Six things Ontario’s social impact world needs to know about the new provincial budget

Ontario unveiled a $186.1 billion provincial budget on Wednesday to weather the latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, promising record investments in healthcare infrastructure, small business support, and vaccination efforts.

The realities of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada’s largest province have forced its Progressive Conservative government to do something it hasn’t  historically enjoyed — go deeper into debt to fund social services and an eventual economic recovery. Ontario’s unemployment rate is currently at 9 percent. More than 7,200 Ontarians have died of the virus — or roughly 19 a day since the province’s first COVID-19 related death on March 11. The province is in the midst of a third wave of COVID-19 composed mainly of variants such as the U.K’s B.1.1.7. 

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy defended the province’s spending in a foreword to the Ontario budget. “In fact,” he said, “I believe the price of not making these record investments would be much, much higher in terms of lost lives, jobs and prosperity.” 

But social impact sector organizations aren’t all convinced the Ontario government’s latest budget is on the right track. Some pointed to the lack of investment in supportive housing for Torontonians living with chronic homelessness, mental health, and addiction issues. Others addressed a lack of attention to the challenges of persons with disabilities. The Opposition NDP criticized Ford’s budget as insufficient to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially around the inadequacies of long-term care facilities. 

Future of Good reviewed the Ontario budget and broke down the most important takeaways for the social impact sector:

Support COVID-19 tracing and isolation efforts in vulnerable communities across Ontario

The promise: 

• Ontario is investing an additional $50 million into mobile testing sites, personal protective equipment (PPE) distribution, and community ambassadors for education and outreach in racially diverse and low-income communities across the province. 
• This funding will also improve case management support that connects Ontarians to “critical services”, including isolation centres. 
• The Ontario government is also investing another $4 million over the 2021-2022 fiscal year to fund contact tracing, self-isolation, and improvements to housing shortages and hunger in Indigenous communities. 

Why it matters:

• Indigenous, Black, and South Asian residents across Ontario are disproportionately more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than their white neighbours. 
• Self-isolation in a multi generational household common among some newcomer communities can be difficult, although it does not appear to be responsible for a rise of COVID-19 cases in diverse cities like Brampton. Improving access to isolation facilities will allow residents to safely wait out their 14-day isolation period without putting other members of a household at risk. 

Help unhoused Ontarians access emergency shelters and longer-term affordable housing

The promise: 

• $225 million in new provincial funding for municipal shelter service managers and Indigenous shelter program partners to deal with a rise of COVID-19 cases in these facilities. 
• Another $18.5 million over the next three years to help domestic violence and human trafficking survivors “find and maintain affordable housing and help them transition to independence,” A $13 million investment over the next three years to help people with developmental disabilities find community housing, along with an expansion of the Adult Protective Service Worker program to help these adults live independently. 

Why it matters:

• Domestic violence rates rose sharply in 2020. Calls to Ontario’s Assaulted Women’s Helpline nearly doubled between September and December compared to the same period in 2019, according to CP24.
• Physical distancing and PPE requirements have made it far more expensive to run a shelter during the pandemic. Meanwhile, a wave of evictions last summer, especially in major cities like Toronto, have made it increasingly likely for renters to end up on the streets. 

The sector’s reaction:

• Progress Toronto, a progressive not-for-profit advocacy organization based in Ontario’s biggest city, says it is disappointed by a lack of support for 1,100 supportive housing units in Toronto — affordable housing with mental health supports and harm reduction services built in. “The province needs to commit the money by next month or the City won’t be able to open the 1,100 supportive housing units that they have available for 2021,” it says in a Twitter post. 

Emergency funding for community-based domestic violence agencies

The promise: 

• An emergency payment of $2.7 million to keep more than 50 community agencies focused on domestic violence open. 
• Another $1 million to help frontline organizations pivot to remote service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes developing text and online chat platforms for the Assaulted Women’s Helpline. 
• An additional $2.1 million over the next three years to support sexual assault services in underserved communities, offer free legal services for sexual violence survivors, “and improve collaboration across the sector to provide seamless supports to victims and survivors,” according to the budget document. 

