1. Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change
“Greater Trouble in Greater Toronto – Child poverty in the GTA” ( Report
- Children’s Aid Society of Toronto - December 2008 )
“Poverty is racialized, that is, disproportionate to people of colour who are
Canadian-born and newcomers. Among broad ethno-racial groups in the Toronto
CMA, the 2000 LICO-Before Tax (BT) rates of child poverty were about –
• One child in ten in low income among global European groups;
• One child in five for East Asian groups;
• One child in four for Aboriginal, South Asian, Caribbean, South & Central
American groups;
• One child in three for children of Arab and West Asian groups; and
• One child in two for children of African groups.”
“Rates of LICO-BT family poverty among two-parent families in 2000 range from
between 5% for European groups to 29% for Arabic and West Asian groups. Rates of
family poverty among female lone-parent families range from between 26% for European
groups and 65% for African groups.”
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Alvin Curling-Roy McMurtry - “The Review of the Roots of Youth
Violence” ( Report - November 2008 )
“The very serious problems being encountered in neighbourhoods characterized by
severe, concentrated and growing disadvantage are not being addressed because Ontario
has not placed an adequate focus on these concentrations of disadvantage despite the very
serious threat they pose to the province’s social fabric. Racism is becoming a more
serious and entrenched problem than it was in the past because Ontario is not
dealing with it.” ( Volume 2 – page 3 )
“Deep concerns about this sad state of affairs pervaded our consultations. We were taken
aback by the extent to which racism is alive & well and wreaking its deeply harmful
effects on Ontarians and on the very fabric of this province.” ( Volume 2 – page 8 )
“The province must articulate more effectively its commitment to anti-racism and
should address this urgent issue as a major priority…” ( Volume 2 – page 36 )
“To lay the foundation for the extensive action required to address this growing problem,
the Province should proceed immediately to develop the methodology for the
collection of race-based data in all key domains” ( Volume 2 – page 41 )

2. “Ontario’s urban and suburban schools” ( Report - People for Education –
June 2008 )
“Research continues to show a disproportionate drop-out rate among certain
racialized communities, and students continue to find that curriculum does not
reflect their reality, their heritage or their diversity. Teachers, principals, support
staff and even members of school councils continue to be predominantly white, and
there continue to be wide disparities among boards and schools in how they address
issues of race, exclusion and inequity.” ( page 17 )
“The public education system exists to ensure that every student has an equitable chance
for success. But for many students that is not the reality.” ( page 14 )
“Students who speak Portuguese, Spanish and Somali and students from English-
speaking Caribbean and East African countries have the highest drop-out rates in the
Toronto DSB.” ( Editor – close to 40% and higher for each group – page 14 & 16 )
“Ontario’s urban and suburban schools – a prescription for change”
(follow-up recommendation Report – People for Education – January 2009)
“….it is up to the provincial government to take the lead – by providing clear goals, by
supporting integrated policies & by fostering holistic thinking about appropriate services
and adequate supports to ensure equitable outcomes for families, children and youth.”
“We recommend –
- that the province develop a framework for the integration of services for families,
children and youth……..It should include a funding mechanism and a range of outcome
measures for student success, student and community engagement, community health,
integration of services and equity of outcomes.” ( page 5 )
- “that social services funding be adjusted to address changes in demographics in urban
and suburban areas and to recognize the interrelation between social services and
education outcomes.” ( page 5 )
- “that the province develop a provincial equity & anti-racism framework that includes
adequate support for local implementation” ( page 5 )
- “that elementary and secondary curriculum is reviewed to ensure that it is….framed
within an equity and social justice lens……..”( page 5 )
- “that education funding for programs and services to mitigate demographic pressures on
students….be separated from general student success funding and updated to reflect
current demographics. After a review of effective programs, the funding should be
provided in a new Equity in Education Grant……..” ( page 5 )
- “that school boards, working within the context of a provincial equity framework,
develop local equity, anti-racism and employment policies.” ( page 6 )
- “that school boards implement employment equity policies to enable schools to hire
staff who reflect the diversity of their communities.” ( page 9 )
- “that faculties of education work to ensure that more of our future teachers reflect
the diversity of our student body…..” ( page 9 )

