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, […]
Health systems and Health equity
A Black Health Plan for Ontario
The Black Health Plan was developed jointly by Ontario Health, the Wellesley Institute and the Black Health Alliance as a call to action to reduce disparities and advance equity in Ontario. It provides a template to inform planning and action for other populations facing systemic disadvantages. The plan is built along three pillars: the development […]
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Inequities in COVID-19 infection and related hospitalizations and deaths
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
Federal Budget 2024: Positive steps, but still no targets
This year’s proposed federal budget takes some important steps forward on issues that are crucial to population health and health equity. In particular, we acknowledge that the government proposes to increase its investments in affordable housing and ending homelessness and is introducing funding for the Canada Disability Benefit, which will provide assistance to low-income persons […]
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Encouraging vaccinations through equitable strategies
A range of strategies have been suggested to increase vaccination rates – from free donuts and lotteries to employment requirements and vaccine certificates. Wellesley Institute has conducted a rapid review of effectiveness evidence and an analysis of unintended impacts on equity-seeking groups of eleven strategies to determine which strategies could meaningfully increase vaccination rates and […]
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Equity-Centered Community Engagement Strategy
To access this project, please visit https://making-space.city/
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COVID-19 and racialized communities: Impacts on mental health
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant inequities in terms of health and social outcomes, and magnified stressors such as increased risk of exposure to and illness from COVID-19, job loss, and housing and food insecurity. These stressors have been particularly felt by already marginalized groups, including those from racialized communities, and there is evidence […]
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The delayed response to long COVID: Prioritizing equity
We are in the midst of a 7th wave of COVID-19. We are seeing infections, hospitalizations and deaths rise. Our communities, services and economy are strained because of burnout and the number of people off sick. But these early impacts are not the final story. We now know that a portion of people who […]
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