Losing Ground

Recommendations

  1. Addressing the unique challenges in the City of Toronto The data in this report captures the growing income gap between the City of Toronto and other jurisdictions, such as lower family median incomes and higher poverty rates. Other research reports have provided a large body of evidence of the serious social and health consequences that have been accompanying these trends. We have seen how closely gun crime in the city, poor school grades and drop out rates, teen pregnancies and teen births, and low birth weight births correspond to the neighbourhoods where poverty is highly concentrated. Most recently, we have evidence of soaring diabetes rates in the city's lowest-income neighbourhoods and growing food bank use. United Way is therefore recommending that: A poverty reduction strategy for Ontario to be developed by the provincial government to take into account, the unique low-income challenges facing the City of Toronto, and the poor social and health outcomes that are associated with them.
  2. Setting clear and achievable targetsOther jurisdictions like the Province of Quebec and Ireland have tackled poverty head on, with impressive results that show poverty reduction can be achieved against planned goals. United Way is therefore recommending that: The provincial government to set clear poverty reduction targets and aggressive timelines for achieving those targets, with specific targets and timelines for the City of Toronto.
  3. Ensuring that the strategy is comprehensive and involves all orders of governmentThe social safety net in our province is flawed and has not been as effective as it needs to be in helping families move out of poverty. The solutions are complex and multifaceted. Because all orders of government share responsibility, United Way is recommending that: The federal and municipal governments to join the Province of Ontario in the development of the strategy, so that all components of the social safety net are examined and financed, including policies and programs that impact housing security, employment security and child care.
  4. Addressing the particular challenges of access to employment insurance and the protection of precarious workers The growth in precarious employment is one of the significant contributors to income insecurity among Toronto’s low-income workforce. Toronto’s rock bottom rate of access to Employment Insurance is another. The Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for Working-Age Adults (MISWAA) set out clear directions for both reforming Employment Insurance and creating greater protections for workers employed in precarious work. United Way supports the MISWAA conclusions, and is therefore recommending that: The development of a poverty reduction strategy in Ontario to seek to address the significant decline in coverage of the unemployed and the related decline in access to employment supports and training; and that it also seek to strengthen the protection of, and support for, employees in precarious employment.
  5. Building a solid foundation of research knowledge about precarious employment and indebtednessAn existing base of Toronto data informs our understanding of how the city and its residents are changing, along many dimensions. This comes from a broad range of sources including the census, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s annual rent surveys, food bank surveys, and labour force surveys. But in some areas, such as precarious work and indebtedness trends, data at the city level is minimal. The structure of work in the Toronto economy has changed dramatically in the past 10 to 15 years, and we need to be able to quantify and track changes in the forms that it is taking among Toronto workers. Similarly, the trend of indebtedness which Statistics Canada reports at a national level, needs to be understood at a city level, especially in light of insolvency rates in Toronto that are outpacing those at other geographic levels. For this reason, United Way is recommending that:The federal government, through Statistics Canada, work with representatives from the municipal and provincial governments, research and labour organizations to develop strategies for the routine collection of precarious employment and indebtedness data at the city level.
  6. Regulating the payday lending sector In the fall of 2006, the federal government introduced a provision to allow provinces to regulate the payday lending industry. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia have all proceeded. Quebec already has strict regulations. In Ontario, two private member bills were before the house to regulate the industry in Ontario, but were terminated when the provincial parliament was dissolved in the summer of 2007. Provincial changes to the Consumer Protection Act were made in 2007 to improve consumer knowledge of the fees and charges that the sector is applying. But these do not provide the kind of consumer protection that other provinces are putting in place. Therefore, United Way is recommending that: The Province of Ontario to develop rigorous new regulatory measures to protect consumers from usurious rate of interest, set interest rate caps and limits on fees and charges, and prohibit roll-overs and other practices that trap consumers in debt cycle.
  7. Ensuring an integral role for community leaders in the development of a poverty reduction strategy for Ontario It will be critically important that the development of a poverty reduction strategy be informed by the deep knowledge and expertise that exists within communities, about the special nature and challenges that local poverty is presenting. For this reason, United Way is recommending that: The provincial government to bring together community leaders to participate in the development of a poverty reduction strategy for Ontario.
  8. Building Consumer Financial Knowledge There is no doubt that Toronto's low-income families find themselves in such tight financial circumstances that they are forced to take out loans. But the aggressive marketing tactics of lenders and the seemingly easy access and terms are a major concern. Credit Canada, the largest consumer credit counselling organization in Toronto, reports that a great proportion of households that get themselves deeply in debt do not understand, or do not take time to understand the terms they are agreeing to and what it will cost. For this reason, United Way is recommending that: The United Way Toronto Board of Directors commit new resources for the development of consumer information and problem solving programs to be delivered by United Way agencies, targeting low-income borrowers in high need communities across the city.