INTRODUCTION
THE FIRST THREE YEARS
Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy was launched in 2008. This report shows our progress during the first three years.
- About the Poverty Reduction Strategy
- Building our shared future
- Engaging communities
- Measuring progress: The Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel
- Poverty reduction milestones
About the Poverty Reduction Strategy
In 2007, following extensive consultations with a variety of groups across the province, the McGuinty government announced its commitment to set targets for poverty reduction in Ontario. The first Poverty Reduction Strategy in Ontario's history was launched in December 2008. Poverty reduction became law in Ontario in 2009.
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 current goal is to reduce child poverty by 25 per cent over five years. Thus, our focus in the first five years is on supporting children and their families.
We know our initiatives are helping to reduce poverty. We are making progress, even in difficult economic times:
- Without the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the number of children in poverty would be almost eight per cent higher2.
- We have seen a significant shift of single-parent families moving off social assistance from 42 per cent of cases in 2002 down to 30 per cent in 2010.
- As well, a single mom with a small child, working full time at minimum wage and accessing all benefits has seen her take-home income increase by $10,600 (or 58 per cent) since 2003. This single mom and her child are now able to live above the poverty line.
2 The estimate was calculated by removing from household income the various benefits associated with the Poverty Reduction Strategy that were received in 2009 and assessing the resulting income against the poverty line.
Vision
Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy is guided by the vision of a province where every person has the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential and contribute to and participate in a prosperous and healthy Ontario.
Building our shared future
During the first three years of the Poverty Reduction Strategy, we have witnessed one of the most dramatic global economic downturns in generations.
In 2008, our government invested heavily to lessen the impact of the recession on families by protecting and creating jobs. Our indicators show the positive impact of that decision. In 2009, the first year of the strategy, we have made real and measurable progress. We have made progress on reducing the number of kids living in poverty, and we accomplished this in a tough economic climate.
“Growing up in poverty has a long-term impact on a person's health and well-being. Governments are concerned about the growing cost of health care, but investing upfront to cut poverty rates will lead to better health outcomes in the long run.”
David McNeil, President,
Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario
But we know there is much more to do. In these times of significant global change and uncertainty, we remain committed to our Poverty Reduction Strategy.
We recognize that, while a strong economy is a necessary foundation for poverty reduction, healthy children and families, high-quality child care and education, and strong, vibrant communities are, in turn, the foundation of a strong Ontario, both now and in the future.
Poverty reduction is not only the right thing to do, it is key to our economic future and to harnessing the potential of people as our most important provincial resource.
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Engaging communities
When we began developing the Poverty Reduction Strategy, we understood that it was important to listen – to communities, stakeholders, and those with lived experience of being in poverty – to help us better understand the reality of poverty in Ontario's communities.
In 2010–11, the Minister of Children and Youth Services attended six roundtables across the province, as part of our commitment to further engage people in their communities at the halfway point of the five-year strategy. The Minister listened to their advice and had meaningful dialogues about how the strategy is unfolding in individual communities.
The government continues to value the important work being done in our communities and by dedicated not-for-profit organizations in Ontario. We believe that all Ontarians have a role to play in reducing poverty and that is why engaging with communities across the province remains an important part of implementing the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
“The first lesson to be learned is that a government commitment matched by good policy can make a big difference in people's lives.... In Ontario, child poverty actually fell between 2008 and 2009, inching down from 15.2% to 14.6% using the province's own Low Income Measure.... In Alberta, for example, child poverty soared by 25 per cent in the same period. What's the difference? Ontario took concrete action to reduce child poverty”
25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction
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Measuring Progress:
The Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel
Understanding the impacts of poverty is more complex than just measuring income levels.
In order to provide a more complete picture of poverty, eight indicators are used to measure the impact of the Poverty Reduction Strategy across a variety of dimensions.
The indicators are:
- Birth Weights
- School Readiness (Early Development Instrument)
- Educational Progress (EQAO Score)
- High School Graduation Rates
- Low Income Measure
- Depth of Poverty
- Standard of Living (Ontario's Deprivation Index)
- Ontario Housing Measure
The Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel provides a visual summary of improvements over time in each of the eight indicators. The inside circle represents the baseline data starting at 2008 on all indicators. Spokes going out from the centre measure progress for each year. Where a spoke extends outwards past the inner circle, this means outcomes have improved. The further the spoke is from the circle, the larger the improvement. If a spoke falls inside the circle, outcomes have deteriorated.
