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10 Things You Might Not Know About Poverty In Canada

17 October 2013

In 1993, the UN designated October 17 the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and later adopted the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger as the core of its Millennium Development Goals. The theme for this year is “Working together towards a world without discrimination: Building on the experience and knowledge of people in extreme poverty.”

To mark the day, here are some things about poverty in Canada that you might not know:

10. It’s hard to measure

There is no official measure of poverty in Canada. Statistics Canada reports that 14.9 per cent of Canadians have “low income” (i.e. make less than half the median income) but declines to label that group “poor.” Low income is only one way of measuring poverty, though; another is the “basic needs poverty measure,” which looks at the absolute minimum resources needed to fulfill physical well-being. The “market basket measure,” created by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, takes a similar approach with a broader range of goods and services, estimating the disposable income needed to meet basic needs. In 2008, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted that poverty had been steadily rising in Canada since the mid-1990s.

9. It varies widely between different groups

Regardless of how you try to measure poverty, certain groups are worse off than others. A study by the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that Aboriginal Canadians make about 30 per cent less than the rest of Canadians. Other groups more likely to be affected by poverty include lone parents, recent immigrants, people with disabilites and seniors, according to Statistics Canada.

8. Child poverty is high in Canada

Canada ranks behind the average in a recent UNICEF survey of child poverty in rich nations. According to the report, 13.3 per cent of Canadian children live in poverty, compared to 11 per cent across the 35 “economically advanced countries” studied. According to one study, half of First Nations children in Canada live in poverty.

7. It’s a significant burden on the economy

Poverty can exert extra health care, crime and social assistance costs. According to an estimate from the Ontario Association of Food Banks, poverty costs that province betwen 5.5 and 6.6 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product. That same report pegs the national health care costs attributable to poverty at $7.6 billion.

6. Many Canadians spend too much on shelter

In 1986, the federal and provincial governments established a threshold of housing affordability set at 30 per cent of a resident’s monthly income. By that standard, a full quarter — or 3.3 million households — in Canada are paying more than they should on housing, according to data from the National Household Survey released this year.

5. Poverty can shorten your life

An analysis by The Hamilton Spectator showed that there was a 21-year gap in life expectancy between that city’s richest and poorest neighbourhoods.

4. Many don’t have enough to eat

According to Food Banks Canada, nearly 900,000 Canadians are assisted by food banks each month. Thirty-eight per cent of those helped by food banks are children and youth and 11 per cent are Aboriginal (compared to 4.3 per cent of the total population).

3. Homelessness is widespread

As many as 200,000 Canadians will experience homelessness each year, according to a recent report from the Canadian Homelessness Research Network. On any given night, about 30,000 Canadians are homeless.

2. Debt levels are on the rise

Last month, Statistics Canada reported that the Canadian household debt-to-income ratio had climbed to a new high of 163.4 per cent — in other words, the average Canadian owes $1.63 for every dollar they earn.

1. Early investment can yield big dividends

A 2008 report from the Public Health Agency of Canada argues that reducing child poverty can have huge spillover effects on society. “It is estimated that $1 invested in the early years saves between $3 and $9 in future spending on the health and criminal justice systems, as well as on social assistance,” the report says.

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Rain won’t stop homeless campout

OWEN SOUND – As preparations were made Friday for Safe ‘n Sound’s second annual overnight campout to raise awareness and some money to combat homelessness, the rain started.

Organizers want to remind people that some around us do camp in all kinds of weather because they have to. Richard Suchow, the manager at the downtown drop-in and homeless referral agency, plans to pitch tarps, a tent and camp behind the centre at 310 8th St. E.

“We’ll brave the elements as long as we’re able to do that without being ridiculous and freezing to death,” Suchow said as the rain already started to fall over the lunch hour. “Where unlike true homelessness, we can go in and get warm and come back out.”

The centre will be open all night to support campers, who may simply wrap themselves in blankets and sleeping bags and sit on chairs through the night, Suchow said.

He and three other volunteers, Bill Baker, Shawn McMann and Lynn Dilworth, sat on a bench behind the centre with sleeping bags in hand and talked about homelessness and what they’re trying to do about it.

The citizen-led agency opened in spring, 2009. It offers a place to meet, lockers to store belongings and get help accessing resources. Arrangements for after-hours emergency shelter are made here too.

Safe ‘n Sound receives $2,000 per month from Grey County to help cover expenses but the operation runs mostly on volunteers.

Baker is responsible for the storeroom where donated clothing and toiletries are given to people in need. He said local people are very generous. He planned to hand out available sleeping bags Friday night.

McMann is currently couch surfing and declined to discuss his personal circumstances. But he volunteers at the centre and does Dilworth, who was homeless 2 1/2 years ago after a marital breakup left her with little more than a backpack of belongings. Now she accommodates homeless people on her couch and even in a tent and in her backyard.

Suchow said the agency always needs money and volunteers in a variety of capacities, including web design and even someone with a truck to pick up donations. But the educational part of Friday night’s event is just as important, he said.

“Unfortunately, when you’re in poverty and homelessness the people feel less of themselves.

And they really feel like they’re under the microscope,” Suchow said. And so, he said, homeless people are often apologetic when caught sleeping in stairways and bank machine enclosures.

“I think it’s because people don’t understand homelessness. And so they don’t realize this isn’t a bad person because they are homeless. That we see middle-class families in some cases have lost everything. It just happens.”

Saturday morning at the Queen’s Park bandstand along 1st Ave. W., speakers will talk about homelessness, Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP Larry Miller will make an appearance and Owen Sound Mayor Deb Haswell is scheduled to make remarks about 10 a.m.

