Edmonton Social Planning Council

Category: Social Issues: Poverty

  • Community Matters (March 2025) — Seniors, Aging, and Older Adults

    Community Matters (March 2025) — Seniors, Aging, and Older Adults

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    Welcome to the Spring Edition of Community Matters.

    The goal of Community Matters is to keep our community informed about the issues that impact those who live here. This publication provides readers with the knowledge to connect the dots between social issues, research, and policy. We feature contributions from local agencies, ESPC staff, and volunteer writers or professionals who lend their expertise and voices to inform our readers.

    Each edition highlights a specific social issue or topic, exploring its intersectional nature and its impact on equality. Articles are written by individuals with specialized knowledge, research skills, or lived experience, using evidence to provide clear insights into the issues affecting individuals and families.

    For our March 2025 issue, we are focusing on the various aspects of aging, particularly the experiences of seniors and older adults. Topics include aging in an Indigenous context, seniors’ income benefits, mental health care for seniors, transit accessibility, elder abuse, intergenerational connection and learning, long-term care alternatives, and issues in continuing care. While we define seniors as individuals aged 65 and older, the information shared here is also relevant to older adults, family members, and anyone interested in issues and information related to aging and our senior community members.

    The articles in this issue reflect the expertise of our organization’s staff, as well as contributions from other organizations and volunteers who have generously dedicated their time and knowledge to research and communicate these important topics. Our goal is for you, the reader, to walk away with a clearer understanding of the issues at hand and the steps you can take toward becoming more informed.

    We hope this edition provides valuable insights and contributes to the ongoing discourse surrounding seniors and aging in our community.

    Janell Uden,
    Research Services and Capacity Building Coordinator
    Edmonton Social Planning Council

       

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  • fACT Sheet: 2025 Alberta Provincial Budget.

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    Introduction 

    The 2025-26 Alberta budget, titled Meeting the Challenge, covers finances from April 1, 2025 until March 31, 2026. This is the seventh budget of the governing United Conservative Party (UCP) as they reach the midway point of their second term in government.

    This budget is being released during a time of economic uncertainty and revenue volatility due to significant shifts in U.S. trade policy, fluctuating oil prices, and a growing population. The budget seeks to continue to build the province and support Albertans during a challenging time period.

    In a bid to address the rising cost of living, Budget 2025 boasts that it will implement a new 8% personal income tax bracket for the first $60,000 of income, effective January 1, 2025. This is a decrease from the current rate of 10%. This new tax bracket is expected to save Albertans up to $750 in 2025.

    As with previous budgets, Budget 2025 boasts low taxation, which limits important investments in public services that support Albertans. If Alberta had the same tax structure as the next lowest taxed province (British Columbia), the government would generate an additional $20.1 billion in revenue (2025-26).

    This fACT Sheet will focus on developments related to social programming that impact those living in low-income and poverty. Investments that positively impact marginalized populations result in long-term savings in other public services, such as health care and the criminal justice system, and increase the overall well-being of our communities.   

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  • Edmonton’s Living Wage 2024

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    Executive Summary

    A living wage is rooted in the belief that individuals and families should not just survive, but live with dignity and participate in their community. Differing from the minimum wage, a living wage carefully considers common expenses people pay to live and the wage necessary to cover these expenses for themselves and/or their families and to reach basic financial security.

    It is a calculation of the hourly rate at which a household can meet a modest standard of living, once government transfers have been added to the household’s income and deductions have been subtracted.

    In 2024, the living wage is $20.85, a decrease of $1.40 from the previous year.

    While inflation has increased significantly over the past year, expenses for the living wage reference families have gone down. The largest decreases this year were seen in clothing and footwear, due to changes in shopping patterns, and childcare, due to the gradual implementation of $10/day childcare. At the same time, the reference living wage families saw an increase in government benefits they are eligible for. These trends worked together to lower the living wage.

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    Click on image to view online.

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    New report suggests Alberta’s living wage is higher than the minimum wage

    630 CHED Afternoons with J’lyn Nye

    Guest: Susan Morrissey, Executive Director, Edmonton Social Planning Council

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  • A profile of poverty in Edmonton: September 2024

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    Introduction

    This report presents a snapshot of what poverty looks like in Edmonton in 2024. When thinking about poverty, our minds tend to jump to the most extreme cases – such as those experiencing homelessness. This report aims to shed light on those living in the “middle” – the working poor, those on the cusp of poverty, and those experiencing certain indicators of poverty while still living above the poverty line. Too often, these populations are ignored, and as such their situation remains hidden and largely unaddressed.

    A rising cost of living; proliferation of low paying, unstable jobs; limited government support; and lack of access to quality education and childcare constrain people’s choices and create the conditions that trap people in poverty. Today, too many Edmontonians struggle to meet their basic needs and are forced to make tough decisions to get by each month. In this social and economic environment, it is increasingly difficult to access the things one needs to “get ahead.” Poverty is more than a simple lack of material resources, living in poverty limits one’s ability to participate in their community and live a dignified life.

