Archive for the ‘Inclusion Policy Context’ Category

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The wrong people are being asked to pay for Canada’s crisis in health care

Friday, February 6th, 2026

Starting on May 1, 2026, beneficiaries [of the Interim Federal Health Program(IFHP)]such as asylum seekers and refugees will be required to copay 30 per cent of the cost of supplemental health benefits, in addition to a $4 for every prescription filled or renewed… This also applies to dental care, physiotherapy, and mental health treatment. For refugees, these services are not optional; they are essential, and paying 30 per cent of their cost is simply not feasible.

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Canada will reduce international student permits by more than half, budget reveals

Wednesday, November 5th, 2025

The 2026-28 plan will allocate 239,800 permanent residence spots for economic immigration, and 84,000 for family reunification programs, including the sponsorships of spouses and parents/grandparents. The share of skilled immigrants will go up from 59 per cent to 64 per cent, while spaces for protected persons and resettled refugees from abroad will drop from 68,350 this year to 56,200 in 2026 and 54,300 in 2027 and 2028. 

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Budget to include millions to help foreign-trained workers get credentials recognized, expand skilled-trades training

Tuesday, October 28th, 2025

The federal government recruits skilled immigrants to come to Canada, but then those immigrants see their credentials turned down by individual provinces or regulatory bodies… The increased training money will help mitigate a shortage of people trained in the skilled trades — a gap that is expected to grow over the next decade… The government also announced a temporary federal tax credit of up to $1,100 for personal support workers.

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Carney government’s hate-crimes bill to ban display of terror and hate symbols

Monday, September 22nd, 2025

The ban will target symbols of government-designated terror groups and other hate symbols like Nazi imagery… where the display is meant to show “detestation” or “vilification” towards an identifiable groups, such as Jews, Muslims or members of the LGBTQ+ community. The bill… will also allow police to lay charges for “hate propaganda”… outlaw the “intimidation” or “obstruction” of places of worship and other community spaces…

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In search of political will: Strengthening Canada’s mechanisms for the domestic implementation of international human rights commitments

Monday, October 28th, 2024

The history of domestic implementation of Canada’s international human rights commitments is disappointing, particularly when it comes to economic and social rights… Over the past 75 years, Canada has neglected to build the necessary legal foundations, government structures, and political will at home to institutionalize human rights and provide accountability to rights holders. We need a new national framework for international human rights implementation.

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With disability benefits, governments cannot get lost in complexity

Friday, May 31st, 2024

The purpose of the CDB is to protect people with disabilities from poverty. The application process should strive to make it easy to identify the people who need this protection… Developing this new benefit will no doubt raise difficult questions about definitions of disability, jurisdiction, and how different programs interact with each other… But they are not impossible. They are not an excuse for doing nothing.

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Ontario has an accessibility crisis. It’s time Queen’s Park acted with urgency

Thursday, January 4th, 2024

First, avoid gathering any data that might indicate the scope of the problem, as well as how to solve it. Second, don’t put anyone in charge of remedying the problem. Finally, avoid employing any enforcement mechanism, so no one’s ever held responsible for failing to do anything. That… is precisely what the province has been doing for the past 17 years. The review, which is mandated by the act, found that more than three quarters of the province’s 2.9 million people with disabilities (PWD) reported negative experiences.

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How Canada can make better progress on disability inclusion

Thursday, September 14th, 2023

Pervasive misconceptions about disabilities, flawed income support systems and inadequate enforcement of regulations are among the systemic challenges… A fully inclusive society could generate an economic benefit of $337 billion — the equivalent of approximately 17 per cent of Canada’s GDP. Moreover, when systems are designed to accommodate those facing the most significant barriers, everyone benefits.

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The Canada Disability Benefit Act is progress worth celebrating

Monday, July 31st, 2023

First, it is a measure to prevent poverty that is protected by law. It adds to our system of legal protections, which include laws such as the National Housing Strategy Act (2019) and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005). These laws are important symbolically, as they codify our society’s commitment to uphold our economic and social rights. They are also important practically, as they require governments to set out rules about how they will put that commitment into action.

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Private foundations sit on billions of dollars while charities struggle

Thursday, February 9th, 2023

We don’t need more tax breaks for charitable giving — Canada already has among the world’s most generous charitable tax breaks, and we are overflowing with charitable funds. It’s just that we can’t get at them. What’s needed is a major overhaul of Canada’s two-tier charity sector where private foundations controlled by wealthy families sit on mountains of idle cash while thousands of working charities are starved for funds as they struggle to deliver services to Canadians.

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