Wellesley Institute

Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.

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Work and health

Mapping the impacts of COVID-19 on hotel workers in the GTA

Rebecca Cheff, Stephanie Elliott, Adwoa Afful, Erica Opoku |

Photograph of a full hotel cleaner's cart in the empty hallway of a hotel.

The hotel and accommodations sector is one of the hardest-hit industries by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hotels have continued to provide frontline, labour-intensive services to the public throughout the pandemic while also experiencing historically low occupancy levels resulting in mass layoffs. This raises occupational health and safety concerns for workers still on the job as well […]

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Thriving at work: A health-based framework for decent work

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White and yellow helmet with construction water,gloves and radio that are placed on steel house fence.

This framework is grounded in an evidence review of academic and grey literature on what constitutes a healthy job. To supplement this evidence review, five focus groups were conducted with workers across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The focus groups were used to inform the development of a Thriving Work framework which highlights the conditions […]

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Sick days: Sufficient, accessible, paid

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Warehouse worker blowing nose while working wearing safety vest

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 […]

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Supporting support workers: PSWs need increased protections during COVID-19

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Across the province, personal support workers (PSWs) have been walking out on their jobs because of unsafe working conditions created by COVID-19. Lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), infrequent COVID-19 testing, and a chronic shortage of staff have put PSWs at greater risk of contracting the virus. These issues coupled with long-standing concerns such as […]

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Who Benefits? Gaps in Medication Coverage for Ontario Workers

Rebecca Cheff, Malaika Hill and James Iveniuk |

Access to prescription medication often depends on where and how you work, rather than your need. Using the data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, we examined the size of the benefit gap between part-time and full-time workers and explored how disparities are greater for some workers in Ontario. We found that those who work […]

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Ontario Works should work for Ontarians

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Social assistance is a lifeline for Ontarians living in poverty and without it, many people would be destitute. The new plan to reform social assistance announced by the Ontario government cuts rate increases in half, leaving some of those in most need with less money to live on. The new plan also penalizes people who […]

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The Real Cost of Bill 47: Potential Health Impact of ESA Changes

Malaika Hill and Rebecca Cheff |

Wellesley Institute draws on the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) tool to identify the potential health and health equity impacts that the proposed changes made by the Making Ontario Open for Business Act (Bill 47) will make to the Employment Standards Act. This report focuses on the potential health […]

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(Not) Playing Politics: Workers’ Rights Matter for Health

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The federal government has spoken out against the “politics of cruelty” of the Ontario government’s reduction of workers’ rights. For Canadians and Ontarians who are tired of bickering politicians, this might just feel like another political fistfight. However, moving beyond the distraction of pre-election politics, we shouldn’t forget that protecting basic workers’ rights is a […]

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Supporting Healthy Lives for Accident Victims

Malaika Hill |

If you are injured in an accident in Ontario, you may face barriers in getting the supports you need. This is because the mix of private and public programs and insurance leads to variation in what you get depending on your income, employment, and how or where you were injured. Our patchwork of coverage falls […]

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Poverty vs. Participation: Thriving in the City Framework

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Cloud of icons representing city life

Recently, reports of a surge in food bank use has renewed concerns about poverty and affordability in the city. The report has prompted calls for greater investment in affordable housing and increasing the adequacy and accessibility of existing income programs for seniors and those with disabilities. Understandably, advocates and policy-makers have reacted with alarm and […]

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

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.