Toronto continues to suffer under extreme heat – along with many other places throughout North America. The very high temperatures, combined with humidity, are not merely uncomfortable, but deadly for the health of individual people and the population health of the entire community. Toronto Public Health has useful information on extreme heat, including information on […]
Archives for 2012
Policy Impact on Aboriginal Housing in Toronto
The Wellesley Institute’s Director of Housing and Innovation, Michael Shapcott, delivered a presentation on gaining policy impact on complex urban issues, using Aboriginal housing in Toronto as a case study, for a public policy class at Seneca College on July 4. Policy Impact on Aboriginal Housing in Toronto View more presentations from Wellesley Institute.
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New WI research underlines health, equity and social benefits of scattered site housing
An all-day ‘ideas forum’ sponsored by the City of Toronto on July 3 will take a detailed look at plans for the sell-off of more than 600 of Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s affordable homes. A new research paper by Wellesley Institute analyst Steve Barnes and a discussion paper from Wellesley Institute Director of Housing and […]
POWER: A Vital Ingredient for Equity-Driven Health Reform
The POWER (Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report) study has been an amazing source of data and evidence on population health, the persistent and damaging nature of health inequities and their underlying social determinants of health. But it has also played a vital role in identifying key directions and opportunities for innovation and […]
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The real costs of cutting refugee health benefits are coming
Canada is now just a few days away from cutting health benefits for refugees. The cuts will substantially reduce, and in some cases completely eliminate, access to health care for refugees. The opposition to these cuts amongst health providers has been comprehensive. Dozens of leading professional groups have spoken out against these cuts, including the Canadian […]
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Happy Pride II: Ensuring Health Equity For LGBTQ Communities
The inequitable health outcomes and the stigma, discrimination and other barriers to access to health faced by LGBTQ communities have been well documented. In celebrating Pride, we can also celebrate the enormous work done to address these inequities: from the pioneering HIV/AIDS movement that transformed not just the face of a crucial disease, but how […]
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Driving Health Equity into Action: Lessons from Europe
While high-level commitment to health equity is increasingly widespread and Ontario’s Excellent Care For All Act enshrines equity and population health as key principles of a high quality system, embedding equity into policy and service delivery is a continuing challenge. Luckily a wide range of policy and program planning tools and frameworks are being developed […]
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Happy Pride Week!
Yesterday the Pride flag was raised at city hall to kick off pride week 2012 here in Toronto. City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam reminded us yesterday that in addition to being a cultural event, Pride Week is part of a global human rights movement. Last week also brought long overdue amendments to the Ontario Human Rights […]
Working towards equality in Toronto
Toronto City Hall’s Council Chambers was the site for a public forum on June 26th sponsored by economicinequality.ca that brought together a variety of experts from a range of social policy fields including taxation, childcare, employment and income support. The Wellesley Institute’s Director of Housing and Innovation, Michael Shapcott, gave a presentation on housing and inequality. His presentation […]
Housing and Inequality
Toronto City Hall’s Council Chambers was the site for a public forum on June 26th sponsored by economicinequality.ca that brought together a variety of experts from a range of social policy fields including taxation, childcare, employment and income support. The Wellesley Institute’s Director of Housing and Innovation, Michael Shapcott, gave a presentation on housing and inequality. Housing and […]