Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.
Winter is finally here and city services and non-profit agencies prepare for an influx of people seeking shelter from harsh weather. Toronto’s Cold Weather Plan lays out a number of different options for ensuring that Toronto’s most vulnerable residents are protected from the health impacts of cold weather. These include the shelter system, which operates […]
Continue ReadingWinter in Toronto is not an emergency: why treat it like one?
In Ontario, there is great concern about chronic homelessness and renewed attention to supportive housing for those living with mental illness or addictions. This in-depth report takes a broader look at supportive housing for these populations. We ask, what exists today and how did it come to be? What different approaches exist? What ideas and […]
Continue ReadingTaking Stock of Supportive Housing for Mental Health and Addictions in Ontario Download PublicationTaking Stock of Supportive Housing
The place where we grow up, spend our lives, and grow older deeply affects our health and our opportunities in life. A national housing strategy is a route to better living conditions and improved health outcomes for all Canadians. A wave of recent research has documented the essential role of housing in health, and in […]
Continue ReadingNational Affordable Housing Strategy Submission Download PublicationNational Affordable Housing Strategy Submission
This systematic review of peer-reviewed literature focuses on identifying which home-based indoor air quality interventions have shown to reduce asthma morbidity among low-income children.
Continue ReadingA Systematic Review of Indoor Air Quality Interventions and Childhood Asthma Download PublicationA Systematic Review of Indoor Air Quality
Asthma is the most common childhood chronic disease, with approximately 13 percent of children in Ontario diagnosed with the condition. Childhood asthma is associated with higher rates of disability, school absences, and poor academic performance. The household environment is a key determinant of health for those living with asthma. This paper describes how current multi-trigger, multicomponent […]
Continue ReadingA Framework for Improving Household Indoor Air Quality and Reducing Childhood Asthma Inequities Download PublicationA Framework for Improving Indoor Air Quality
Housing-neighbourhood connections are weaker when it comes to programs and strategies in Toronto. Of course many municipal activities affect neighbourhoods, from recreation programs to roads to policing. In this think piece we want to consider the relationship between housing-related programs and explicit neighbourhood initiatives. For the most part, the priorities in housing programs aren’t framed […]
Continue ReadingHousing in Neighbourhood Strategies Download PublicationHousing in Neighbourhood Strategies
People who provide and advocate for affordable housing have been positive about the 2016 federal budget because it moves Canada in the right direction for the next two years. The budget boosts federal funding for new affordable housing to about $1.1 billion a year nationwide. If we bracket the large and much-needed amounts for First […]
Continue ReadingWhat does the federal budget do for affordable housing in Ontario?
Ontario took real steps this week toward helping all of Ontario’s people to be safely and adequately housed. In the revised Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy three changes stand out that will help improve housing conditions and therefore good health outcomes. There are many things LTAHS does not address, such as new affordable housing or […]
Continue Reading3 Steps Closer to Equitable Housing in Ontario
Asthma is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst children. Compared to all other age groups, Ontario’s children had the highest rates of asthma incidence in 2013. Particularly, low-income groups in Ontario have higher rates of asthma incidence and asthma-related hospitalization than those in middle- and high-income groups. With this evidence, it […]
Continue ReadingMaking the Links between Asthma and Healthy Housing for Low-Income Children
This is National Housing Week, when advocates call for more action on affordable housing. Usually there is talk of partnerships as the way forward. Today we have an opportunity for a major renovation of Canadian housing policy, in a bold new social partnership, and a new partnership between levels of government. Too often, the talk […]
Continue ReadingNational Housing Week: Bold New Partnerships
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We would like to acknowledge this sacred land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. It has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.
Revised by the Elders Circle (Council of Aboriginal Initiatives) on November 6, 2014
In the spirit of equity and inclusion, if we can improve on this statement, please contact us. Thank you.