Edmonton Social Planning Council

Category: **ESPC News and Announcements

  • Media Release: Educational outcomes for Edmontonians improve while racial and gender inequalities persist, says new ESPC report

    Media Release: Educational outcomes for Edmontonians improve while racial and gender inequalities persist, says new ESPC report

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    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Edmonton’s residents are better educated than before despite persistent racial and gender inequalities. Additionally, poverty continues to negatively impact too many families as their cost of living goes up and economic challenges persist.

    That’s according to the 15th edition of Tracking the Trends, the flagship publication of the Edmonton Social Planning Council since 1989, which seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of Edmonton’s social well-being.

    “More students are finishing high school, and more students are moving on to post-secondary education in universities, colleges, and technical institutes,” says Sydney Sheloff, Research Officer at the Edmonton Social Planning Council. “While this is an encouraging development, we need to be mindful of the challenges we face, particularly with the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    Tracking the Trends helps policymakers, researchers, and the general public understand long- and medium-term trends to help us to contextualize our current situation. Challenges such as poverty, housing and homelessness, and maintaining strong public health and education will persist long after the virus has been eradicated.

    Among the notable findings include the following:

    Educational Outcomes Are Improving
    High school completion rates continue to improve. In addition, they are also pursuing higher education more than ever.

    • The three-year high school completion rate for the Edmonton Public School Board improved by 18.1% from 57.0% in the 2000/01 school year to 75.1% in the 2017/18 school year.
    • For the Edmonton Catholic School District, it improved by 28.2% from 59.7% in the 2000/01 school year to 87.9% in the 2017/18 school year.
    • In the 2017/18 school year, 63.7% of students from Edmonton Public School Board enrolled in post-secondary education within six years of entering grade 10. This is up 13.5% from a rate of 50.2% in 2000/01.
    • In the 2017/18 school year, 71% of students from Edmonton Catholic Schools enrolled in post secondary education within six years of entering grade ten. This is up 18.3% from a rate of 52.7% in 2000/01.

    Economic Picture Still Quite Rough

    Economic Realities have been tough for many Edmontonians over the past few years.

    • Unemployment has slightly improved in 2019 to a rate of 7.3% compared to 8.1% in 2017.
    • In 2019, the number of people accessing EI has decreased to 17,435 (it was at a record high of 27,388 people in 2016). However, those who cannot find work after EI benefits expire will often access Alberta Works. As such, 2019 saw a record high 30,860 households receiving Alberta Works.
    • It’s not all bad… In 2019, 791,800 people in metro Edmonton were employed, and the economic participation rate was 72.0%.

    Too Many Edmontonians Still Earn Below a Living Wage

    Just looking at how many people are employed is not enough to understand the economic realities of Edmontonians. Many people in Edmonton are employed, but are not earning enough to make their needs and live in dignity.

    • From July 2017 until June 2018, 69,600 adults aged 20-44 made below a living wage (which as of 2019 is defined as $16.51 per hour for a family of four with two parents working full-time).

    Inequalities Still Persist Among Women and Racialized People

    Women continue to face inequality in terms of incomes and employment.

    • In 2018, female tax filers reported 68.7% of their after-tax income compared to male tax-filers
    • In addition, 63.7% of those earning low wages are women.
    • However, women actually experience lower unemployment rates than men. In 2019, the unemployment rate for men was 8.5% and for women 5.9%. This is likely because the industries men tend to work in are more affected by economic downturns.

    Indigenous student’s high school completion rates are improving, but they are still well below city averages.

    • In the 2009/10 school year, the three-year high school completion rate for Indigenous students attending Edmonton Public Schools was 26.6%. This improved to a 40.9% completion rate for the 2018/19 school year, a 14.3% increase.
    • In the 2009/10 school year, the three-year high school completion rate for Indigenous students attending Edmonton Catholic Schools was 28.3%. This improved to a 60.6% completion rate for the 2018/19 school year, a 32.3% increase.

    Indigenous people face higher unemployment rates.

    • In 2019, the unemployment rate for Indigenous people was 13.2%, 5.9 percentage points higher than the total labour force.