To donate money online, go to Canadahelps.org and search Safe ‘n Sound Residence. To learn about volunteer opportunities or to arrange to donate materials, call 519-470-7233.

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Hydro rates goes up by 3%

By:  Business reporter, Published on Thu Oct 17 2013

Ontario consumers will face higher hydro bills starting Nov. 1 — with the sharpest percentage increase coming during off-peak hours.

Time of use electricity rates, which are now paid by most consumers and small businesses, are due to rise by 0.5 cents a kilowatt hour for all time periods, the Ontario Energy Board announced Thursday.

The increase affects only the energy portion of the bill; consumers pay additional charges for delivery and debt retirement, plus a fixed monthly amount.

Those who pay time-of-use rates will pay about 3 per cent more for electricity on their total bill — or $4 a month on a monthly hydro bill of 800 kilowatt hours, according to the energy board.

Consumers who buy power from energy retailers at a fixed price won’t be affected by the new prices, which will be in effect for six months.

The new price for peak power will be 12.9 cents a kilowatt hour; for mid-peak, 10.9 cents a kilowatt hour; and for off-peak, 7.2 cents a kilowatt hour.

In percentage terms, the off-peak power price jumps 7.5 per cent, while the peak price rises only 4 per cent, and mid-peak 4.8 per cent.

The board said the new prices are being driven by “more generation from sources including renewables, along with a higher market price for natural gas.”

Gas and renewables are set to play a bigger role in Ontario’s power market, as the last coal plants shut down. The province has decided not to build new nuclear reactors.

The new rates continue to shrink the gap between peak and off-peak prices.

Five years ago, the peak price was more than three times the off-peak price; today, it’s less than twice the off-peak price.

Peter Tabuns, energy critic for the New Democratic Party, said the new prices reduce the incentive for people to consume less during the peak.

“That seems to be contrary to everything they’ve been saying in the past,” he said in an interview.

“So everyone who’s switched to doing their laundry in the middle of the night is going to be paying more than they would have.

“The other thing that struck me is that the increase in the cost of electricity is an awful lot more than the rate of inflation,” he added, saying the government should do more to promote conservation.

Time of use pricing is meant to discourage short, sharp peaks in demand. To supply those peaks, the power system has to build expensive plants that operate only a few hours a day, and only during part of the year.

Conservative critic Lisa MacLeod linked the latest price increase with the cost of moving unpopular gas-fired plants out of Oakville and Mississauga, estimated by the provincial auditor-general to be $1.1 billion.

“The way this government’s mismanaged energy, someone’s got to pay for it and unfortunately they’re going to have the say: It’s the ratepayer,” she said. “There’s no way to recover this money from the Liberal Party of Ontario.”

Energy minister Bob Chiarelli avoided any direct comment when asked about the new prices.

“Since 2003, the Ontario government has made smart, strategic investments in both transmission and generation infrastructure to bring us into a healthy supply situation in order to power our homes, farms and businesses,” he said in a statement.

An official in his office said prices are tracking lower than those predicted by the Liberals’ long-term energy plan released in 2010.

Julie Girvan of the Consumers Council of Canada said in an interview she’d like to see more clarity from the energy board about the impact that time of use pricing has had on consumer behaviour and on hydro bills.

Energy board spokesman Alan Findlay said that the board has been gathering data about the impact, and will be releasing a report by the end of the year.

In setting rates, “the approach is to match the costs of supply with the appropriate time period they’re used,” he said.

The energy board says most consumers use 64 per cent of their power during off-peak hours. During the winter months, off-peak hours are all day on weekends and holidays, and on weekdays from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Peak periods are weekdays from 7 to 11 a.m., and 5 to 7 p.m.

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UWBG provides feedback to the Ministry of Labour Minimum Wage consultation process

17 October 2013

United Way of Bruce Grey has provided feedback to the Ministry of Labour Minimum Wage consultation process.http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/regional.php

A “living wage” is needed for people to avoid poverty in today’s economy. 

A recent survey carried out by the Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force for the Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Review submission heard from low-income wage earners of Bruce and Grey Counties.

The majority of people surveyed (total 82) were aged 45-65, with lived experience or living in poverty; they prioritized the provision of a “living wage” as the most important thing to reduce poverty for families and individuals. 

“We’ve heard over and over again how “precarious” employment is undermining a person’s ability to maintain their household budgets” explains United Way Executive Director Francesca Dobbyn.  “A single person working full-time at the current minimum wage of $10.25 would earn below the poverty line, add dependants, part-time work and the family is in constant financial crisis”

The United Way calculated that a living wage for the City of Owen Sound would be $13.21 and for Bruce Grey in general $15.11. (May 2012)  “The most significant difference between living in the rural counties verses in Owen Sound is access to transit, our calculations for the city only assessed for transit use, not a car” Dobbyn detailed.

The United Way of Bruce Grey supports the following recommendations: (see report for clarifying statements)

  • A minimum wage should bring workers and their families out of poverty.
  • The minimum wage should be calculated based on a 35-hour work week.
  • The minimum wage should be adjusted every year with the cost of living.
  • Wages for farm or migrant workers, who are currently exempted from Ontario’s minimum wage laws, be regulated.
  • Further engagement on the positive impact of an increase of minimum wage rate on Bruce Grey Counties’ business community be undertaken as part of the preparation for any increases.

An increase in the minimum wage will raise the standards for all Ontario employees. This increase will have a positive impact on those working at minimum wage and other low wage workers. The combined impact would mitigate income inequality and go a long way to reduce poverty in our community.