Posts Tagged ‘participation’
Debt by design: OSAP and the political economy of student aid in Canada
Tuesday, May 26th, 2026
… students in Ontario are being asked to shoulder a growing share of the cost of post-secondary education. While these changes may appear exceptional, they are not. Instead, they reflect a broader transformation in how post-secondary education is funded across Canada, where the costs have steadily shifted from the public to the individual… restoring OSAP alone will not make post-secondary education truly affordable. That requires a broader commitment to public investment, and in turn, that means raising the province’s revenue.
Tags: budget, Education, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, tax, youth
Posted in Education Policy Context | 84 Comments »
How structural inequality fuels Black youth recruitment into cycles of violence
Wednesday, May 13th, 2026
The same conditions that leave Black boys vulnerable to recruitment into exploitative and violent economies leave Indigenous youth vulnerable too… if it costs close to $97,000 a year to keep a youth in custody, how might those resources be better invested in supporting young people? … the target of abolition work is not prisons, but a society that makes prisons necessary… how do we build communities where fewer young people are vulnerable to recruitment before they encounter violence at all.
Tags: crime prevention, Indigenous, multiculturalism, participation, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Equality Debates | 20 Comments »
Ford government’s internal surveys expose failures in disability job training program
Friday, May 8th, 2026
Ford’s plan to get Ontarians off social assistance and into jobs is failing those with complex disabilities, according to the province’s own research… employers “don’t know how to support” workers with disabilities, and performance targets are pressuring agencies to place clients into jobs too quickly — even when those with “complex barriers” need more time to prepare… the Ford government hired third-party operators to oversee the program’s new rules for funding and contract renewals… “The new model is a disaster”
Tags: budget, disabilities, jurisdiction, participation
Posted in Delivery System, Inclusion Delivery System | 9 Comments »
‘Nursing Home Without Walls’ will offer care for the elderly in their communities
Tuesday, May 5th, 2026
While Ontario is grappling with a long-term care wait-list of 50,000 names, a new pilot project aims to help older adults remain in their communities with the support of three nursing homes… the privately funded “Nursing Home Without Walls” model uses long-term care as a community centre that provides social connections, exercise sessions or a good soak in a bathtub, said Lisa Levin, CEO of Advantage Ontario, which represents not-for-profit and municipal homes.
Tags: Health, participation, Seniors
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 6 Comments »
To improve literacy, Ontario should invest in students and educators
Friday, May 1st, 2026
Even when screening tools are efficient and well-designed, teachers often lack the time, class-size conditions and specialist support needed to respond meaningfully to the results… Ontario stands at a familiar crossroads: keep reaching for solutions that are quick to purchase and easy to measure, or do the harder work of building lasting public capacity… [through] smaller primary classes, restored specialist support, rich early language environments and teacher education grounded in deep literacy expertise.
Tags: budget, Education, ideology, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | 1 Comment »
Canada Strong Fund
Thursday, April 30th, 2026
Designed to give all Canadians a direct stake in the Build Canada agenda… The Fund will invest in strategic Canadian projects and companies alongside other investors—with a clear objective to achieve commercial returns to build the wealth of Canada… When Canadians invest directly in the Canada Strong Fund, they will help fuel its growth and increase its ability to deliver meaningful benefits across the country.
Tags: economy, participation
Posted in Delivery System | 1 Comment »
I’m giving the CRA an extra $1 million this year. Here’s why
Thursday, April 30th, 2026
Patriotic Millionaires recently commissioned new polling that found among Canadians with more than $1 million in assets (not including their homes), 71 per cent believe extreme wealth concentration is a threat to democracy, 62 per cent believe government leaders should do more to address it, and 65 per cent believe that governments should raise taxes on the very wealthy. .. Extreme wealth inequality is not inevitable. It’s the result of policy choices, and we can choose differently.
Tags: economy, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
How Ottawa’s ‘cruel’ process keeps the majority of Canadians with disability from getting the Disability Tax Credit
Monday, April 27th, 2026
To qualify, a person with disabilities has to be certified through the DTC system… The eligibility criteria are narrow and exclude episodic disabilities and mental health. The certification process is costly and cumbersome, requiring the stamp of approval of a medical practitioner. Women, people with mental-health and episodic disabilities, and those with low income are routinely squeezed out.
Tags: disabilities, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Inclusion Delivery System | 3 Comments »
Ontario is introducing a new financial literacy curriculum for high schoolers. Here’s what they’ll learn
Thursday, April 23rd, 2026
In Grade 7, 8 and 9, students can learn how to manage finances, how the stock market works or about foreign currency and exchange rates. In Grade 10, they will learn the “importance of financial management, including budgeting, paying bills on time, the value of using credit responsibly, and options to pay for postsecondary education,” as well as “planning and financial management to help meet career and life goals,” the ministry says…
Tags: Education, participation, youth
Posted in Education Policy Context | 15 Comments »
Reclaiming the public square in a time of rupture
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026
… neoliberal economic policies and market changes have created a persistent and growing divide between Canada’s wealthiest and poorest households… [and] a considerable shrinking of the public space through successive laws enacted since 9/11… The scope of our advocacy must expand. It should focus on the rebuilding of resilient communities and the public good and challenge neoliberal modalities about the economy and its excessive income inequality.
Tags: featured, participation, philanthropy, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
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