    Cost of Living going up… and many can’t keep up

    • In 2019, the consumer price index was 143.2. Costs in Edmonton are 17.8% higher than they were ten years ago.
    • In 2019, the average cost of a nutritious food basket for a family of four in Edmonton was $242.83.
    • In October 2019, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Edmonton CMA in was $1,257.

    Rising costs of housing, food, and other essential goods can be out of reach for many families making low incomes, putting them at risk of experiencing homelessness and food insecurity.

    • Between July and September 2020, an average of 1,892 people experienced homelessness.
    • 1,178 of those experiencing homelessness identified as Indigenous.
    • In March 2019, the Edmonton Food Bank served 21,385 different people through its hamper program.

    Poverty continues to affect too many families

    Overall, poverty rates have improved. However, certain groups in the population are more likely to experience poverty

    • The poverty rate in Edmonton decreased from 15.9% in the year 2000 to 12.9% in the year 2018.
    • In 2018, 6.9% of persons in couple families lived in poverty, compared to 36.2% of persons in lone-parent families lived in poverty.

    A huge poverty gap continues to exist. The poverty gap is the difference between the poverty line and the actual incomes of those who live in poverty.

    • Lone parents with two kids experience the largest poverty gap – their median income is $15,136 below the poverty line.
    • For dual low-income income families, those with two kids make $10,866 below the poverty line.
    • Low income single adults are the best off, but they still make $8,683 below the poverty line.

    However, Child Poverty is Improving.

    • In 2018, 51,540 children and youth aged 0 to 17 years lived in poverty in the Edmonton CMA, a rate of 16.2%. This is down 6.5% points from a rate of 22.7% in 2000.
    • Government income transfers, such as provincial and federal child benefits, are essential in lifting children out of poverty. In 2017, without government transfers, 28.6% of Alberta children would live in poverty. With existing transfers, 16.6% of Alberta children live in poverty.

     

    -30-

    Download the full report on our website.

    For media inquiries and to arrange interviews, please contact:
    Brett Lambert, Community Engagement Coordinator
    E-mail: BrettL@edmontonsocialplanning.ca

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  • Tracking the Trends 2020

    Tracking the Trends 2020

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    Tracking the Trends provides a comprehensive overview of Edmonton’s social well-being.

    The Edmonton Social Planning Council (ESPC) is pleased to present this 15th edition of Tracking the Trends. Thirty one years after the release of the first edition in 1989, we remain committed to regularly updating this valuable compendium of social and economic data critical to sound decision-making. We hope decision-makers, social policy planners, researchers, and the general public will find this publication useful in broadening their understanding of social trends in the Edmonton region.

    The publication of this edition was postponed by several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused disruptions to work as ESPC adapted to working from home, as well as delays in data releases. Unfortunately, data on COVID-19 could not be captured in this report, but the effects of the pandemic on Edmontonians will be seen in future Tracking the Trends.

    Download the full Tracking the Trends report here (PDF)

    Note: since the release of this report, we identified the following errata. The PDF version has now been updated as of January 15, 2021.

    Table C4: Total Apartment Vacancy Rate, October Average, Edmonton CMA, added in missing value for the year 2006

    Table D11: Employed Persons Earning Low Wages by Gender, July 2017 to June 2018, Edmonton CMA. The “total” for wage “$13.60” was incorrectly listed as 54800, this was corrected to 54.8

    Table F4: Maximum monthly AISH benefit payments, added in missing values for the years 2000-2002 and 2004

    Figure F4 was updated as well to reflect the added in values

    Table F5: Number of individuals receiving Employment Insurance, added in missing the value for the year 2008

    Table G8: Lone-Parent to Couple Family Proportion, Edmonton CMA, added in the missing value for the year 2009

    Table G9: Property and Violent Crime Rates, Crime Severity Index, Edmonton City. An older version of the table was inserted by accident, it was replaced with an up-to date version.

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  • Letter to the Editor: City’s plan for homeless applauded

    Letter to the Editor: City’s plan for homeless applauded

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    Note: This letter to the editor was originally published in the Edmonton Journal on October 15, 2020.

