The recently approved City of Toronto budget, which nearly doubled funding to the Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS), is a welcome step to better support people experiencing crisis. TCCS is a non-police-led mental health crisis response that some consider the city’s fourth emergency service. Vulnerable people experiencing a mental health crisis too often face coercive […]
Health systems and Health equity
Federal budget 2024: COVID highlights need for health equity
Wellesley Institute’s Pre-Budget Written Submission Canada has significant inequities in the social determinants of health, including housing, income, education, discrimination and access to health and social care. We also continue to see these inequities played out through the ongoing disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and long COVID on Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities, low-income […]
Continue ReadingFederal budget 2024: COVID highlights need for health equity
Research and knowledge mobilization in the GTA’s immigrant and refugee-serving sector: A needs assessment
The past few years have been a time of great change in migration research and for the immigrant and refugee-serving sector in the GTA. This needs assessment was conducted in an attempt to understand the impact of the Joint Centre for Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS), the effects of COVID-19 on research […]
Continue ReadingResearch and knowledge mobilization in the GTA’s immigrant and refugee-serving sector: A needs assessment Download PublicationNeeds-Assessment-CKP
The Real Cost Of Removing Water Fluoridation
Tooth decay is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, rates of which disproportionately impact individuals with lower income, children and seniors. Tooth decay can result in pain, tooth loss, facial disfigurement, and impaired oral functioning. Several municipalities have stopped water fluoridation and others may be considering it. This will have adverse and inequitable health […]
Continue ReadingThe Real Cost Of Removing Water Fluoridation Download PublicationThe Real Cost Of Removing Water Fluoridation
Ontario budget 2022: A more equitable future, an equitable now
Wellesley Institute research has long demonstrated significant health disparities for low-income and racialized people. Like past crises, the COVID-19 pandemic intensified these disparities. Our pandemic response did not focus on equity – on helping the Ontarians who needed help the most. We must not make continue to make the same mistake. We need to ensure […]
Continue ReadingOntario budget 2022: A more equitable future, an equitable now
Budget submission 2022: Prioritizing health equity
Canada has significant health inequities. Wellesley Institute research has shown that social factors such as housing, income, education, discrimination, and access to social supports, are vital for individual and community health as well as Canada’s economic growth. To build back better, to establish a new normal, inequities in the social determinants of health must be […]
Continue ReadingBudget submission 2022: Prioritizing health equity
Revitalization Of Social Determinants Of Health Content On WHO Website
There has been a recent revitalization of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) content on the WHO website. Since the 2011 World Conference on the Social Determinants of Health in Rio de Janeiro, there has been a revived interest on addressing the social determinants of health to achieve health equity. The newly revised website summarizes the […]
Continue ReadingRevitalization Of Social Determinants Of Health Content On WHO Website
Proof of vaccination in public settings: An equity lens
COVID-19 vaccinations reduce our risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. It is heartening that 85 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and up (75 per cent of the population) have received their first dose. With rising case counts and the highly transmissible Delta variant gaining traction in Ontario, there is increased urgency to ensure as […]
Continue ReadingProof of vaccination in public settings: An equity lens
2023 Ontario budget
In advance of last year’s provincial budget, we called for important, necessary public strategies to build a New Normal in Ontario. Our focus was around poverty, homelessness, race, healthcare, mental health and well-being, while leading the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, we have not seen the progress we hoped to on those measures. […]
What Makes Us Sick? A Report By The Canadian Medical Association
What makes us sick is more than access to and quality of health care. The social determinants of health play a significant role. Today, the Canadian Medical Association released a report titled, Health Care in Canada: What Makes Us Sick?, based on its national dialogue gathered from a series of six public town halls across […]
Continue ReadingWhat Makes Us Sick? A Report By The Canadian Medical Association