Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.
Affordable child care is crucial for the health and well-being of families. Wellesley Institute’s Thriving in the City for families: A framework for income and health report, which identifies the goods, resources, and services a Greater Toronto Area (GTA) family with young children needs to live a healthy life, found that the cost of child […]
Continue Reading$10-a-day child care would move GTA families closer to a thriving wage
Our current approach to medication, dental care, and extended health coverage is leaving low-income, working-age Canadians behind – in particular racialized, immigrant, and female workers who face significant barriers to good jobs with benefits. With government programs (of varying levels of adequacy) targeted primarily at seniors, children from low-income families, and adults receiving social assistance, […]
The old normal Loneliness is in the news again. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, people have talking about feeling disconnected from others. However, it is worth remembering that being alone is a recurring topic in our modern age,5–7 famously described more than twenty years ago by Robert Putnam as a decline in society’s social capital. A […]
COVID-19 vaccinations reduce our risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. It is heartening that 85 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and up (75 per cent of the population) have received their first dose. With rising case counts and the highly transmissible Delta variant gaining traction in Ontario, there is increased urgency to ensure as […]
Continue ReadingProof of vaccination in public settings: An equity lens
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 and community health as well as Canada’s economic growth. To build back better, to establish a new normal, inequities in the social determinants of health must be […]
Continue ReadingBudget Submission 2022: Prioritizing health equity
The old normal The evidence is accumulating. Our seniors’ care system is not keeping up with the growing diversity of Canada. It has failed to provide equitable access to care that is culturally and linguistically appropriate. Many long-term care (LTC) homes that cater to specific cultural or religious groups have extremely long waitlists across the […]
Continue ReadingA new normal for seniors’ care: A focus on diversity and health equity
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 […]
The recent federal budget was an opportunity to make significant progress to establish a new normal to create a stronger, more equitable Canada. Racism, poverty, inadequate and unaffordable housing, and scarce mental health resources are all pre-existing pandemics that put equity-seeking groups at greater risk than others. This budget correctly rejects the idea that a […]
The pandemic and the associated recession provide an opportunity for us to reconsider the ‘normal’ state of affairs. Now is the time to envision a bold new normal and learn from the failures of the previous status quo. The old normal In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated number of Canadians […]
Continue ReadingA new normal for ending homelessness: Collective action towards adequate support
As we live through an unprecedented crisis, the upcoming Federal Budget and future COVID-19 recovery plans must establish a new normal to create a stronger, more equitable Canada. To establish this new normal, we have to start by first recognizing that many other pandemics – including racism, poverty, inadequate and unaffordable housing, and scarce mental […]
Continue ReadingFederal Budget 2021: Opportunity for an equitable recovery
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.