    The Edmonton Social Planning Council applauds Edmonton’s rapid plan to end homelessness in the city. With winter on the horizon and the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable and marginalized populations, quick action to address those living without stable housing is an ongoing and pressing concern.

    Although a lot of progress has been made ​— homelessness has been cut in half since 2008 — 1,931 people are still experiencing homelessness as of September. This number has increased by about 20 per cent since August 2019 (when it was 1,607), which has placed Edmonton short of achieving the original 10-year plan to end homelessness (now in year 11) as laid out by the city and Homeward Trust.

    Setting up a 24/7 accommodation site at the Edmonton Convention Centre followed by plans to transition recipients to bridge housing and permanent supportive housing has the potential to make up for lost ground in a relatively short period of time, if implemented correctly. This plan must be accompanied by ​​​measures that address root causes of homelessness, such as more affordable housing units with necessary supports for mental health and trauma-informed solutions.

    We urge the municipal government to continue to work collaboratively with the provincial and federal governments, alongside community organizations delivering crucial frontline supports, to secure necessary funding and see this plan come to fruition.

    Susan Morrissey, Executive Director
    Edmonton Social Planning Council

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  • Submission to the Government of Alberta’s Affordable Housing Review Panel

    Submission to the Government of Alberta’s Affordable Housing Review Panel

    [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.0″ custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.3″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”3px||5px|||” border_width_bottom=”1px” border_color_bottom=”#a6c942″][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_post_title meta=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”||||||||” custom_margin=”||3px|||” border_color_bottom=”#a6c942″][/et_pb_post_title][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.0″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https://edmontonsocialplanning.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/boxes_1.gif” title_text=”boxes_1″ align=”center” disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” custom_margin=”-2px||-1px||false|false” custom_padding=”||7px|||”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”4.7.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” custom_margin=”0px|auto|0px|auto|false|false” custom_padding=”37px|0px|44px|0px|false|false”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.6″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ custom_padding=”||32px|||”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9kYXRlIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJkYXRlX2Zvcm1hdCI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJjdXN0b21fZGF0ZV9mb3JtYXQiOiIifX0=@[/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https://edmontonsocialplanning.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AH-Panel-Written-Submission-Aug2020.pdf” button_text=”Download the written submission as a PDF” _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_bg_color=”#008ac1″ custom_margin=”||19px|||” custom_padding=”||5px|||”][/et_pb_button][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ text_line_height=”1.6em” header_2_font=”|600|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#008ac1″ header_2_font_size=”24px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”95%” module_alignment=”left” custom_margin=”-1px|0px|2px|-96px|false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” sticky_enabled=”0″]

    Note: this is a written submission the Edmonton Social Planning Council provided to the Government of Alberta’s Affordable Housing Review Panel. Submissions are being accepted until August 31, 2020. More information on the panel and how to contribute a submission is available on their website.

    August 13, 2020

    Mickey Amery, chair of the Affordable Housing Review Panel
    Affordable Housing Review Panel c/o
    Ministry of Seniors and Housing
    404 Legislature Building
    10800 – 97 Avenue
    Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6

    Dear Mickey Amery, chair of the Affordable Housing Review Panel:

    Reference:    Written Submission to the Affordable Housing Review Panel

    Thank you for the opportunity to contribute a submission to the Affordable Housing Review Panel. The Edmonton Social Planning Council is pleased to see this work being conducted by the provincial government. The Council has been operating in Edmonton for 80 years, and the issue of affordable housing has been a source of concern for our organization for much of our history.

    Since our work focuses on community research in the areas of low-income and poverty, access to affordable housing is indispensable towards building a community in which all people are full and valued participants. It is important that any approach governments take towards the affordable housing portfolio – be it municipal, provincial, and federal – prioritize a human rights-based approach where access to safe and stable housing is an integral component of providing an adequate standard of living to all Albertans.

    When it comes to affordable housing, our research has identified excessively long waits for affordable rental accommodation as one of the most intractable challenges facing low-income Edmonton households. These households are waiting to receive assistance for which they qualify for and are legally entitled to. Funding should be sufficient to allow all households who qualify based on their household income receive rental assistance on a timely basis, similar to what is currently the norm for existing programs like child benefits, retirement benefits, child care subsidies, and income support.

