronger, more competitive economy. A December 2009 study² conducted for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, updated in January 2010, concluded that the impact of the HST on low-income families is less, and that this is more than offset by the improved property and sales tax credit. As part of Open Ontario, the government is providing new tax relief for low- to middle-income Ontarians, starting in 2010. These include the following:

• 93 per cent of Ontario income tax payers are receiving personal income tax cuts and about 90,000 low-income taxpayers no longer pay Ontario Personal Income Tax, as a result of the reduction in the lowest tax bracket rate.
• The new permanent, refundable Ontario Sales Tax Credit provides up to $260 per person annually. Eligible low-to middle- income Ontarians started receiving the first quarterly payment of this tax credit in August 2010.
• The Ontario Sales Tax Transition Benefit will provide approximately 6.6 million individuals and families with up to three payments in 2010 and 2011 to help them adjust to the new Harmonized Sales Tax. Eligible Ontario families (including single parents) earning up to $160,000 will receive three tax-free payments totalling $1,000.

• The proposed Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit would benefit 2.8 million Ontario families and individuals. This credit would provide up to $900 per year of relief for sales tax on energy and property tax to non-seniors and up to $1,025 per year to seniors.
• The Northern Ontario Energy Credit will provide up to $130 a year for a single person and up to $200 per family.
• Ontario's proposed new permanent, refundable Children's Activity Tax Credit would help parents support their children's participation in sports, arts and other activities, and would benefit over 1.8 million children in about 1.1 million Ontario families.
• The Ontario Senior Homeowner's Property Tax Grant was doubled in 2010, providing up to $500 per year to help seniors stay in their homes.

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"Expanding the range of refundable tax credits available to low-income Ontarians is an important piece of a 21st century income security system. When combined with education and outreach, refundable tax credits are an effective way of reducing poverty."

Michael Oliphant, Director of
Research and Communications,
Daily Bread Food Bank

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Access to jobs and a path out of unemployment

Support for Postsecondary Students

We know education increases the potential for prosperity and we know that seven out of every ten new jobs will require postsecondary education or training in the next decade. So, since 2003, we have increased high school graduation rates, increased assistance and created thousands of new spaces in colleges, universities and apprenticeships. Today, 200,000 more students are attending a postsecondary institution or pursuing an apprenticeship. Increasing the accessibility and affordability of a university or college education will ensure that Ontarians gain the skills and knowledge necessary to compete in today's job market.

• In 2010–11, the government is providing an additional $81 million in financial support for college and university students.
• Improvements to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) announced in 2010 include simplifying the OSAP application, providing greater access to financial aid and increasing flexibility on loan repayment. These changes will help about 210,000 Ontarians in 2010–11 and 230,000 Ontarians in 2011–12.
• OSAP also introduced changes to its Student Access Guarantee to ensure that qualified Ontario students in need will be able to access resources to help pay for their tuition, books and mandatory fees. This means that more students who might not have finished their education for financial reasons will be able to complete their studies.

Training

We know that because of the recession and the changing job market, many Ontarians need to retrain and learn new skills in order to find work and get back on their feet.

• Ontario's innovative Second Career Program continues to help laid-off workers retrain for new careers in occupations with demonstrated labour market prospects in Ontario. Since its launch in June 2008, more than 36,000 individuals have participated in this program. Laid-off auto workers, for example, have been helped to train for careers as diverse as law, security administration and food preparation. It is anticipated that by April 2012, nearly 60,000 individuals will have participated in the Second Career Program, helping to build the highly skilled and educated workforce Ontario needs to be competitive.
• Government has also, for the second year, expanded funding for Bridge Training Programs, which provide fast, effective, occupation-specific training to help internationally trained individuals obtain licensure and employment in their field, without duplicating what they have already learned. In 2010, funding for 22 new programs and 17 existing programs was announced. These programs are expected to help more than 6,000 highly skilled newcomers find jobs that match their qualifications and experience.
• Ontario's Women in Skilled Trades and Information Technology Training Programs (WIST/ITT) continues to help unemployed and underemployed women get the training needed to secure high demand jobs with better pay. In 2009, 177 women graduated from Women in Skilled Trades and Information Technology Training Programs. These programs were instrumental in providing women with skills development and hands-on experience necessary to raise themselves and their families out of poverty while satisfying Ontario's skilled workforce needs.

Employment

A variety of innovative programs and supports have been developed, based on what those who have experienced poverty told us were their biggest barriers to employment.

• Through the Employment Ontario Service Delivery Transformation Initiative, Employment Ontario has opened the door to a new one-stop employment service through which people can find a full range of employment services and training programs to help them find and keep a job.
• The new Employment Ontario Service Network was successfully launched in August 2010, and now delivers services to Ontarians through over 400 centres across the province.