3. “Tackling Poverty in Hamilton” ( Fact Sheet + May 2008 Statistical Update
- Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction )
“20% of Hamilton’s residents are living in poverty. Rates are even higher for children
under 14 (24%), seniors age 65 and older (24%), the Aboriginal community (37%), and
recent immigrants (50%). 2006 Statistics Canada Data – 18.1% of Hamilton’s residents
are living in poverty”
“Percentage of each group that lives in poverty in Hamilton:
* 44 per cent of aboriginals
* 37 per cent of visible minorities
* 52 per cent of recent immigrants
* 30 per cent of people with disabilities”
“The Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and our community partners
have committed to analyze the information released by Statistics Canada to
understand the impact on various groups including children and youth, seniors, lone
parent families, and members of the diverse and Aboriginal communities.”
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“The Intercase Study on Inclusion and Exclusion of Ottawa’s Visible and
Ethnic Minority Residents” ( Report - The Social Planning Council of
Ottawa – June 2008 )
“A clear theme which emerges is the racialization of economic exclusion in Ottawa,
particularly poverty. We have seen above that both the processes and outcomes of
exclusion result in polarization of economic benefits along colour lines. Visible
minority citizens represent almost one half of Ottawa’s poor citizens, which is grossly
disproportionate to their numbers in the general population.” ( page 76 )
“The exacerbation of economic exclusion along race lines is an extremely divisive
dynamic, and one which will not be resolved without an anti-racist approach. There
is a pressing need to ensure that a critical race analysis is used when developing
strategies to address economic exclusion in Ottawa.” ( page 77 )
“In 2001, visible minority residents were four times more likely to live with low
incomes than non visible minority citizens (29.1% compared to 7.8%). Visible
minority residents were twice as likely to be unemployed as non visible minority
residents. Over half of all visible minorities lived on incomes under $20,000. The
median income of visible minorities was only 62% of the median income of non visible
minorities in Ottawa…….Labour market exclusion of visible minority residents
compared to non visible minority residents is a key part of economic exclusion,
identified by a significantly higher rate of unemployment (10.8% against 4.8%),
significant under-employment and job segregation, and less representation in
management (9.1% compared to 14.6%).” ( page 11 )

4. Summary of Economic Exclusion of Visible Minority and Non-Visible Minority
Residents in Ottawa, 2000
All Visible Minorities Non-Visible Minorities
Median income $19,422 $31,437
Unemployment rate 10.80% 4.80%
% of population with income
below $20,000 55% 36.50%
% of population living below
the low income cut-off 29.10% 7.80%
Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census
Proportion of Visible Minority Groups Living in Poor Neighbourhoods ( page 121 )
Proportion of Visible Minority Groups living in poor
neighbourhoods, Ottawa, 2000
Black 66.7%
Latin American 62.2%
Southeast Asian 61.8%
Arab 61.5%
West Asian 60.7%
Chinese 56.1%
All Visible Minority 55.5%
VM (not included elsewhere) 54.1%
Filipino 47.3%
South Asian 41.7%
Korean 38.4%
Japanese 35.8%
Non Visible Minority 32.8%
% population
Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census © 2007, Social Planning Council of Ottaw a, all rights reserved
“Less than one-third (32.8%) of non visible minority residents live in poor
neighbourhoods. For six visible minority groups in Ottawa, over 50% of their members
live in high poverty or very high poverty neighbourhoods, specifically 66.7% of the
Black group, 62.2% of the Latin American group, 61.8% of the Southeast Asian group,
61.5% of the Arab group, 60.7% of the West Asian group and 56.1% of the Chinese
group.” ( page 15 )

5. “The Unequal City : Income and Health Inequalities in Toronto - 2008”
( Report - Toronto Public Health - October 2008 )
“While the focus in this report is on income, health inequalities are also associated
with other social determinants such as racialization, immigration and settlement
status, and education. These determinants are linked to and interact with income to
influence health. Evidence showing the racialization of poverty in Toronto is one
important example of other related factors. ( page 1 )
“Recommendations:
1. The Medical Officer of Health report regularly to the Board of Health on key
health inequality indicators for the City of Toronto;
2. The Medical Officer of Health consult with community partners and the Board of
Health to incorporate appropriate strategies to reduce health inequalities in the next
Toronto Public Health Strategic Plan (2010-2014) and annual service plans, including
measures to monitor progress on reducing health inequalities;
3. The Toronto Board of Health send this report to the Premier of Ontario and strongly
urge the government to maintain its stated commitment to poverty reduction in Ontario as
a public health measure; and
4. The Medical Officer of Health review Toronto Public Health data collection practices
and collaborate with partners to strengthen the monitoring of the impact of social
determinants on health, including racialization, immigration and settlement status,
education and income.” ( page 2 )
• “76% of Toronto children living in low-income households belong to a “visible
minority” group (Statistics Canada definition);
• Higher than average poverty rates exist among children under 18 years of age
for certain ethno-cultural groups, for example: 47.5% of people of African
background; 35.7% Arab and West Asian ; 29.1% Caribbean; 25.3% South Asian;
25.1% South and Central American; 21.4% East Asian;
• More than half of the children in low income households from racialized groups live
in one-quarter of the city’s census tracts. The low income rate for children age 0-14 in
racialized groups in these census tracts ranges between 47% and 85%;
• Mothers born in Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest singleton low birth
weight rates in Toronto.” ( page 5 )
Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change
#1701-180 Dundas St. W., Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8
Phone – 416-971-9676 Fax – 416-971-6780
www.colourofpoverty.ca