{"id":726746,"date":"2026-06-10T04:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/726746\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:51:11","slug":"1-in-4-kids-in-toronto-are-poor-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/726746\/","title":{"rendered":"1 in 4 kids in Toronto are poor: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

One in four kids in Toronto is experiencing poverty, as some family incomes in the city fall increasingly below the poverty line, a new report has found.<\/p>\n

Released on Tuesday, Advancing the Promise for Toronto\u2019s Children: Child and Family Poverty Report Card, Toronto 2026<\/a>, analyzed the latest taxfiler data from 2023, which is the third consecutive year that poverty has grown and deepened in the city. It also drew on 2020 income data from the 2021 Census and related research.<\/p>\n

Published by non-profit Social Planning Toronto (SPT), the 108-page report looked at child poverty trends, progress made to date, and actions needed to \u201creverse course,\u201d its authors said.<\/p>\n

Including specific analysis for each of Toronto\u2019s 25 wards<\/a>, it found that between 2022 and 2023, child and family poverty went up by 0.4 percentage points in Toronto to 25.7 per cent. <\/p>\n

This increase mirrors the Ontario average, however it is twice as high as the national increase of 0.2 percentage points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this increase may appear modest, it represents approximately 1,800 more children who have fallen into poverty,\u201d SPT said in an executive summary.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, the depth of poverty has increased for all low-income family types, making it more challenging to meet their basic needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further, the report confirms Toronto\u2019s \u201cunfortunate distinction as Canada\u2019s child and family poverty capital\u201d as the city\u2019s rate is the highest among the country\u2019s large urban centres, a full two percentage points above Winnipeg, which came in second place at 23.6 per cent.<\/p>\n

The Region of Peel rounded out the top three with 21.7 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"\"Child poverty rate large municipalities, 2023 A graphic shows child poverty rates for large municipalities in 2023. (SPT) Where child poverty is highest in Toronto<\/p>\n

While child poverty exists across the city, it is especially prevalent in Scarborough and throughout the downtown core, the report indicated.<\/p>\n

Nine of Toronto\u2019s 25 wards had a child poverty rate of 30 per cent or more, with Toronto Centre topping the list at 36.1 per cent, followed by Humber River\u2014Black Creek at 35.0 per cent, and Scarborough\u2014Guildwood at 34 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"\"Child poverty by ward Toronto, 2023 A graphic showing child poverty rates by ward in Toronto in 2023. (SPT) <\/p>\n

The highest rate of child poverty recorded at the wider census tract level reached 61.3 per cent in Don Valley West.<\/p>\n

The report also found between 2022 and 2023, child poverty rates increased in 18 of Toronto\u2019s 25 wards, especially in Etobicoke Centre by 1.3 percentage points from 18.6 per cent to 19.9 percent, followed by Don Valley East, which is up 1.2 percentage points to 33.1 per cent, and Don Valley West and Humber River\u2014Black Creek, which both went up by 1.1 percentage points to 26.7 per cent and 35.0 per cent, respectively.<\/p>\n

Who is most affected by child poverty <\/p>\n

Child and family poverty in Toronto is especially prevalent in one-parent families, with half living in poverty.<\/p>\n

\"\"Child poverty family composition, 2023 A graphic shows child poverty rate in Toronto based on family composition. (SPT) <\/p>\n

According to the report, single-parent families with two kids in that bracket have a median after-tax family income $16,899 below the poverty line, while those with one child are $15,155 below the poverty line.<\/p>\n

Analysis from 2021 Census data also showed that Indigenous (20.4 per cent), racialized (17.8 per cent), immigrant (21 per cent), and newcomer (38.1 per cent) children as well as those in non-permanent resident households (42.6 per cent) \u201cface disproportionately high rates of poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Disparities reflect long-standing systemic inequities\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThese disparities reflect long-standing systemic inequities, including discrimination in employment, housing, and access to services, which shape families\u2019 economic opportunities and stability,\u201d the report\u2019s executive summary stated.<\/p>\n

These inequities, it says, are driven by the rising cost of living, notably housing, inadequate income supports, high unemployment rates, barriers to stable and well-paying employment, economic growth that has not benefitted everyone, gender-based violence, and limited access to affordable child care.<\/p>\n

The impacts of these conditions are lasting, they added, and affect children\u2019s health, education, and long-term opportunities, \u201cpotentially reinforcing cycles of disadvantage across generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Child in a classroom A child is pictured in a classroom. More government support needed: SPT<\/p>\n

To address child\/family poverty, SPT outlined three approaches: ensuring livable incomes and inclusive economic development practices; implementing a rights-based approach to basic needs of affordability; and renewing the focus on poverty reduction and systemic inequality. <\/p>\n

It goes on to say that while municipal initiatives provide critical support, income supports and broad-scale investments in social infrastructure are key.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important policy levers to address these challenges sit with the provincial and federal governments,\u201d Jin Huh, the organization\u2019s executive director, said in a news release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of Toronto has introduced and expanded some really great poverty reduction initiatives in recent years\u2014including TTC fare capping, an expansion of the student nutrition program so it reaches all 330,000 students across Toronto schools this year, supports for renters, and creating purpose-built affordable and supportive housing\u2014but responding to this crisis will require income supports and investments in social infrastructure at a scale only senior levels of government can provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organization is encouraging candidates in the upcoming municipal election to \u201cpresent clear visions for reducing poverty and strengthening social infrastructure, and inviting residents to consider these issues as they evaluate those platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the concrete ways to make a difference, SPT says, are by increasing the supply of public and not-for-profit child care spaces in high-poverty neighbourhoods, developing measurable targets on poverty reduction, and committing to reducing child poverty through coordinated action with senior orders of government.<\/p>\n

\u2018Troubling trends\u2019 but solutions available<\/p>\n

Sharma Queiser, a researcher and policy analyst with Social Planning Toronto and one of the report\u2019s authors, said the findings are \u201ctroubling trends,\u201d but solutions are available.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween 2015 and 2020, child poverty rates in Toronto steadily declined, coinciding with the Federal Government\u2019s introduction of the Canada Child Benefit in 2016. Unfortunately, without further investments, we\u2019re losing that progress,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One in four kids in Toronto is experiencing poverty, as some family incomes in the city fall increasingly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-726746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-apple-news","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}