Cities Reducing Poverty Policy Digest: September 2019

Welcome to the September 2019 edition of the Cities Reducing Poverty Policy Digest, which aims to provide you with timely poverty-related policy updates and resources from across Canada.

Here are some of our September policy highlights:

• Opportunity for All marks its first-year anniversary, see the update to Canada's Poverty Reduction Strategy.
• Statistics Canada launches its Dimensions of Poverty Hub: a national online platform including a dashboard of poverty indicators.
• Federal Election is officially underway, Canadians head to polls on October 21st. 

National Policy Updates:

• Statistics Canada launches its Dimensions of Poverty Hub
• Canada gets a long called for National Food Policy and is recruiting a multi-sector Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council to help roll it out
• 10 Questions we should be asking all leaders about in the federal election, include do they care about poverty and what will they do about it in the long-term?
• Increased child benefit means more money for middle class Canadians
• Survey says Canadians wary and embarrassed about seeking debt relief
• A Prescription for Canada: Achieving Pharmacare for All Final Report is released by the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare
• Canada should bring back its long lost federal minimum wage
• Canadian government makes post-secondary school more affordable and accessible
• Anti-poverty group calls for cheaper internet access for low- and middle-income Canadians
• Ottawa hits interim poverty reduction target ahead of schedule
• Canadian environmental charities are afraid to talk about climate change
• Progress on Canada's Poverty Reduction Strategy shows it’s succeeding in growing the middle class
• Canadian doctor fights poverty with prescribing money
• Income-gap figures don’t speak to deepening poverty
• The official poverty line currently lowballs housing costs, reported by Canadians who completed the survey

Updates by Province and Territory:

Alberta:

• The Alberta government has appointed a diverse expert panel to assess Alberta's minimum wage
• 26 recommendations for government to address province’s spending

British Columbia:

• Increased access for adult learners through investments in Community Adult Literacy Programming in over 80 communities
• New Early Childhood Educator spaces provide more jobs and much needed relief for childcare

Manitoba:

• Progressive Conservatives win another majority government in September 10th election
• All parties except PCs pitched some form of basic income for Manitobans living with disabilities in the run-up to the election
• University of Manitoba to host United Nations Sustainable Development Goals youth training day

New Brunswick:

• Brenda Murphy, long-time women's advocate and leader in poverty-reduction, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick
• Scott MacAfee, Co-ordinator of the Community Inclusion Networks at the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation, was recently appointed chairperson of the National Advisory Council on Poverty

Newfoundland and Labrador:

• Debate over $15/hour minimum wage ramps up in Newfoundland and Labrador; is the minimum wage proposal flawed?
• St John’s women to launch Seniors Anti-Poverty Lobby 

Nova Scotia:

• Nova Scotia and the Federal Government enter a 10-year agreement to invest $394.2M to protect, renew, and expand social and community housing, as well as a commitment to design a Canada Housing Benefit for the province.
• The province now has its first inclusive education policy to support students: with new guidelines for standards in schools and classrooms, an autism strategy and development of a student support worker program for African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaw students.
• A new provincial grant will help communities attract and retain doctors

Northwest Territories:

• NWT Elections in October: Who's running and what they have to say
• Policies that can reduce poverty in Canada's North

Nunavut:

• Carbon Tax and the new Nunavut Carbon Rebate
• New Nunavut-developed early childhood education resources
• This October, all Nunavut communities will go to the polls to elect mayors, municipal councils and district education authorities

Ontario:

• Ontario is cancelling the Transition Child Benefit
• An analysis of local impacts of Ontario education cuts, board-by-board
• Toronto school board helping to end period poverty by providing free menstrual products to students
• Ontario is investing in rural and northern and public transit infrastructure to support more jobs
• Northern rural Ontario solutions to food security, financial services, and more: co-ops

Prince Edward Island:

• P.E.I. added 1000 jobs in July

Québec:

• Two new 5-year agreements between the Government of Canada and Government of Quebec will invest $175M to implement Canada’s Homelessness Strategy in the province
• Quebec is simplifying access to services for individuals by co-locating Service Quebec with the local employment centre in L'Islet
• Municipal Week was hosted in Quebec from September 8-14th, promoting municipal democracy and organization and to raise the awareness of Quebecers of the importance of civic engagement #SemaineMunicipalité2019
• Quebec boasts lower unemployment rate in August 2019, with an increase of both full-time and part-time jobs.

Saskatchewan:

• Year-over-year job growth continues to rise with 13,000 jobs created in the past year
• Government of Saskatchewan continues to provide intensive needs supports for students and early learners Regina

Yukon Territory:

• Government of Canada launches collaborative Arctic and Northern Policy Framework, co-developed with Indigenous, territorial and provincial partners

The Latest Policy Resources and Perspectives:

• Maytree: Cancelling the transition child benefit is bad policy
  • Applications open for Maytree Policy School
• CCPA: Considering social equity in Canada’s shift to a zero-carbon economy
  • Unaccommodating: Rental Wage in Canada Report
• Angus Reid: Cost of aging and caregiving in Canada includes access to health care and pharmacare in this series