Due to an 18 month time lag in the way that Statistics Canada measures many of these indicators, this year's report includes the first available data showing the impact of our Poverty Reduction Strategy. As such, due to that same time lag, data is only available for the first year of our Strategy.
Child and Youth Opportunity Wheel
| Notes: | * | Reported on a three-year cycle. The next cycle for reporting will be in 2012. |
| ** | Educational Progress (EQAO) scores for 2010-11 were released in Summer 2011. Other 2010-11 data will be available in 2012. | |
| *** | There was a change in surveys that carry the deprivation questions, which may have had an effect on the results. | |
| Caution should be exercised when interpreting the change between years. |
Source: Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services
Poverty Reduction Milestones
2007
- Premier McGuinty makes a commitment to introduce poverty reduction targets
- The Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) is introduced
- A Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction Strategy is established
2008
- Public consultations are held, and Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy is launched
- OCB payments reach up to $600 per child annually, and the Student Nutrition Program is expanded – both increasing support to low-income families
2009
- A Results Table is established to guide and monitor implementation of the strategy
- The historic Poverty Reduction Act, 2009 is passed
- The Ontario Budget 2009 announces major investments in poverty reduction:
- The OCB phase-in schedule is accelerated by two years – maximum annual payments are increased to $1,100 annually per child under 18
- Maximum annual OCB payments will be further increased to $1,310 per child by 2013
- More than $1.2 billion is invested in social and affordable housing
- Rent bank funding is stabilized
- Summer job opportunities for at-risk youth are more than doubled as the Youth Opportunities Strategy is expanded
- After school programs are implemented across Ontario in priority neighbourhoods
2010
- The Ontario Budget 2010 includes investments in Employment Standards Officers, child care stabilization, career retraining programs and increased access to postsecondary education, and tax reforms including a personal income tax cut and tax credits related to the HST, property tax and energy costs
- Minimum wage increases to $10.25
- Comprehensive tax reforms are introduced in July along with significant support for Ontarians, particularly those with low incomes
- Full-Day Kindergarten is rolled out in nearly 600 schools across the province for approximately 35,000 students
- Healthy Smiles Ontario rolls out and is anticipated to provide 130,000 children and youth with access to free dental care
- The Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy is released
- A Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario is announced with the goal of improving employment outcomes, making social assistance easier to understand, improving fairness and removing barriers to finding a pathway out of poverty
2011
- Full-Day Kindergarten expands to nearly 800 schools and approximately 50,000 students
- The Partnership Project report is released, providing a concrete plan on ways the government can be more responsive, supportive and accessible to not-for-profit organizations
- Ontario's Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy is launched
- $28.5 million in funding to Pathways to Education Canada is announced to support students from at-risk or economically disadvantaged communities
- The Social Assistance Review begins, with a final report targeted for June 2012
- An agreement is reached between the provincial and federal governments providing combined funding of $481 million under the Investment in Affordable Housing for Ontario program that will create affordable housing and more than 5,000 jobs for Ontarians
- The timing of tax assistance is enhanced through the introduction of the Ontario Trillium Benefit for low- to moderate-income households, starting in 2012, which provides more consistent, monthly payments
- Key steps are taken to strengthen and support social innovation, including hosting a Social Innovation Summit and preparations to launch a pilot Social Venture Exchange (SVX) designed to attract investment in the sector
- One million dollars is provided to the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) to design and launch a new program to bring social enterprises together with industry and academic partners to collaborate on health improvement, sustainability and the environment, poverty reduction and other issues
- The Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation is launched under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and will help remove barriers to employment for persons with disabilities and help employers tap into a broader and more diverse workforce
- The Housing Services Act, 2011, the legislative framework for the Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy, is passed
- Amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 are introduced that will, if passed, cap rent increases at a maximum of 2.5 per cent, providing certainty and stability in housing costs for over one million tenant households
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Download and read Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy.