Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.
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 […]
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 […]
Developed in partnership with Ontario Health, this report examines race-based data collected between June 26, 2020 and April 21, 2021, by Ontario public health units. The data show that COVID-19’s impact has been highly racialized. The analysis found that racialized populations had 1.2- to 7.1-fold higher rates of COVID-19 infection compared with white Ontarians. The […]
Continue ReadingTracking COVID-19 through race-based data Download PublicationTracking COVID 19 Through Race Based Data
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a disproportionate toll on Canada’s most vulnerable populations. With growing evidence on the inequitable impacts of COVID-19 across Canada, it is reasonable to assume that similar impacts have occurred, and will continue to occur, amongst the diverse population groups of Canadians living and working in long-term care settings. Unfortunately, due […]
Continue ReadingLeaving No One Behind in Long-Term Care: Enhancing Socio-Demographic Data Collection in Long-Term Care Settings Download PublicationLeaving No One Behind
Throughout the pandemic, researchers working in various regions have shown that COVID-19 infection rates are disproportionately higher for racialized and low-income persons. In July, and November of 2020, data from Toronto Public Health showed that approximately 80 per cent of new COVID-19 cases in Toronto were among racialized persons, even though they make up only […]
Continue ReadingInequities in COVID-19 infection and related hospitalizations & deaths Download PublicationInequities over time in COVID19 infection and related hospitalizations and deaths
In mid-April, Wellesley Institute reported that areas in Ontario with higher rates of COVID-19 had lower rates of vaccination. The original report also documented inequities by racial composition of an area: neighbourhoods that had a higher per cent of Black, South Asian, Southeast Asian, or Latino populations had lower rates of vaccination, even after taking […]
Continue ReadingPersisting inequities in second doses of COVID-19 vaccines? Download PublicationPersisting inequities in second doses of COVID19 vaccines
In mid-April, Wellesley Institute reported that areas in Ontario with higher rates of COVID-19 had lower rates of vaccination, and that this pattern was greatest in the City of Toronto. Since the publication of that report, a follow-up bulletin described a movement towards greater equity, where the mismatch between vaccination rates and COVID-19 infection rates […]
Continue ReadingMonitoring progress: Race and vaccine equity Download PublicationMonitoring progress Race and vaccine equity
Wellesley Institute reported that areas in Ontario with higher rates of COVID-19 tend to have lower rates of vaccination, and that this pattern is greatest in the City of Toronto. Since the publication of that analysis, the Province of Ontario has asked public health units to increase vaccination efforts in COVID-19 “hot spots”; the 114 […]
Continue ReadingHas the advice to increase vaccination in hot spots improved equity in Ontario? Download PublicationVaccination hot spot strategy
The COVID-19 virus is clever. Most people who spread COVID-19 do not know that they have it. They have no symptoms at all, they are early in their illness and have mild symptoms, or they are getting better and do not know their illness was COVID-19. If we want to stop the spread, we have […]
People who identified as Arab, Middle Eastern, West Asian, Latin American, South East Asian or Black were 6-9 times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than the White population according to new figures from Toronto Public Health covering the period from mid-May to July. Similar results were reported from Peel Regional Public Health Unit […]
We wish to acknowledge this land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
Revised by the Ceremonial Committee at the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Initiatives in April 2021.