    The neighbour who works full-time yet still pays over 30% of their income on rent, the friend who wants to go back to school to get a better job but does not have the time or the money, or the sibling who stays home because they cannot access childcare may not be the first people to jump into one’s mind when picturing “poverty,” but they are nonetheless deeply impacted by it. This report aims to unpack some of the nuances surrounding poverty in Edmonton and illustrate how poverty impacts people’s lives in complicated and interconnected ways.

    This project seeks to answer the following questions:

    1. What does a dignified life look like in Edmonton? We aim to identify the things that give our lives meaning and are integral to well-being. This includes relationships and belonging, mental health, and sense of meaning.
    2. What does it cost to have this life? This section will dive into cost of living indicators including housing, energy, healthy and culturally relevant food, transportation, health, recreation, clothing, and personal care.
    3. What is needed to afford this life? This section will investigate indicators such as employment rates, quality of employment, incomes, and government supports, and whether or not these are sufficient to cover one’s basic needs.
    4. What supports this life? This section investigates the larger systems that can enhance or impede the ability to get a good job, afford one’s needs, and live a dignified life. This includes access to education and childcare.

    Throughout this report, the answers to these questions will be illustrated through “scenarios” we have created to bring these numbers to life. The people and families highlighted may be made up, but they represent the real struggles Edmonton families are going through.

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  • ESPC in the news: Child poverty rates dipped in the pandemic lockdowns. What are they like now?

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    On February 27, 2024, Sydney Sheloff, our Strategic Research Coordinator, told Radio Active that the dip in child poverty rates didn’t last.

    [/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-52-radio-active/clip/16045970-child-poverty-rates-dipped-pandemic-lockdowns.-what-now” button_text=”Listen to the segment” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#008AC1″ background_layout=”dark” hover_enabled=”0″ box_shadow_style=”preset4″ box_shadow_horizontal=”3px” box_shadow_vertical=”3px” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|20px|0px|20px|false|false” border_color_left=”#a6c942″ global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Posted by:” job_title=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3IiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiIiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsIm5hbWVfZm9ybWF0IjoiZGlzcGxheV9uYW1lIiwibGluayI6Im9uIiwibGlua19kZXN0aW5hdGlvbiI6ImF1dGhvcl93ZWJzaXRlIn19@” portrait_url=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9hdXRob3JfcHJvZmlsZV9waWN0dXJlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnt9fQ==@” quote_icon=”off” portrait_width=”125px” portrait_height=”125px” disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ _dynamic_attributes=”job_title,portrait_url” _module_preset=”default” body_text_color=”#000000″ author_font=”||||||||” author_text_align=”center” author_text_color=”#008ac1″ position_font=”||||||||” position_text_color=”#000000″ company_text_color=”#000000″ background_color=”#ffffff” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”0px|0px|4px|0px|false|false” custom_padding=”32px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_text_align=”left” header_text_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.65)” header_font_size=”20px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||50px|||” custom_padding=”48px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9jYXRlZ29yaWVzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiUmVsYXRlZCBjYXRlZ29yaWVzOiAgIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6ImNhdGVnb3J5In19@[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

  • fACT Sheet: Encampments in Edmonton

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    Introduction and Recent History 

    Edmonton has seen a dramatic increase in the rate of homelessness since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. As of December 2023, there are 2,987 people experiencing homelessness in Edmonton according to Homeward Trust’s Homelessness By-Names List. Among this group of people, 57% (1,714) are provisionally accommodated, 17% (518) are staying in overnight shelters, while 22% (656) are living unsheltered (Homeward Trust, 2024). 

    As a result of this situation, more and more encampments, defined as “temporary outdoor campsites on public property or privately owned land” (Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, 2023) have been set up throughout the city among the unhoused population who do not use overnight shelters. 

    Prominent examples of encampments in recent years include Camp Pekiwewin in the Rossdale neighbourhood, which was temporarily set up in summer 2020 as “an anti-police violence, emergency relief and prayer camp with a harm reduction approach for house-less people sleeping rough” (Indigenous Climate Action, n.d.). Around this same time, another temporary encampment called the Peace Camp was set up in the Old Strathcona area to raise awareness for supportive housing and the need for a safe supply of drugs to prevent overdoses. It voluntarily closed in fall 2020 when new shelter spaces opened (Omstead, 2020). 

    As long as there have been encampments, there has been resistance against them. The matter has continued to come up as encampments – both large and small – continue to proliferate not only in and around Edmonton’s downtown core but also in other quadrants of the city, such as the west end and the south side (Parsons, 2024). The situation reached a fever pitch when the Edmonton Police Service targeted eight encampments in and around the inner city considered to be “high-risk” for closure through a series of actions between December 2023 and January 2024. 

    This fACT Sheet takes a human-rights approach to understanding encampments, and aims to provide context to the houselessness situation, why encampments form even if shelter spaces are available, and suggests ways forward that prioritize the well-being and dignity of these marginalized groups. 

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