    Our recent report (which is also attached to our submission), The High Cost of Waiting: Tenant-Focused Solutions to Enhance Housing Affordability, provided comprehensive research on the subject by conducting a literature review, interviews with key informants with expertise in the affordable housing landscape in Alberta, as well as focus groups involving a number of households who were on these wait lists. The report also provides a number of recommendations governments can adopt to address this situation, which includes a number of measures for how a housing benefit can be designed, measured, and monitored to achieve the goals of making housing more affordable and accessible.

    Focus group participants (many of whom had been waiting for years) spoke candidly about the financial and emotional hardship the process has put them through and spoke of the real risk they could end up homeless without a roof over their heads.

    We found that strong support was expressed for a cost-matched federal/provincial housing benefit. The federal government’s proposed Canada Housing Benefit (which is a portable rent subsidy) was met with almost universal approval. This benefit would deliver an average of $2,500 per year to qualifying households, which would expand the number of Edmonton households receiving direct rent subsidies. A joint federal-provincial rent subsidy program with full and fair funding commitments from both orders of government could be set up so that all who apply and qualify for the benefit receive it on a timely basis. In order for it to be effective, it would need equal cost-matching by the provinces and the federal government delivering the benefit through the Canada Revenue Agency in single monthly payments to qualifying households.

    Portable housing benefits have been identified by major Canadian affordable housing organizations as an indispensable component of ending homelessness and addressing affordability challenges. Portability means basing rental assistance on household income, rather than tying it to a specific rental unit or a building. This enables prospective tenants to obtain rental accommodation more quickly rather than having to wait for affordable units to become available. It also provides renters greater choice with regards to location and building type based on their own needs and preferences. Our research going back as far as 2007 has shown many low-income renters have expressed a preference for receiving subsidies directly rather than having subsidies tied to specific units and buildings. Those who receive a portable housing benefit experience long-term improvements to their quality of life.

    A portable housing benefit would prevent eviction due to non-affordability of market rents and help those precariously housed to stay housed. This would need to be correctly applied to the Edmonton context to complement existing programs and approaches. Adequate and stable funding helps reduce waitlists for affordable housing and effectively prevents homelessness.

    When it comes to affordable housing, the ideal role of government is to provide a robust safety net, especially when it comes to supporting Albertans in need of housing. This requires full investments in affordable housing programs. Direct to rent subsidies in its current form have not been able to keep up with high demand and high need.

    While funding efforts to end homelessness has increased significantly over the last 10 years (this has enabled the development of an extensive province-wide infrastructure to deliver Housing First programs), funding for rental assistance for low-income households has been largely frozen for many years.

    Albertans who experience homelessness and poverty face a number of other challenges, which include mental illness, addictions, domestic violence, aging, physical and mental disabilities, and more. These struggles require targeted support to effectively rehouse participants. Supportive housing – where individuals can access services linked to their housing, such as job training, or mental health treatment lead to long-term socioeconomic improvements for participants – is integral to this. Vulnerable individuals who struggle to retain safe, adequate, affordable, and stable housing often end up interacting with other parts of the system, such as the justice system, emergency health services, law enforcement, and others. Governments investing in housing programs and their supports would see decreased costs and pressures on the health care and criminal justice system. In short, investing in affordable housing produces positive dividends which includes reduced costs in other areas of government spending. This measure is not only fiscally prudent but also brings us closer to fully realizing a more just and equitable society.

    While a portable housing benefit could solve a lot of affordability and accessibility issues, this also will need to be balanced with making sure the supply of affordable housing units continues to be made available. The utilization of vacant, surplus, or underutilized sites represents a significant opportunity to increase affordable housing supply and decrease waitlists. In the city of Edmonton alone, 850 additional units could be created on 5 large city-owned sites under current zoning. Vacant or underutilized buildings could be redeveloped or repurposed to increase the supply of affordable housing, providing beautification and activation of these spaces that can improve the neighbourhood as a whole.

