Release of Toronto Family and Child Poverty Report
June 11, 2026
Advancing the Promise for Toronto’s Children: Child and Family Poverty Report Card, Toronto 2026 draws on the latest available taxfiler data, from 2023, to reveal the growing and deepening experience of child poverty. One in four children in Toronto is growing up in poverty. The need for action is urgent. As Toronto residents prepare to head to the polls on October 26, this report offers an opportunity to examine child poverty trends, assess progress made to date, and identify the actions needed to reverse course.
Key Findings
- Child and family poverty is worsening, rising for the third consecutive year In 2023, one in four (25.7%) children aged 0–17 in Toronto experienced poverty.
- Toronto continues to hold the troubling distinction of being the child poverty capital among Canada’s largest municipalities
- Half of all children in one-parent households live in poverty, and almost all children not in census families live in poverty
- Families are falling further below the poverty line, struggling to make ends meet
- Child poverty affects families in every ward, while concentrated pockets of poverty persist across the city
- Child poverty continues to disproportionately affect Indigenous, racialized, immigrant and newcomer children, as well as children living in households without permanent resident status
Next Steps: Take Action!
Addressing child and family poverty will require leadership and coordinated action from each level of government. This report outlines detailed recommendations for the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. With a systems-level and root-cause framing, these recommendations focus on three approaches to addressing child and family poverty:
- ensure livable incomes and inclusive economic development practices;
- implement a rights-based approach to basic needs and affordability; and
- renew the focus on poverty reduction and systemic inequality.
There is also a role for every Torontonian to play. As the municipal election gears up and residents prepare to vote on October 26, they can ask candidates: “What will you do to reduce child and family poverty in our city—and how will you make sure it actually happens?”