Removing barriers

In January 2010, the Social Assistance Review Advisory Council (SARAC) was established to provide recommendations regarding the scope and terms of reference for a review of Ontario's social assistance system and advise the Minister of Community and Social Services regarding possible short-term changes to social assistance rules. The province has since moved forward with four rule changes aimed at reducing complexity, improving fairness and removing barriers. SARAC's final report recommending the scope and terms of reference for a social assistance review was received by the government in May 2010.

Moving forward, a two-person led commission has been created to conduct the Social Assistance Review in Ontario. This review will be guided by a vision of a 21st century income security system that enables all Ontarians to live with dignity, participate in their communities, and contribute to a prospering economy. The review will recommend ways to improve work-related outcomes, while providing appropriate income supports and access to opportunities that will enable participation in and attachment to the labour market, and guarantee security for those who cannot work. It will examine and determine the effectiveness of social assistance and how it affects, and is affected by, other parts of the overall income security system in Canada. The review will also speak to the role of the federal government in regard to income security for Ontarians.

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Fair minimum wages and working conditions

Fair minimum wages

In 2010, the minimum wage was increased to $10.25 per hour, the seventh consecutive year of increases since 2003. This represents an almost 50 per cent increase since 2003. Ontario now has the highest minimum wage among the provinces.

Improved working conditions

• The Ministry of Labour has hired 40 new Employment Standards Officers to increase employers' compliance with Ontario workplace standards. Education and outreach to employers, and partnerships with employer associations and stakeholders, have also been undertaken to improve compliance and expand the protection offered to some of Ontario's most vulnerable workers, and to eliminate the claims backlog. In 2009, $4.5 million was dedicated to this goal and an additional $6 million over two years was committed in the 2010 Budget.
• The new Temporary Help Agency Law Enforcement provisions in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 are helping to ensure that people employed by temporary help agencies enjoy the same rights as other employees, including those related to notice of termination and severance pay, public holidays and the ability to accept employment from a client of the temporary help agency without restriction.
• On October 21, 2009, the Minister of Labour introduced the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act (Live-in Caregivers and Others), 2009 to ensure that foreign nationals employed as live-in caregivers are properly protected under provincial law. The Act, which came into force on March 22, 2010, prohibits recruiters from charging fees to foreign nationals working or seeking to work in Ontario as live-in caregivers.

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Safe and affordable housing

Affordable housing plays an essential role in addressing poverty. The government has invested some $2.5 billion to help create and repair more than 200,000 housing units and provide more than 35,000 new rent supplements to the most vulnerable people in Ontario. Ontario also invests approximately $450 million annually in housing and homeless services for Ontarians in need.

Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy

To support the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the government is moving forward with a Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy that brings us closer to improving access to adequate, suitable and affordable housing for the people of Ontario. We are helping families thrive by creating employment opportunities, promoting safe neighbourhoods and ensuring people have the resources, services and programs they need. This initiative responds to provincewide public consultations that indicated the housing system is too complicated and creates barriers for people living in, and for those delivering, affordable housing. The strategy establishes a solid foundation to transform the way affordable housing and social services are delivered in Ontario. A proposed Housing Services Act would support a more flexible and people centred approach so services could adapt to the specific needs of local communities.

Today, there are more than 20 provincial housing and homelessness programs, each operating independently of each other and with their own rules. People in need of services can find it discouraging and difficult to gain access to uncoordinated programs. A central element of the strategy is to consolidate the current patchwork of provincial housing programs and allow municipalities to develop locally-based solutions to meet the needs of families and individuals.

During consultations, some of our partners proposed creating an Ontario Housing Benefit to help low-income Ontarians pay rent. Current financial challenges do not allow us to proceed to implement such a program at this time. However, this does not prevent the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing from working with the Ministry of Community and Social Services and our housing partners, to explore this and other options for low-income Ontarians.

Social housing renovation and retrofitting

The provincial government is investing $622 million, which is being matched by the federal government through an Affordable Housing Agreement, reached in 2009, to provide a total of $1.2 billion in new funding for affordable housing. To improve the health and safety of residents in social housing communities, and enhance accessibility for seniors and persons with disabilities, $700 million has been invested through the Social Housing Renovation and Retrofit Program to fund the repair and energy efficient retrofitting of more than 173,000 social housing units in Ontario. As well, the new funding includes $540 million to build more than 4,500 new affordable housing units, with some $307 million for the creation of affordable rental housing for low-income seniors, and more than $57 million for the creation of affordable rental units for persons with disabilities.

Through Infrastructure Ontario, the government has also provided over $200 million in loans to not-for-profit social and affordable housing providers to reduce utility costs, improve energy efficiency, revitalize properties and improve the quality of life for tenants in communities across Ontario. This investment has saved municipalities and housing providers over $13 million through the construction period and the term of the loan due to Infrastructure Ontario's competitive rates.

Support for tenants

More than 23,800 Ontario families have avoided eviction thanks to the Provincial Rent Bank Program, which helps people stay in their homes by covering rental costs for up to two months. As part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the government stabilized funding for the Rent Bank at $5 million per year. Since inception of the program in 2004, the government has invested more than $33.8 million.

