Canada’s non-profit sector plays a vital role in the health of individuals and the entire community (see, for instance, the Wellesley Institute paper Reducing Disparities and Improving Population Health: The role of a vibrant community sector), so there is a great deal of interest in the role of social finance, including social impact bonds, in strengthening […]
Stifling public health leadership is bad for Toronto’s health
Dynamic public health leadership in Toronto over the past 100 years has been a critical factor in creating a healthier and more equitable city. Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health has recently been the target of political and personal attacks for his evidence-based research and policy advice on the public health dimensions of traffic safety. The specifics of those […]
Continue ReadingStifling public health leadership is bad for Toronto’s health
Housing insecurity and homelessness set to rise in Toronto as funding cut for homelessness prevention and housing programs
Big cuts to homelessness prevention and housing programs will lead to an increase in housing insecurity and homelessness in Toronto. On October 5, the Wellesley Institute reported on $22 million in cuts to Toronto housing and homelessness programs – mainly due to cuts from the provincial government. The Toronto Star, in a front page story on October 18, […]
Toronto affordable housing wait list sets yet another new record – underlining need to preserve TCHC homes
Toronto’s affordable housing wait list set a new record in September – 86,892 households, or a total of 160,520 women, men and children. The centralized wait list has set a new record every month since the recession of 2008. The September 2012 number is a staggering 26% increase from the 68,805 households on the wait list in […]
Canada has failed to meet its international housing commitments
Canada’s federal government has failed to meet the housing commitments that it made to the United Nation’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of 2009. That’s a key observation in the Wellesley Institute’s submission to the upcoming United Nation’s review of Canada’s international human rights obligations, set for early in 2013. Canada has signed the International Covenant […]
Continue ReadingCanada has failed to meet its international housing commitments
Big win for TCHC tenants and for all of Toronto: Affordable homes saved!
Toronto City Council’s Executive Committee voted unanimously on October 9 to back a plan by Councillor Ana Bailao’s special housing working group to preserve most of Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s affordable single family homes. The Bailao committee recommends that 619 homes be saved and proposes the sell-off of only 55 homes. It sets out a […]
Continue ReadingBig win for TCHC tenants and for all of Toronto: Affordable homes saved!
Homeless and precariously housed Torontonians targeted in $22 million cuts to vital services
The Ontario government is cutting $21 million from provincial homelessness prevention funding given to the City of Toronto as of January 1, 2013. Details about the massive 16% cut in provincial funding is set out in a report that will be considered by Toronto City Council’s Executive Committee on Tuesday. When the provincial government announced its Long-Term Affordable […]
Toronto affordable housing sets yet another all-time record
Toronto’s affordable housing wait list hit another new record in August with 86,604 households on the full list – up 27% from the 68,369 households in August of 2011. Toronto’s affordable housing wait list includes 159,965 women, men and children with low incomes who are lining up for a space in the 10% of city housing […]
Continue ReadingToronto affordable housing sets yet another all-time record
Good news: New report charts sustainable future for TCHC affordable homes
Putting People First – the final report of Councilor Ana Bailao’s affordable housing working group – puts the brakes on plans for a massive sell-off of Toronto Community Housing Corporation’s affordable homes and, instead, sets out a practical set of recommendations to preserve and enhance virtually all of the housing. Last year, after an unprecedented purge […]
Continue ReadingGood news: New report charts sustainable future for TCHC affordable homes
Remembering Abner William ‘Bill’ Buss: Let’s all demand an end to homelessness
Earlier today, I joined with others for the funeral service of Abner William ‘Bill’ Buss, the 71-year-old man who died alone in a dark crawl space of an abandoned building near Parliament and Shuter in June. While the official cause of death was ‘natural causes’, there was nothing natural about the final days of Bill Buss. […]
Continue ReadingRemembering Abner William ‘Bill’ Buss: Let’s all demand an end to homelessness