Edmonton Social Planning Council

Category: **Digital Resources

  • A Profile of Poverty in Edmonton

    While most Edmontonians have good jobs and adequate incomes, a new report on poverty in Edmonton shows that one in eight Edmontonians live in poverty and one in five children live in a poor family. A Profile of Poverty in Edmonton gathers the latest federal, provincial and municipal data on income, employment, poverty by family size, housing, homelessness and food bank use.

    ESPC Documents/PUBLICATIONS/A.06.C RESEARCH UPDATES/Poverty_Profile_Jan21_FINAL.pdf

  • Food Security in Edmonton

    What is Food Security?

    The United Nations defines food security as existing “when all people at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” Alberta Food Matters defines food security as “the condition in which all people at all times can acquire safe, nutritionally adequate, and personally acceptable foods in a manner that maintains human dignity.”

    “… despite Canada’s economic recovery, the number of Canadians facing food insecurity – inadequate or insecure access to food because of financial constraints – is not abating. In fact, the problem has persisted or grown in every province and territory since 2005, with 2012 rates in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories reaching their highest observed since Health Canada began monitoring the problem.” – Naomi Dachner, co-author of Household Food Insecurity in Canada.

    Food Bank Use in Edmonton

    Edmonton’s Food Bank works with more than 200 community agencies and serves more than 13,000 people each month through its hamper program. In addition, more than 350,000 meals and snacks are provided each month through affiliated agencies.

    How Much Does it Cost to Eat Well?

    A nutritious food basket is a tool used to measure the cost of healthy eating based on current nutrition recommendations. The cost for a family of four exceeds $200 per week which creates financial hardship for those living on low income.

    Read the rest here: Food Security in Edmonton (2014)

  • Farmers’ Markets in Edmonton

    The first farmers’ market in Alberta was established in Edmonton in 1903. A number of markets in other locations began to emerge throughout during the next four decades. Following WWII, when many people moved away from rural areas towards urban centres, food increasingly was purchased from supermarkets and less directly from farmers and producers. Farmers’ markets began to re-appear in the 1970s but there was a lack of consistency with how each was set up and operated. In Alberta, there are now two different types of markets – Alberta approved farmers’ markets and public markets. Both types of markets involve a gathering of vendors who sell their products directly to consumers. The difference lies in the ownership/management of the market and the privileges accorded to each type of market.

    Read the rest here: Farmers’ Markets in Edmonton

  • 2014 November fACT Sheet Farmers’ Markets in Edmonton

    The first farmers’ market in Alberta was established in Edmonton in 1903. A number of markets in other locations began to emerge throughout during the next four decades. Following WWII, when many people moved away from rural areas towards urban centres, food increasingly was purchased from supermarkets and less directly from farmers and producers. Farmers’ markets began to re-appear in the 1970s but there was a lack of consistency with how each was set up and operated. In Alberta, there are now two different types of markets—Alberta approved farmers’ markets and public markets. Both types of markets involve a gathering of vendors who sell their products directly to consumers. The difference lies in the ownership/management of the market and the privileges accorded to each type of market.

    ESPC Documents/Fact Sheets/fACT_Sheet_Farmers_Markets_2014.pdf

  • No Change – After 25 years of promises it’s time to eliminate child poverty

    The Edmonton Social Planning Council, the Alberta College of Social Workers and Public Interest Alberta released a new report, “No Change: After 25 years of Promises it is Time to Eliminate Child Poverty” on the 25th anniversary of the all party House of Commons vote to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000.
    The report shows that 143,200 children in Alberta lived below the low-income measure (LIM After Tax) in 2012. This represents 16.2% of all children, practically ‘no change’ from 1989 (16.4%). In fact, with Alberta’s population growth, there are 28,670 more children in poverty in Alberta than in 1989.
    “The statistics come from federal taxfiler data (Statistics Canada has cut the data source that has been used for years – the SLID) so this provides a much more accurate and detailed picture of poverty in Alberta and Canada,” explains John Kolkman, the main report author and Research Coordinator of the Edmonton Social Planning Council. “The taxfiler data is more accurate because it includes families with a lower socio-economic status who are missed in surveys because of language barriers or not having a phone, and children and youth living on First Nations.”
    The report shows that despite Alberta’s strong economy, Alberta’s income inequality has increased faster than the national average, with the top 1% of earners seeing real income gains of over 60% since 1982 while the bottom half of income earners only saw a tiny gain of 3.4%.
    “With close to 60% of children living in poverty having at least one parent working full time, full year, we need to be considering living wage policies that will assure that people working full time are not living in poverty,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “By re-establishing a progressive tax system, Alberta could easily afford to invest in the public services that prevent and reduce poverty and in a child tax benefit that that would lift many families out of poverty.”
    The report calls on the government to establish a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy that includes increasing investments in many current strategies that are proven to reduce poverty and to make new commitments to policies and services like quality childcare and affordable housing that support families to get out of poverty.
    The Alberta government’s plan to eliminate child poverty is long overdue,” says Lori Sigurdson, Manager, Professional Affairs of the Alberta College of Social Workers. “We know how to achieve this. Our report details key policy initiatives that would lift Alberta families out of poverty and reduce much suffering. Sadly, what seems to be missing is the political will to make this a priority.”
    The report shows that child poverty is directly related to the systemic issues that create barriers and impact women, immigrants, aboriginal peoples and people with health issues. For example 69% of low wage-workers (less than $16/hour) are women, and women still only make around 60% on average in Alberta of what a man earns.
    “We know that when women are poor, the children they care for are also poor,” said Rhoda Mitchell, Social Issues Coordinator at the Women’s Centre of Calgary. “Women living in poverty have identified priority solutions: increase income, increase access to affordable childcare, and strengthen Alberta’s social infrastructure. We believe that ending child poverty lies in ending women’s poverty.”
    While the new child poverty numbers now include families on reserve it is not possible to determine from the taxfiler data the exact number of children on first nation’s reserves living in poverty. However, we do know that a significant reason for the very high numbers of children in poverty is related to the systemic discrimination and mistreatment of FNMI peoples that must be addressed in Alberta’s comprehensive poverty strategy.
    “Child poverty in the Aboriginal community is a serious issue that negatively affects our future leaders,” said Rachelle Venne, CEO of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women. “Collaborative, multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the City of Edmonton’s Taskforce on Eliminating Poverty which has a specific engagement process with the Aboriginal community is what is needed for the systemic and long term change that is necessary for the future.”
    “I am appalled to know that there are so many hungry and homeless children in our rich province,” said Sandra Burgess, with the Child Well-being Initiative. “As a parent and dietitian who spent my career on food issues, I cannot understand why our government and other citizens don’t see that unmet needs of impoverished kids constitute an emergency.”

    F. SOCIAL ISSUES/F.07 CHILDREN/Alberta Poverty Report Draft FINAL.pdf

  • 1975 To Be Poor In Canada….

     

    Title:To be poor in Canada
    Author(s):Dragushan, Jean
    Subject:Poverty – general
    Publisher:Edmonton Social Planning Council
    Place of Publication:Edmonton
    Date of Publication:1975
    Abstract:

    Includes statistics

    Language:English
    Material Type:Report

    F. SOCIAL ISSUES/F.04 POVERTY/1975 To Be Poor In Canada…..pdf