Toronto's Poverty Plan Meets the Budget Process

"Under a renewed plan to reduce poverty in Toronto, city council will consider extending library hours, expanding a TTC discount program and reducing waiting lists for recreation programs in low-income neighbourhoods," reports Jennifer Pagliaro.

Pagliaro is updating the status of the plan as the city considers the budget it will devote to all of those lofty ambitions—all part of a ten-year poverty reduction strategy approved by the city in 2015. The costs of implementing the plan still aren't clear, according to a staff report prepared to budget the plan for the next four years.

The need is obvious, however: "The city staff report says that, based on the most recent 2016 census, one in five adults and one in four children still live in poverty in Toronto, based on a federal measure for low income, and some parts of the city are particularly marginalized, especially where neighbourhoods are 'highly racialized.'"

Pagliaro's article also details of the staff report recommends spending on the poverty plan be prioritized, along with more details on the report.