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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Thriving in the City

Thriving in the City: What does it cost to have a healthy retirement?

Nazeefah Laher, Nishi Kumar, Seong-gee Um, Kwame McKenzie |

As part of the Wellesley Institute Thriving in the City suite of work, A Framework for Income and Health in Retirement  highlighted the many facets of good health for older adults: eating healthy foods and staying physically active, connecting with family and friends, continuing to learn new skills, contributing to ones’ community, and managing emerging […]

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Thriving in the City: A Framework for Income and Health in Retirement

Seong-gee Um, Nishi Kumar, Nazeefah Laher, Sukhmeet Singh, Arman Hamidian, Kwame Mckenzie |

Wellesley Institute’s Thriving in the City framework is a valuable tool for understanding what resources an individual needs to live a healthy life and assessing how the current policy environment meets these needs. The previous report focused on working-age adults (25-40 years old), this report focuses on the needs of retired older adults (65-74 years old) […]

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Building a Healthy Income Security System

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Image of a person walking up stairs as a metaphor for acheivment

The recently released Final Report of the Income Security Working Group provides a promising roadmap to a better way. The work that this group has done is excellent. This is an essential companion piece to other efforts of the government to reduce poverty, such as The Fair Workplaces Act and the proposed $15 minimum wage. […]

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Poverty vs. Participation: Thriving in the City Framework

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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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Thriving in the City: What does it cost?

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The ability to thrive involves more than just physical health. Social and economic needs are important facets of health and well-being that are often overlooked in current policy approaches. Connecting with ones’ community and family, investing in education and employment, and building financial security are essential for achieving good health across the life course. The collective […]

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What does it cost to “thrive” in the GTA?

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MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release October 3, 2017 Re: What does it cost to “thrive” in the City of Toronto?   TORONTO – A new study by Wellesley Institute asks, “What does it cost to Thrive in the GTA?” Thriving in the City provides an evidence-based framework that defines individuals’ needs across physical, mental, social, […]

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Thriving in the City: A Framework for Income and Health

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This paper offers a framework to measure thriving in the city, a measure that reflects the physical, mental, and social dimensions of health. The case for income-related health disparities has been made clear. Meeting a basic standard of living, through providing enough income for housing, food, and transit, will lift people out of poverty but […]

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

We would like to acknowledge this sacred land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. It has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.

Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.

Revised by the Elders Circle (Council of Aboriginal Initiatives) on November 6, 2014

In the spirit of equity and inclusion, if we can improve on this statement, please contact us. Thank you.