Wellesley Institute is publishing a series examining how mayoral candidates can show leadership and deliver Toronto the Bold—a city that takes wellness, health, and equity seriously to build a better future for every Torontonian. The first in the series examined housing. Now, we’re examining how candidates can improve health equity through Toronto’s public transit system. […]
Toronto mayoral election series: Housing
Wellesley Institute is publishing a series examining how mayoral candidates can show leadership and deliver Toronto the Bold—a city that takes wellness, health and equity seriously to build a better future for every Torontonian, and that takes the lead on doing so. First, we examine housing, an issue we expect candidates will spend a great […]
Toronto mayoral election series
As Canada’s largest city, Toronto has enormous promise and possibility—and enormous challenges. Torontonians do not need “Toronto the Good” or “Toronto the Good Enough.” What we need from our leaders is a vision for Toronto the Bold: a city that builds a better future for every Torontonian. A city that leads rather than follows and […]
Canada needs a health equity plan: 2023 federal budget submission
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 health, community health, and Canada’s economic growth. To build back better, to establish a new normal, inequities in the social determinants of health are our most important […]
Continue ReadingCanada needs a health equity plan: 2023 federal budget submission
Toronto Housing Action Plan: Who will it be for?
Toronto has significant, and worsening, health inequities. Wellesley Institute research shows that social factors such as housing, income, education, and access to social supports, are vital for individual and community health as well as Canada’s economic growth. Eliminating inequities in the social determinants of health must be our priority. We can build a future in […]
Continue ReadingToronto Housing Action Plan: Who will it be for?
Moving forward on a national health data system
Canada’s federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments agree that we need to rebuild and improve our health systems. The dream of access to high quality comprehensive effective health systems is alive and well in Canada, but only for the minority. Today, timely preventative care, barrier-free access to necessary tests, short surgery wait times and after […]
Continue ReadingMoving forward on a national health data system
Policy Brief: Ontario Portable Benefits Program
The Wellesley Institute is a non-profit and non-partisan institute that works on research and policy to improve health and health equity across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This includes using research to inform policy development to ensure health is advanced and health and wellness are shared equally by all. Our work has shown that a […]
Continue ReadingPolicy Brief: Ontario Portable Benefits Program
Policy position: Housing
We can build a future in which everyone in the Greater Toronto Area [GTA] has the opportunities and resources they need to have a healthy home. Healthy housing must be affordable, as people spending more than 30% of their income on housing means significant stress on their resources. Healthy housing must also be safe, of […]
Resilience through equitable action
Ontario may be turning the corner with the COVID-19 Omicron variant, but we have seen this virus mutate and we could face another challenge. As we approach a potential lull this spring and summer, we must focus on actions government can take to build our resilience as a society that will save lives, decrease the toll […]
It’s time for trust and transparency
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Ontario in 2020, it was an emergency. It was a poorly understood and potentially catastrophic threat and we accepted that governments needed the latitude to use all of their powers to help us survive. We generally went along with what was needed from us. We understood that in such a […]