RENEWING ONTARIO S POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY: CONSULTATION BOOKLET

RENEWING ONTARIO S POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY: CONSULTATION BOOKLET

Looking Back Ontario s First Poverty Reduction Strategy When Breaking the Cycle: Ontario s Poverty Reduction Strategy was launched in 2008, it signaled a bold new 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. Recognizing that the best way to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty is by helping kids living in poverty get a good start in life, Breaking the Cycle focused on children and their families. We set a clear target of reducing the number of children in poverty by 25 per cent over five years. What We ve Accomplished With the unanimous passage of the Poverty Reduction Act, 2009, Ontario made a long-term commitment to addressing poverty. The fact that poverty has fallen at the same time as a major economic downturn speaks volumes about the province s poverty reduction strategy The Toronto Star (July 3, 2013) The Poverty Reduction Strategy has had an immediate positive impact on the lives of children and will continue to improve outcomes for Ontarians over the longer term. In the first three years of the Strategy alone, approximately 47,000 children and their families were lifted out of poverty. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Helps Lower Child Poverty Poverty Without Government Redistribution Poverty Without a Dedicated Strategy Actual Poverty 30 47,000 children and their families out of poverty 25 26.1% 24.9% 20 22.5% 22.2% 15 15.2% 15.2% 15.4% 16.7% 15.9% 14.6% 13.8% 13.6% 10 5 0 Source: Ontario Ministry of Finance (using Statistics Canada data), 2013 1

Without the Poverty Reduction Strategy, an estimated 15.9 per cent of Ontario s children would have been living in poverty in 2011. Instead, the Strategy prevented 61,000 children from being in poverty that year. With the Strategy, the actual child poverty rate in 2011 fell to 13.6 per cent.* The Economic Reality Ontario was hit especially hard by the global recession and financial crisis of 2008-2009. This caused a significant loss of jobs and income, creating hardship for many individuals and families. It also resulted in increased pressure on government services during a time of limited resources. Along with the rest of the country and the world Ontario [was] plunged into its deepest recession since the early 1990s Navigating Through the Recovery, Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress, 8 th Annual Report (November 2009) Sustainable economic growth is a key factor in helping to lower poverty because it creates jobs and incomes for individuals, and parents and their children. Ontario s economy continues to grow and create jobs. In fact, since June 2009, the province has more than recovered the jobs lost in the recession and employment has increased by 433,700 jobs. Notwithstanding these gains, many people in Ontario are still feeling the impact of the recession. As well, continued global economic growth is at risk, which could adversely affect Ontario. The Choices Governments around the world are faced with increasingly difficult choices about how to allocate limited resources in a time of competing demands. Ontario is no exception. Despite the impact of the worldwide recession and the continuing climate of global economic uncertainty, the Ontario government has chosen to continue the fight against poverty. Ontario s Poverty Reduction Strategy plays an important role in lifting children out of poverty and in preventing them from falling into poverty in the first place. Ontario s three-year decline in child and family poverty could only have happened because the province chose to invest in programs The Toronto Star (July 3, 2013) *Preliminary figures; final figures for 2011 will be reported in the 2013 Poverty Reduction Strategy Annual Report, scheduled to be released in December. 2

The First Poverty Reduction Strategy The first Poverty Reduction Strategy set out to reach an ambitious target: reducing the number of kids in poverty by 25 per cent over five years. To support the Strategy, Ontario made investments in key areas: Social innovation Social assistance Tax credits Minimum wage Health Financial literacy Accessibility Ontario Child Benefit Early learning and child care Affordable housing Education Employment and training Supports for newcomers Tuition grants Communities Financial aid Student nutrition Mental health The visual above is for illustrative purposes only. It is not representative of all investments made nor does it reflect the level of investment in each area. Among many other important programs, our government is: Investing approximately $1 billion in the Ontario Child Benefit to help more than half a million families provide everyday necessities to over 950,000 children Supporting child care modernization by investing more than $1 billion in child care in 2013-14 Continuing to implement full-day kindergarten by investing approximately $963 million in the 2013-14 school year to support approximately 184,000 students, saving families up to $6,500 per child per year on child care costs Making postsecondary education more accessible through major investments in student financial aid, including $1.5 billion in grants and loans to students through the Ontario Student Assistance Program in 2012-13, and reducing tuition by 30 per cent for students from low- and middle-income families ONTARIO CHILD BENEFIT $1,210/year (2013) $250/year (2007) $1B TO OVER 950,000 CHILDREN IN 510,000 FAMILIES MINIMUM WAGE $10.25 $9.75 $9.00 $8.50 $8.00 $7.50 $7.00 $6.50 7 INCREASES Since 2003, the government has also: Increased social assistance rates by 16-18.7 per cent for individuals, families, and persons with disabilities* Committed nearly $3 billion in the largest affordable housing investment in Ontario s history Implemented seven increases to the minimum wage, from $6.85 to $10.25/hour 1996 2003 2010 Despite our investments in poverty reduction, it is unlikely that the target will be met, in large part because of the global recession. However, this target gave us something to strive toward, raised the bar for success, and set the foundation for future work. *Dependent on family/benefit type; effective September (Ontario Disability Support Program) and October (Ontario Works), 2013. 3

Achieving More Together Collaboration Makes It Happen Collaboration brings people together to share ideas and use a diversity of perspectives to lead to improved outcomes. In order to grow and prosper in the next decade, we need to continue to work together to achieve our shared goal of reducing poverty. In Ontario, there are many examples of successful collaboration across governments, community-based organizations, businesses, and individuals that are making a real impact. One example of this type of collaboration that is helping to address poverty is the Regent Park Revitalization project in Toronto. Through a public-private partnership between the Toronto Community Housing Corporation and The Daniels Corporation, and supported by all three levels of government, the Regent Park neighbourhood is being rebuilt to provide social housing units to more than 12,500 residents. Share Your Perspective Public Consultation Process Over the coming months, there will be several opportunities for Ontarians to share their perspectives on how to better address poverty in Ontario. The goal of these public consultations is to: build on our lessons learned; better understand the challenges; and, consider the choices that we will need to make as a community in order to determine the priorities for the renewed Poverty Reduction Strategy. The consultation process has been designed with the aim of reaching as wide an audience across the province as possible. This will be done through a number of platforms and activities, including online, regional consultations, technical table discussions, and sector research. Input received during the consultations will help build the new Poverty Reduction Strategy. 4

Discussion Questions Here are some questions for consideration: 1. Looking back over the last five years of Ontario s first Poverty Reduction Strategy, what worked well? What can we do differently moving forward? 2. Our first Strategy focused on children. Going forward, should we continue to have a specific focus? If so, who or what should be our focus? 3. What is the most important thing the Government of Ontario can do to help reduce poverty? Is there an initiative we implemented as part of the first Strategy that we should revisit? 4. How can all levels of government, community groups, the private sector, and other stakeholders work together to better address the barriers that keep people from getting out of poverty (e.g., access to: employment, education, child care, supports, etc.)? 5. When it comes to reducing poverty in Ontario, what would success look like 15 years from now? 5

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Thank you for your invaluable input and for taking the time to share your perspectives. Together, we are building Ontario s future. If you have any additional questions or comments, please send them to: povertystrategy@ontario.ca. ontario.ca/breakingthecycle