    An example of such a program is the Raising the Roof’s Reside initiative in Toronto, which is a pilot program that provides individuals at-risk of homelessness with affordable and safe housing in a repurposed vacant home. This has been shown to be effective at decreasing affordable housing waitlists by using vacant homes for affordable housing. The project partners with the Building Up enterprise that trains youth to complete the renovations, helping them gain valuable skills. The renovated homes are leased to non-profit housing organizations to use as supportive or long-term housing. This model represents a significant opportunity to increase the quality and supply of affordable housing in a cost-effective manner.

    In closing, investing in affordable housing programs with a human-rights approach is not only a benefit to vulnerable individuals finding stable housing, but it benefits communities as a whole. The standard of living and quality of life improves markedly, helps to improve neighbourhoods, decreases the burden on health care and criminal justice systems, and reduces social disorder. The Edmonton Social Planning Council is hopeful that common-sense actions like these will help re-build Alberta after a challenging period of economic uncertainty associated with the decline in oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Our office continues to be available should you wish to engage on this matter further.

    Regards,

     

    Susan Morrissey, Executive Director
    Edmonton Social Planning Council

     

    Attachment(s): Kolkman, John (2020). “The High Cost of Waiting: Tenant-Focused Solutions to Enhance Housing Affordability.” Edmonton Social Planning Council.

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  • Op-Ed: All parties must be prepared to compromise to prioritize human-rights approach to affordable housing (July 9, 2020)

    Op-Ed: All parties must be prepared to compromise to prioritize human-rights approach to affordable housing (July 9, 2020)

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    Note: This op-ed was originally published in the Edmonton Journal on July 9, 2020.

    by Sandra Ngo and Brett Lambert

    We’ve seen the headlines before: vocal members of the community expressing their opposition to a proposed affording housing development.

    Stories of home owners’ associations taking developers to court, protests organized, and heated discussions at city council hearings are all commonplace occurrences during the public engagement process.

    Recently, Edmonton City Council voted in favour of selling four parcels of land to Homeward Trust to build permanent supportive housing, which are located in Terrace Heights, King Edward Park, McArthur Industrial, and Inglewood. These sites will build a total of 150 units, which represent a portion of the 900 housing units the city needs to build by 2024 as part of their goal to end chronic homelessness.

    Permanent supportive housing is a type of continuous care that combines subsidized housing with support services. These services can run the gamut, from innocuous programs such as community support groups and child care, to full-time, in-house registered nurses and psychologists. These investments are lauded for saving taxpayer money by reducing pressure on health and emergency services, the justice system, and reducing social disorder.

    Despite these tangible benefits, some concerns over neighbourhood safety have been expressed. Does it always have to be this way? We don’t think so. The Edmonton Social Planning Council recently published a report, Public Engagement on Affordable Housing in Edmonton, which explores best practices for how a robust public engagement strategy can address these concerns and offers a number of recommendations to community league members, city administration, and affordable housing developers.

    Good public engagement helps to find common ground between groups which may have different interests and leads to a development that is better integrated with the neighbourhood while benefiting the vulnerable populations who will be housed in these units in the long-term.

    The key to a successful public engagement process is to start early and be transparent about the use of public input. Early and ongoing engagement allows for a dialogue to be created, and facilitates a deeper understanding of affordable housing within a community. This makes for more meaningful negotiations, where developers are able to gather feedback and reflect it back to the community, who in turn reciprocate the process.

    The notion of feeling heard early on builds trusting relationships, dispels misunderstandings, and the lack of delay reduces discord among the community. Here the engagement process becomes meaningful and is not simply a formality.

    Incorporating a human rights approach in the public engagement process is also a crucial component in increasing support for affordable housing. By framing the conversation around someone’s right to have adequate housing, the average person can recognize the role they play in helping marginalized populations and confronting stereotypes and prejudice against impoverished communities. Public engagement based on this premise can bust myths related to crime, safety, housing prices, and overcrowding.

    Innovating the public engagement process is another way to bring about a successful outcome. Each neighbourhood has a different dynamic, with preferences varying widely according to the community. A non-traditional engagement format can include walking tours of successful affordable housing developments. These neighbourhood walkthroughs were cited as effective tools for increasing understanding and acceptance of developments and allowed for innovative ways of hearing community feedback.

    When it comes to the planning process of an affordable housing development, change can be an inherently uncomfortable process and concerns from community members need to be addressed in order to move forward for a mutually beneficial result. All parties must be prepared to compromise while prioritizing a human rights-based approach whereby the most vulnerable are afforded their right to safe and adequate housing.

    The four permanent supportive housing developments represent an important step forward for ending homelessness in Edmonton. They help people who have complex needs stay safe, healthy, and build community. As the next steps are undertaken, we hope that the best practices as outlined in our report will help facilitate a robust public engagement process resulting in housing stability for those who need it most.

    Sandra Ngo is Research Coordinator of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

    Brett Lambert is Community Engagement Coordinator of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

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  • Statement on the Impact of Systemic Racism on Income Inequality and Low-Income Households in Edmonton

    Statement on the Impact of Systemic Racism on Income Inequality and Low-Income Households in Edmonton

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    The Edmonton Social Planning Council stands in solidarity with the Black and Indigenous communities of Canada to end systemic racism and discrimination. These prejudices are reinforced by systems of power that actively harm Black and Indigenous individuals, families, and communities. These inequalities are unjust and the policies, practices, and attitudes that lead to discrimination must be dismantled.

    Long have we known that racism contributes directly to economic harm here in Canada. Recent data has shown that racialized individuals are more than twice as likely to be in poverty compared to their non-racialized counterparts (Figure 1), and almost one in five Black Edmontonians are low-income, compared to less than one in ten non-Visible Minority. Racialized workers are also more likely to be unemployed (9.2% vs 7.3% as of 2016). This is despite the fact that racialized workers are more active in the labour force, either working or trying to find work. Since 2006, this trend has only gotten worse.

    Figure 1

    Another way of highlighting the impacts of racism and employment is to break down the effects of income disparity between different racialized groups. Black and Indigenous communities are still the most likely to be in poverty. People are treated differently based on their skin colour, including tenants who are rejected by their landlords, applicants who are turned away from prospective employers, and those looking for acceptance in community programs. These glaring disparities result in unacceptable gaps in health outcomes, educational attainment, and mental health challenges among racialized groups. We must work diligently to close these gaps so that our communities thrive in an equitable and just manner. See our list of past publications at the bottom for more data on these inequalities.

    It is a myth that racism has been eradicated in Canada. There are many ways to get involved and begin to change this:

    • Sign petitions denouncing racist policies and actions here in Canada.
    • Engage with your local city councillor, school board trustee, MLA, and MP and ask them how they plan to incorporate an anti-racist framework in their policies and legislation.
    • Speak out against micro-aggressions that you may see in your day-to-day life.
    • Read written works by Black and Indigenous authors in Canada: Desmond Cole, Rinaldo Walcott, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Jesse Thistle, and many more.
    • Donate to one of the various Black, Indigenous, BIPOC-led organizations in Edmonton and Canada.

    Local (YEG) BIPOC Organizations you can support:

    Sources:

    Edmonton Community Foundation and Edmonton Social Planning Council. (2015). Vital Signs: Edmonton’s Urban Aboriginal Population. https://edmontonsocialplanning.ca/vital-signs-edmonton-2015-2/

    Edmonton Community Foundation and Edmonton Social Planning Council. (2016). Vital Signs: Immigrants. https://edmontonsocialplanning.ca/vitalsigns-2016/

    Edmonton Community Foundation and Edmonton Social Planning Council. (2019). Vital Topic: Indigenous Women in Alberta. https://edmontonsocialplanning.ca/vital-topic-indigenous-women-in-alberta/

    Ngo, S. and Kolkman, J. (2019). A Profile of Poverty in Edmonton. Updated May 2019. Edmonton Social Planning Council. https://edmontonsocialplanning.ca/a-profile-of-poverty-in-edmonton-may-2019-update-2/

    Block, S., Galabuzi, G., and Tranjan, R.  (2019). Canada’s Colour Coded Income Inequality. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
    https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/canadas-colour-coded-income-inequality

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