Situation
In 2021, 2.34 million Ontarians experienced household food insecurity.1 The situation has undoubtedly worsened since then with extraordinary food inflation over the past year. The price of food purchased from stores in 2022 increased by 9.8%, rising at a rate not seen since the early 1980s.2
The health consequences of food insecurity are a huge burden on our province’s healthcare system. Not being able to afford food has serious adverse effects on people’s physical and mental health and the ability to lead productive lives. Ontarians living with food insecurity are at greater risk for numerous chronic conditions including mental health disorders, non-communicable diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease), and infections.1 People who have chronic conditions and are food insecure are more likely to have negative disease outcomes, be hospitalized, or die prematurely.1 Policies that effectively reduce food insecurity could offset considerable public expenditures on healthcare in Ontario.3
Background
Ontario Dietitians in Public Health (ODPH) is the independent and official voice of Registered Dietitians (RDs) working in Ontario’s public health system. ODPH urges all levels of government to support policies that enhance incomes as the most effective responses to the pervasive and prevalent problem of household food insecurity.4
Household food insecurity (HFI) is inadequate or insecure access to food due to household financial constraints. HFI is an urgent public health, human rights, and social justice problem that, if not addressed, will continue to have serious consequences to Ontario’s economic progress as well as the health and well-being of Ontarians.
Social assistance recipients in Ontario have an extremely high risk for food insecurity. Almost 7 in 10 of Ontario households receiving social assistance were food insecure in 2021.1
As stipulated in the Population Health Assessment and Surveillance Protocol5 of the Ontario Public Health Standards (2018), public health units (PHUs) are required to conduct surveillance and periodic reporting to the Ministry of Health on food affordability.
Assessment
The table below illustrates results of monitoring of food affordability by ODPH members, specifically among single adults receiving Ontario Works (OW), from six selected PHUs in May/June 2022. The data clearly indicate the deep inadequacy of current OW rates, with the shortfall ranging from $192 in North Western to $752 in Toronto.
Recipients of OW across the province do not have enough money to afford the two most basic living expenses: housing and food. The inadequacy of OW for single adults as exemplified by these results requires urgent policy action to increase benefit rates.
OW recipients experience a state of poverty which has become progressively exacerbated by rates that have been frozen since 20186 coupled with extraordinary inflation. The effects of deep poverty have made it difficult for OW recipients to focus on anything but basic day-to-day survival that necessarily takes time and energy away from job searching. Prolonged periods receiving OW, with its dangerously inadequate benefits levels, often result in a severe decline in mental and physical health. Unaddressed, declining health can lead to serious disability, making gainful employment unlikely or impossible.7
Recommendation
As a priority for the 2023 Ontario budget, ODPH strongly urges the Ontario Government to increase OW to reflect basic costs of living and index the rate to inflation, as will be done for the Ontario Disability Support Program beginning in July 2023.
References:
- Tarasuk V, Li T, Fafard St-Germain AA. (2022). Household food insecurity in Canada, 2021. Toronto: Research to identify policy options to reduce food insecurity (PROOF). Retrieved 06 February 2023 from https://proof.utoronto.ca/.
- Statistics Canada. Consumer Price Index, Annual Review. Retrieved 06 February 2023 from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230117/dq230117b-eng.htm.
- Tarasuk, V., Cheng, J., De Oliveira, C., Dachner, N., Gundersen, C., & Kurdyak, P. (2015). Association between household food insecurity and annual health care costs. Canadian Medical Association Journal, October 06, 2015 187 (14) E429-E436; Retrieved 06 February 2023 from https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.150234.
- Ontario Dietitians in Public Health. (2020). Position Statement and Recommendations on Responses to Food Insecurity. Retrieved 06 February 2023 from https://www.odph.ca/upload/membership/document/2021- 04/ps-eng-corrected-07april21_3.pdf.
- Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. (2018) Population Health Assessment and Surveillance Protocol. Retrieved 06 February 2023 from https://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/publichealth/oph_standards/docs/protocols_guidelines/Popul ation_Health_Assessment_Surveillance_2018_en.pdf.
- Income Security Advocacy Centre. (2022). OW and ODSP Rates and the OCB as of September 2022. Retrieved 06 February 2023 from https://incomesecurity.org/ow-and-odsp-rates-and-the-ocb-as-of- september-2022/.
- Hamilton Community Foundation. (2015). Vital Signs 2015. Retrieved 06 February 2023 from https://www.hamiltoncommunityfoundation.ca/vital-signs-2015/barriers-to-employment- 2015/#:~:text=Prolonged%20periods%20on%20OW%2C%20with,gainful%20employment%20unlikely%20or%20impossible.
