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Research Update: The Numbers Game: How Lack of Race-Based Data Collection During Covid-19 In Canada Has Highlighted Systemic Racism

A review by Jayme Wong The Royal Society of Canada established its Task Force on COVID-19 in April 2020 to “provide evidence-informed perspectives on major scientific challenges in response to and recovery from COVID-19” (p. 2). The result of the task force’s findings is Impacts of COVID-19 in Racialized Communities, a collection of eleven essays...
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fACT Sheet: Get Out & Vote! Election Information for Edmonton Voters

Introduction The right to vote in elections is considered one of the most important components of a democracy. Today, any Canadian citizen 18 years of age or older is eligible to cast their ballot in a municipal, provincial, and federal election. Unfortunately, this hasn’t always been the case. Voting was originally permitted only for men...
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Research Update: September 2021

The Edmonton Social Planning Council, in collaboration with our volunteers, strives to provide stakeholders and community members with up-to-date reviews on recently published social research reports and publications. In this issue, we have the following reviews: Low-income persistence in Alberta – Reviewed by Besindone Dumi-Leslie The Future of...
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Blog: Health Care Costs in Alberta: A Brief Overview

Written by Sung Min Jo, ESPC Research Assistant Introduction At the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic—arguably the biggest public health crisis of our time—transformed the prospects of Alberta’s economic climate. In response to these historic events, the government responded with surplus funding to meet public health mandates including...
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fACT Sheet: Who is Responsible for Early Learning and Care?

Introduction Early learning and care refers to the environments where young children who have not yet entered kindergarten spend a portion of their day under the supervision of adults other than their parents. Sometimes called daycare or child care, early learning and care includes licensed child care centres, early education programs,...
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Blog: Child Care in Alberta Today

Written by Luis Murcia, ESPC volunteer A reality for most parents is the need for child care—whether it is care for an infant, pre-schooler, or an older child. In Canada, both the federal and provincial governments are responsible for establishing programs to create and sustain quality child care. Therefore, every province tackles this matter in...
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Executive Director Susan Morrissey’s Presentation to Edmonton City Council on the State of Immigration and Settlement’s Annual Report

On August 25, 2021, our Executive Director Susan Morrissey had the opportunity to present to Edmonton City Council’s Community and Public Services Committee to speak about the State of Immigration and Settlement’s 2021 Annual Report, which is titled Belonging: Stories of the Dignity and Resilience of Immigrants. Susan spoke about the importance...
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Vital Topic: Small Business & Employment in Edmonton

Edmonton Vital Signs is an annual checkup conducted by Edmonton Community Foundation, in partnership with Edmonton Social Planning Council, to measure how the community is doing. Vital Topics are a quick but comprehensive look at issues that are timely and important to Edmonton. For this edition, we take a look at small businesses and employment...
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Welcome

The Edmonton Social Planning Council is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan social research organization, with registered charitable status. Our focus is social research, particularly in the areas of low income and poverty. ESPC is a source of knowledge and expertise on social issues within our community.

ESPC focus centers on topics related to low-income and poverty. Our work includes undertaking research into the nature and magnitude of social issues in our community; public awareness and understanding of current social issues; being an independent voice in the community; encouraging public participation in the development of social policies, and the implementation of programs.

The strength of our voice and our role in the community is based on the support of people and organizations concerned about social issues. ESPC conducts research and analyzes data, produces reports, provides recommendations, is a depository of information, provides public education, conducts focus groups, does presentations, and works collaboratively with other social agencies.

We are dedicated to encouraging the adoption of equitable social policy, supporting the work of other organizations who are striving to improve the lives of Edmontonians, and educating the public regarding the social issues that impact them daily

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Check out our Social Well-Being Tracker

We are currently tracking 75 social well-being indicators for Edmonton and region.

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Latest Posts and Publications

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News and Announcements

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13 hours ago

Access to post-secondary education is reliant on access to resources. 45-49% of individuals completing a diploma or degree needed student loans and/or grants to complete their education.
More information related to cost of living: https://t.co/wzTimg5spe & https://t.co/OV1CmvLVcK https://t.co/pRDRrryGnr
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

13 hours ago

"Graff points to insufficient intra-governmental information sharing, transition planning for adolescents aging out of care, early intervention and service gaps for Indigenous people as contributing challenges in the lives of the youth." https://t.co/LLoQzVO0uk #abpoli #ableg
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

1 day ago

Education is highly correlated with employment rates. In 2020, people with some High School had a 14% unemployment rate, while graduates enjoyed a 3% decrease in unemployment.

More inforelated to cost of living: https://t.co/wzTimg5spe & https://t.co/OV1CmvLVcK #cdnpoli #yeg https://t.co/XD4Q6i7h1O
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

2 days ago

In 2019, immigrants who have been in Alberta for five years or less had an unemployment rate 37% higher than the rest of the population.

More information related to cost of living: https://t.co/wzTimg5spe & https://t.co/OV1CmvLVcK #ableg #abpoli https://t.co/YoFkRL4I5i
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

2 days ago

"The group is calling on the next federal government to implement a housing strategy; investments in supportive housing units; the creation of affordable, co-op, and non-profit housing; and expansion of rental assistance programs." https://t.co/CvtMce0IMq #cdnpoli #Elxn44
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

2 days ago

Basic income and where the major federal parties stand on the issue. https://t.co/Z9sUvmo0Fr #UBI #BasicIncome #Elxn44 #cdnpoli
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

2 days ago

"Food insecurity needs to be addressed at its root cause – income inequality. Policies to improve food security are policies that guarantee an income that individuals and families can live on in a healthy, safe and dignified manner." https://t.co/sVl1yp1WfR #FoodSecurity #cdnpoli
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

2 days ago

edmontonspc Retweeted
@mariadunnmusic: "The evolution of voting rights and the ways in which people have historically been included—or excluded—is an important reminder that voting is not something to be taken for granted." #elxn44vote #yegvote https://t.co/LTZlB7QmhR
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

2 days ago

In an excerpt from our latest issue of Research Update, volunteer reviewer Jayme Wong examines @RSCTheAcademies report on the impact of COVID-19 on Canada's racialized communities. https://t.co/2wLsrUR7da #BIPOC #cdnpoli #antiracism https://t.co/bNE70lAxSt
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

5 days ago

30% of Black children lived in a low-income situation. That was three times the rate of the rest of the population.

More information related to cost of living: https://t.co/wzTimg5spe & https://t.co/OV1CmvLVcK #yeg #yegcc #BIPOC
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Edmonton Social Planning Council @edmontonspc

Recent Publications

fACTivist Newsletter

Confronting Racism with Data: Why Canada Needs Disaggregated Race-Based Data

2020 Annual Report

80th Anniversary

We’re pleased to open up our Lunch and Learn sessions to other non-profits as a way of introducing agencies and their incredible programs and services to other community members.

For those interested in participating, we would love to host you at a future event. Please direct any inquiries to Brett Lambert.To stay informed about future Lunch and Learns and ESPC news and announcements, subscribe to our email newsletter.

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