Why it matters:

• Many non-profits and charities that provide domestic violence services have found themselves facing a higher-than-normal demand while also fronting the costs of PPE, physical distancing protocols, and remote working technology. 
• According to a Women’s Shelter Canada report from 2020, frontline workers have noticed a higher rate of physical assault, sexual violence, and human trafficking among clients during the pandemic.

Provide job training and child care for Ontario women through the COVID-19 pandemic — and beyond

The promise: 

• The Ontario government is allocating $117.3 million to help women — especially racialized, young, or disabled women — access training opportunities and get hired. 
• They are also promising to create up to 30,000 new childcare spaces, “including up to 10,000 spaces in new schools.” The budget claims more than 20,000 new spaces will be approved by next winter. 
• Enhancing the Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit to offer around $1,500 for lower and middle-income families. The government will also double the Ontario COVID-19 Child Benefit to $400 per child. 

Why it matters:

• Women have lost jobs at nearly twice the rate of men during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ontario budget. “This is partly because women are disproportionately represented in the jobs that have been most affected by the necessary public health restrictions,” the budget document reads. 
• To make matters worse, child care spaces are few and far between in Ontario. Women unable to find affordable child care have sometimes had to quit their jobs during the pandemic in order to take care of their kids during school shutdowns or online learning. 

The sector’s reaction:

• March of Dimes Canada says it welcomed some aspects of the Ontario budget, including investments in transportation to vaccination sites and additional broadband infrastructure. “However, we are disappointed by a lack of support for Ontarians with disabilities, and inadequate investment in programs & services to ensure people with disabilities can remain safely at home,” the disability advocacy organization said on its Twitter account. 

Supporting Ontario’s arts organizations

The promise: 

• Invest $10 million in the Ontario arts community in 2021-2022 (along with support from the Ontario Arts Council) to help pay for “significant costs incurred when preparing for activities and events that could not go forward in 2020-21,” according to the budget document. 
• This investment will also offset losses from box office and venue rental income during COVID-19, as well as any new expenses related to health and virtual programming. 
• The new Ontario budget also says this investment will support jobs for “musicians, writers, painters, actors, dancers, stagehands and many others who support Ontario’s arts and culture industry.” 

Why it matters:

• Arts organizations depend heavily on ticket and venue rental revenue to make ends meet. COVID-19 restrictions made it nearly impossible for them to hold shows or performances of any kind.
• Many artists and support staff have side jobs in sectors that were also dramatically affected by the pandemic, such as food service and hospitality. These arts workers are essentially suffering a double recession. 

Pledge nearly $200 million to fund mental health and addictions work

The promise:

• An additional $175 million in 2021-2022 for mental health and addiction support services across the province, part of a major investment plan of $3.8 billion over the next decade. 
• Another $7 million to improve mental health and addiction services access on postsecondary campuses (and for students attending virtually) across Ontario. This new round of funding “will help address the needs of vulnerable and diverse groups, such as Indigenous students, LGBTQ+ students and students with disabilities,” according to the budget. 
• Ontario will launch four mobile mental health clinics intended to reduce the burden on emergency departments and inpatient hospitalizations in remote and rural corners of the province. These are due to launch across Ontario in the summer of 2021. 

Why it matters:

• National data from the Canadian Association for Mental Health (CAMH) found the COVID-19 pandemic to be detrimental to mental health, particularly that of parents and younger adults. Nearly a quarter of respondents to a series of six surveys by CAMH reported moderate to severe anxiety levels, while 23 percent said they felt lonely occasionally or most of the time in the past week. 
• More than a quarter of survey participants reported binge drinking (consuming five or more alcoholic beverages within a two-hour period) within the previous week. CAMH found this figure did not change significantly over the past few months. 
• In a statement last December, CAMH said it wasn’t clear how the pandemic would affect the long-term mental health of Canadians, but believes the country has suffered from an under-investment in mental health care. 

The sector’s reaction: 

• While the Ontario government touted their investment in mental health and addictions as groundbreaking, Voice for Mental Health Collective — an advocacy organization — called the budget “disappointing to say the least,” in a tweet. “Help for the vulnerable?” it wrote. “Little for mental health, no mention of poverty, nothing for supportive housing.”