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Stronger Economic and Social Foundations

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A growing economy that provides jobs and builds futures for all Ontarians

Open Ontario Plan

The Ontario government has launched an ambitious five year plan called the Open Ontario Plan to strengthen our economy and create more jobs for Ontario families. Open Ontario directly supports the goals of the Poverty Reduction Strategy through new investments in job creation, health care and education. It represents a critically important foundation for achieving our poverty reduction targets over the next three years, which depend on a prosperous and growing economy. Open Ontario will stimulate the economy and generate new jobs by improving Ontario's infrastructure, creating an economic climate that will attract new investment and help business thrive, supporting innovation to seize new global opportunities, and ensuring that Ontarians have the skills and education they need for the job market of the future.

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Strong communities and community-based services

Supporting community-based organizations

Through the Ontario Trillium Foundation, community-based organizations have received grants of $63 million over four years to support a wide variety of programs across Ontario that address poverty and its effects. These programs respond to local needs and have a diverse focus, ranging from early childhood development, school readiness and literacy to supports for youth at risk, employment and job training, social and recreational facilities and services, community infrastructure, and programs within Aboriginal communities.

Improved access to services

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has partnered with United Way Toronto's Building Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy, to provide better access for grassroots community groups and residents where services were inadequate or non-existent. These Community Hubs are places where independent community partners come together to provide a full range of services that best meet the needs of their high-risk communities. Services range from health care to settlement services for new immigrants. In 2010 three community hubs were launched in priority neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area, including Eglinton East/Kennedy Park, Westin-Mount Denis, and Crescent Town.

In order to make better use of community resources across the province, the Ministry of Education released a Facility Partnerships Guideline to all school boards in 2010 to encourage working with community partners to optimize the use of public assets owned by school boards.

Integrating community facilities

The newly expanded Priority Schools Initiative provides funding to selected school boards to offer not-for-profit groups free access to school space outside regular school hours. This means eligible not-for-profit groups can offer more affordable or free programs in communities where the need for access is greatest. This initiative is reaching 175 schools in 32 school boards in the 2010–11 school year. Part of the Community Use of Schools Program enables not-for-profit organizations to offer more affordable programming in the community, and helps students and families benefit from expanded access to programs and services. As of March 2010, there were over 550,000 visits to programs held in priority schools in the 2009–10 school year, and over 1,100 permits had been granted to not-for-profit groups.

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A not-for-profit sector that is valued and supported

Legislative reform

Important steps have been taken toward Reform of the Corporations Act that would result in new and modern legislation governing not-for-profit organizations incorporated in Ontario. The Not-For-Profit Corporations Act, 2010, which received Royal Assent, will benefit a wide variety of organizations, including those providing services and resources for Ontario's most vulnerable. The new act is intended to facilitate the operations of these not-for-profit organizations and encourage economic growth.

Partnership with the not-for-profit sector

Through the recently launched Partnership Project, the government has initiated provincewide discussions on how to strengthen its relationship with Ontario's not-for-profit sector. The project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and is intended to better organize and facilitate the government and the not-for-profit sector's ongoing efforts to support individuals and communities. Not-for-profits in Ontario are a vital pillar of the province's economy, and provide resources, services and information to those affected by poverty. The Partnership Project is part of the Government of Ontario's ongoing effort to reduce administrative barriers and improve services for not-for-profits so that they can spend more of their time and resources assisting vulnerable Ontarians.

Supporting social innovation

The government is exploring a variety of approaches to support social innovation and social enterprises in the province. In order to be successful in poverty reduction, we will have to pursue innovative and creative new ways of doing things.

• Social Innovation Generation (SiG) at MaRS Discovery District (SiG@MaRS) is partnering with the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Ontario Association of Food Banks in a Social Venture Exchange (SVX) feasibility study and pilot program. The SVX will provide a platform to assess and attract sustainable financing for firms with a social mission, from enterprising not-for-profits to social businesses, and would be the first of its kind in Canada.
• The government continues to pursue sustainable procurement initiatives that support social enterprises seeking to do business with the Ontario government. This ensures the government is leading by example and serving as a model for Ontario's broader public sector and consumer markets.
• An online Social Venture Registry (SVR), launched in 2010, enables visitors to learn about social ventures and the benefits they are generating for Ontarians. It also helps to connect social venture leaders, investors and suppliers. The registry can be found at www.marsdd.com/aboutmars/partners/sig/svr
• Ontario is also exploring the Community Interest Company Model (CIC), being pursued in the United Kingdom, to determine its feasibility in Ontario. A white paper, entitled Social Entrepreneurship — Legislative Innovations, was published by MaRS in 2010 as part of a series examining the opportunities and challenges influencing the growth of social ventures in our province.

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² Not a Tax Grab After All, A Second Look At Ontario's HST, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, available at www.policyalternatives.ca.  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).