Plan being developed to help 66,000 Niagara residents living in poverty

With nearly 66,000 residents living in poverty, including many working at low wage jobs or on fixed incomes, Niagara Region hopes to develop a strategy to help them by the end of this year.

Social assistance and employment opportunities manager Marc Todd said 14.5 per cent of Niagara’s population has an income below the poverty line, of $22,170 for a single person or $44,340 for a family of four.

Those residents, he told members of the Region’s public health and social services committee Tuesday, are “deprived of the resources, means, choices and power necessary to maintain a basic level of living standards.”

More than one-third of them, he added, are working low-income jobs or they’re senior trying to make ends meet on pension incomes, “while just over 15,000 individuals are receiving Ontario Works and over 22,000 receiving Ontario Disability Support Program” payments.

Todd said the situation is going from bad to worse, as inflation increases the cost of food by 9.9 per cent, the cost of housing by 7.1 per cent and transportation by nine per cent.

Meanwhile, the monthly rate for Ontario Works has remained the same since 2018, at $733 for a single person or $1,250 for a family of four.

“That is five-plus years without an increase in income for the poorest of our residents,” Todd said.

People living on ODSP benefits aren’t faring much better, despite recently receiving a five per cent increase.

But it still leaves “an enormous shortfall,” leaving them far below the poverty line.

“As of right now, we’re anticipating an increase in the number of individuals who will be requiring social assistance aid, which means most people will be living at the bottom end of the poverty line and will not be able to acquire and maintain a basic level of living standards,” he said.

“The impact on society is we will have more people living in destitution.

“When we think about homelessness, poor health, increased ER (emergency department) visits, increased crime, gender-based violence, addictions, mental health — all these social ills are linked to poverty and the effects of poverty.”

Social assistance and employment opportunities director Lori Watson said the Region has reviewed poverty reduction strategies across Ontario, as well as provincial and federal plans, while also working with 43 focus groups and organizations such as Niagara Poverty Reduction Network and surveying more than 900 people, many of whom with “lived experiences.”

“What we heard is poverty is complex. Income is the primary driver and there is significant stigma and a lack of understanding about poverty and there’s a need for governments to act,” Watson said.

As a result of that work, she said, the Region will analyze data “to create actionable recommendations,” such as expanding subsidized transit for people living in poverty.

“The actions are lofty and will require the commitment of strategic leaders to ensure the plan moves forward,” Watson said.

She said a steering committee is being put together to lead those efforts that will include St. Catharines Couns. Laura Ip and Haley Bateman, who were appointed during Tuesday’s meeting.

Watson said she expects the Region’s poverty reduction strategy will be finalized by the fourth quarter of this year.

“There will be clear measurements attached to each of the action items. For example, an increase in the number of living wage employers in Niagara and, hopefully, an increase to social assistance rates,” she said.

SHARE: