This four page report highlights the declining poverty rate in Hamilton, from 21.9% in 1996 to 16.6% 2016, mirroring a provincial trend. The report points to policies and economic changes that have contributed to poverty reduction and makes the case that poverty reduction works and we can’t stop now. The report also points to the areas that need more attention so we can move towards poverty elimination
Funders:
Citizen Action Group Hamilton
City of Hamilton Enrichment Fund
United Way Halton Hamilton
Using new taxfiler and longitudinal data from Statistics Canada, these bulletins explore trends in poverty in Hamilton.
See previous Hamilton’s Social Landscape Bulletins
Funded by: United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton
In April 2016, the SPRC supported Hamilton Organizing for Poverty Elimination and Hamilton Faith Communities in Action to organize a Social Audit, a process of examining the social assistance system through the stories of people who are experiencing it. The social audit involved a panel of Hamilton influencers from faith, education, health, media, and politics listening to the stories of 29 people, one at a time over three days. That experience has changed the way they think about poverty responses and how they can use their influence to help the community and the government think differently. This report includes a clearly written and poignant summary of those stories, some reflections from the auditors, and recommendations to all levels of government.
Community Partners: First Unitarian Church of Hamilton, Good Shepherd, Hamilton Organizing for Poverty Elimination, Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Diocese of Hamilton, Anglican Diocese of Niagara, Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition
Using a variety of data sources, the Demographic shifts series of Hamilton’s Social Landscape bulletins explore differences between older and younger generations to uncover trends in a range of demographic characteristics of Hamilton’s population.
See previous Hamilton’s Social Landscape Bulletins
Funded by: United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton
This report surveys the landscape of payday lending in Hamilton, including the increase in payday loan outlets and the decrease in bank branches over the past 15 years. The report also examines trends in precarious employment, and what changes are needed so workers in these jobs, and other people living at or near the poverty line, can access more affordable financial services.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton
This report updates the community on the vision and values of the St. Leonard’s Society of Hamilton and summarizes their services and recent accomplishments.
Funded by: St. Leonard’s Society of Hamilton
The federal election is on October 19, 2015. Use Canada Votes to help spark dialogue about social issues in Canada and put them on the public agenda.
On October 19, 2015 Canadians will come together to choose the direction of policy in this country for the next 4 years. Democracy works best when citizens engage in dialogue about the society in which we want to live. Canada Votes is a tool to help spark dialogue about social issues in Canada. The federal government has a role to play in addressing them – and you can help by talking about the social issues that matter to you and asking questions to find out what will be done.
With Canada Votes you can:
THIS SERIES WAS PRODUCED BY: Canadian Council on Social Development, Community Development Council Durham, Community Development Halton, Edmonton Social Planning Council, Saint John Human Development Council,Social Planning and Research Council of BC, Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton, Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries, Social Planning Council of Kitchener-Waterloo, Social Planning Network of Ontario, and Social Planning Toronto.
Social planning organizations across the country are helping to strengthen communities and work on social justice issues. We also recognize the need to work together around key issues affecting our communities. We have come together to provide this publication on the federal election because we believe that democracy works best when citizens engage in dialogue on important issues.
Click here for reference materials and additional language translations.
Over the course of several months in 2014 a number of community partners in Hamilton collaborated to arrange and host a series of community events that would invite and assist eligible families with young children to register for the Canada Learning Bond. The Canada Learning Bond is offered by the Government of Canada to help parents establish savings for their child’s education after high school.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton
This Profile of North Hamilton describes the trends and conditions within North Hamilton, including the North End and Keith neighbourhoods. The report was commissioned by North Hamilton Community Health Centre and the Hughson Street Baptist Church. This profile will inform NHCHC’s Board of Directors’ strategic planning process as they chart the future directions of the NHCHC to fulfill its mission “to enable health through healing, hope and wellness” and realize its vision of “no obstacles to health”. The Profile of North Hamilton reveals a community of resilience, a community facing challenges, and a community poised with opportunities.
Community Partners: North Hamilton Community Health Centre and the Hughson Street Baptist Church
This report is the result of a consultation process initiated by the City of Hamilton (Housing Division) and involving the Women’s Housing Planning Collaborative (WHPC). WHPC exists to develop, coordinate, advocate for and facilitate a gender specific, comprehensive and seamless system of services to meet these stated needs.
Funded by: City of Hamilton
Community Partner: Women’s Housing Planning Collaborative
This report summarizes the evaluation of the YWCA Hamilton’s Financial Literacy Program, which aimed to reach 80 disadvantaged women in the course of developing a model for financial literacy and training that could be incorporated into existing programs. The evaluation examined program effectiveness, adaptability/viability, and partnerships.
Funded by: YWCA Hamilton, TD Financial Literacy Grant
Improved unemployment rates, a booming real estate market and an influx of young adults are proof of Hamilton’s “economic renaissance,” but the prosperity has not reached across the city, says a new report from Hamilton Community Foundation.
Hamilton’s Vital Signs report for example, that rents have risen by over four percent in one year and rental vacancy rates have dropped to an unhealthy level of 1.8 percent, foreshadowing a looming housing crisis. Unemployment rates are better than the provincial average, but some 57 percent of Hamilton’s workers are in “insecure employment” with less access to benefits and pensions, the highest rate across the GHTA.
“This Vital Signs report reaffirms many reasons for the city’s new sense of energy and optimism,” said Terry Cooke, President & CEO, “but also that disparity remains a critical issue. Many Hamiltonians still struggle to secure basics such as safe, affordable housing, secure jobs and an income above the poverty line.”
Funded by: Hamilton Community Foundation
This report conducts an evaluative review of client satisfaction, an evaluation of program results and an overview of best practices for the services of the St. Leonard’s Society of Hamilton.
Funded by: St. Leonard’s Society of Hamilton
This evaluation gathered the stories of men who had some level of engagement with discharge planning offered by The Bridge upon release from the local Detention Centre. One focus group was conducted with nine men and six men agreed to individual key informant interviews assessing how The Bridge and/or other organizations assisted them in transitioning from jail back into the community.
Funded by: Homelessness Partnering Strategy
Community Partners: Hamilton Housing Help Centre, Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre
This report provides an evaluation of the Building Better Futures program run through the Neighbour 2 Neighbour Centre. The purpose of this evaluation has been to illuminate project outcomes, key findings and lessons learned, opportunities for improvement, and implications for the project’s future.
Funded by: Status of Women Canada
Community Partners: Neighbour 2 Neighbour Centre
This report describes how the unfairness of inequality is damaging both our economy and our society, provides Hamilton specific data about income inequality and poverty, and highlights ways that these trends can be reversed. Read more »
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton and labour unions
The Affordable Housing Flagship has been working with the City of Hamilton’s Housing Division since 2010 to develop a 10 year housing and homelessness action plan for the community. The plan is now complete and has two parts:
This plan will guide will ensure that everyone in Hamilton has a home.
Click here for more information on Hamilton’s Housing & Homelessness Action Plan
This bulletin shows that youth aged 20-24 in the Hamilton CMA have seen a 50% decline in their employment earnings since 1976, largely due to your workers facing more precarity in the labour market. While the City of Hamilton’s youth unemployment rate is still high, Hamilton’s rate out-performed all other communities during the most recent recession. This is the sixth in a series of occasional bulletins that focus on issues highlighted in the Hamilton’s Social Landscape report and bring attention to more recent trends.
This is the fourth in a series of occasional bulletins that focus on issues highlighted in the Hamilton’s Social Landscape report and bring attention to more recent trends. This report shows that the Hamilton CMA’s working age employment rate has recovered quickly from the last recession. But there has been more growth in part-time, part-year, and seasonal work than in full-time, full-year work in the last few decades.
This is the third in a series of occasional bulletins that focus on issues highlighted in the Hamilton’s Social
Landscape report and bring attention to more recent trends.
This report shows that Hamilton’s unemployment rate has recovered quickly from the last recession. The report suggests ways to further improve Hamilton’s economy such as investing in childcare programs, attracting more skilled immigrants to Hamilton and making Hamilton a living wage community. Read more »
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater HamiltonA new series of profiles on the reality of poverty in Hamilton’s electoral ridings titled “Action on Poverty” from the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton. These reports are part of a larger series of 53 profiles, one for each riding in the GTA and Hamilton coordinated by the Social Planning Network of Ontario.
Each profile contains facts and figures about poverty and challenges facing residents in each of the ridings. They identify how the work of community groups, service providers, and advocacy groups in communities across the Golden Horseshoe are coming together to challenge poverty. These stories call attention to the wide range of anti-poverty initiatives that are taking place within each community and across Ontario. Read more »
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton
This is the first in a series of occasional bulletins that focus on issues highlighted in the Hamilton’s Social
Landscape report and bring attention to more recent trends.
In Hamilton, 30,000 people are working and still living in poverty. How is this possible? It used to be that if someone was having a tough time making ends meet, the simple answer was “get a job”. However, it has become increasingly difficult to find employment with adequate wages to lift workers above the poverty line.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater HamiltonConsultations about what a living wage should include were conducted in public forums and workshops across Hamilton, since the launch of the living wage campaign in 2006. Over 600 Hamiltonians participated in these events, and many completed sample budgets to indicate what they would or would not include in a living wage budget. To calculate a specific living wage for Hamilton, generalized budgets were developed based on trustworthy data sources about actual living expenses in Hamilton.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton Community Partner: Living Wage Group of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Living Wage Calculation Sub-CommitteeThe United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton requested that the SPRC prepare a report on Hamilton seniors to give the United Way and the community a picture of how Hamilton’s seniors are faring. The collaboration on this report included the Hamilton Council on Aging, who helped guide and improve this report.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater HamiltonThe purposes of this research are to: determine the value of short-term employment related workshops accessed by dislocated workers at HJAC; explore options for maximizing these benefits to laid off workers and to the wider unemployed/underemployed population; and explore the best venues for providing this type of training.
Funded by: Ministry of Training, Colleges, Universities Community Partner: United Way of Burlington & Greater HamiltonSince the SPRC published its first report on women and poverty in Hamilton in May 2006, women remain disproportionately affected by poverty in our community. This report is an update of the 2006 report using more recent data from Statistics Canada.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater HamiltonThe data and analysis from this report shows both signs of hope and signs of concern for Hamilton’s fight against poverty.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton, Ontario Trillium FoundationThe SPRC committed to implementing the Immigrant Skills Workforce Integration Project (ISWIP) with funding from the Hamilton Community Foundation. The purpose of the project was to develop a community plan for Hamilton that would fully integrate immigrant professionals and trades people into the local labour force at their optimal skill level. There are eight sections in this report that provide a complete record of the project and development of the community plan for Hamilton.
Funded by: Hamilton Community Foundation (Tackling Poverty Together Fund) Community Partner: Immigrant Skills Workforce Integration Project Advisory Committee (ISWIP)Women in Hamilton have a poverty rate of 22% compared with men’s rate of 18%. A deeper look reveals further inequities between men and women in select categories. There are also significant differences in poverty rates between women of different backgrounds.
Funded by: United Way of Burlington & Greater Hamilton
