The Wellesley Institute, along with researchers, representatives from Community Health Centres (CHCs), Toronto Public Health, Women’s College, Association of Ontario Midwives, and frontline physicians and midwives were at City Hall yesterday to address the Toronto Board of Health on a Toronto Public Health report on medically uninsured residents. The tone of the meeting was set […]
Immigrant and newcomer health
Driving Health Equity for Refugee and Immigrant Populations: Policy Actions Needed
I was speaking at a fascinating conference in Montreal. The seminar was reporting on the final stages of a comprehensive multi-site research project on the factors that shape the health of refugee and immigrant children and families, their access to health care and overall health status. The research is making a major contribution in documenting […]
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Rethinking Refugee Rights on Refugee Rights Day
April 4th is the anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision in 1985: Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration. The Singh decision recognized that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protected the fundamental rights of refugees. International migrants make up approximately 3% of the world population (191 million in 2005). The […]
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“Sanctuary City” means a healthier Toronto for everyone
By David Leacock, Policy and Research Intern at the Wellesley Institute Yesterday Toronto City Council took an important step toward improving access to the city for undocumented workers. The motion, approved by an overwhelming majority 37-3, affirmed a recommendation from the Community Development and Recreation Committee for the City to explore opportunities to enhance the […]
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A Healthier Toronto: Enhancing Access To City Services For Undocumented Workers
Recent changes in federal immigration policy will increase the number of undocumented workers in Toronto. Undocumented workers face extreme health risks. These workers are without access to any rights to legislated minimum standards with respect to employment terms and conditions, or health and safety. Like all who are undocumented, they too are excluded from systems […]
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New Federal Changes to Refugee Health Care Make a Bad Situation Far Worse
The federal government today released its list of Designated Countries of Origin The dangerous health impact will be that refugee claimants from these countries considered ‘safe’ will be denied almost all healthcare. This will make a harshly inequitable health situation even worse. This list policy is fundamentally flawed and dishonest. The evidence is enormous and […]
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Dealing with the impacts of refugee health cuts
The health impacts of the federal government’s decision to cut health benefits to many refugees are becoming increasingly apparent. In our analysis, conducted prior to the cuts being implemented, we found that the changes to the Interim Federal Health Program would result in the severe reduction or elimination of health care services for refugees who […]
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New report by Metcalf Foundation sheds light on migrant workers legislation in Canada
Yesterday, the Metcalf Foundation released an insightful report on the legislation governing migrant workers in Canada. The report’s starting point is that legal regulation of work can either create conditions of decent work and security or conditions of insecurity and exploitation. The report’s author, Fay Faraday, breaks the labour migration cycle into 6 steps from […]
Health Equity Impact Assessment as a Policy Tool
The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) and the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy publish a Public Policy and Health Newsletter. As with previous issues, the current newsletter provides a great deal of information on health impact assessment, including the just completed international conference on HIA. It also links to a […]
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Actions to address the impact of cuts to refugee health benefits
As we have previously blogged, the federal government recently cut health benefits for many refugees. In The Real Cost of Cutting Refugee Health Benefits, the Wellesley Institute argued that these cuts would have an unfair and inequitable impact on some of the most vulnerable people in Canada. It is totally predictable that the costs for […]
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