Ontario United Ways appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the provincial government’s 2025–2030 Poverty Reduction Strategy consultation.
This is a time for bold leadership. As Ontario faces rising costs and growing economic uncertainty, reducing poverty is not only a social imperative, but also essential to sustaining a strong workforce, supporting local economies and securing the province’s long-term economic growth and prosperity.
While the 2020–2025 Poverty Reduction Strategy made progress in connecting people to employment, rising economic pressures are driving poverty rates higher, especially among groups facing systemic barriers, including Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized communities, youth, newcomers, and single-parent households. Poverty in Ontario has increased since 2019 and is rising faster than the national average. In 2023, 1.9 million Ontarians lived below the poverty line, unable to afford the necessities for a dignified life. This was up from 1.1 million in 2020.[1] Since 2020, the number of children in poverty in Ontario has more than doubled.
A 2025-2030 Poverty Reduction Strategy – with transparent, measurable goals for reducing poverty and deep poverty, coupled with supporting indicators for housing, food insecurity, access to services, employment stability, equity of outcomes, and more – presents a critical opportunity to address the conditions that both pull people into poverty and keep them there, while strengthening the province’s social and economic infrastructure.
United Ways are ready to partner with the Government of Ontario to advance a community data-informed Poverty Reduction Strategy that delivers measurable results for residents and the province. Our joint submission provides practical, evidence-based recommendations to help people live with dignity, access safe and affordable housing, secure, stable and rewarding work, and receive the supports they need to succeed and thrive.
The Government of Ontario can meaningfully alleviate poverty and build the social and economic infrastructure needed for the future prosperity of the province by:
- Laying the groundwork for financial security, good jobs and strong local economies
- Getting people housed and keeping them housed by expanding non-market affordable housing, investing in supportive housing, and strengthening renter and tenant protections
- Ensuring the sustainability of Ontario’s community services infrastructure to continue delivering the critical services that meet the unique needs of communities across the province