Pride Month in Canada runs from June 1 to June 30, celebrating the diverse identities and sexualities of people living in Canada. During June, 2SLGBTQI+ and allies celebrate their accomplishments, talents, and resilience through a series of national events.  However, the end of Pride Month does not conclude the vital advocacy work by 2SLGBTQI+ people to forge their voices and rights. The efforts to address the disproportionate systemic inequities faced by 2SLGBTQI+ youth and children are tackled all year long. Campaign 2000 (C2K) believes that all children should live a safe and thriving life, free from discrimination, violence and poverty.

Historically and in current times, 2SLGBTQI+ populations and allies have fought for their rights through strikes, protests, and other forms of advocacy to obtain equal rights alongside their heterosexual counterparts. Although Pride transformed from a mass organized protest to a celebratory event, the marginalization and discrimination of this vulnerable community persist. 

Campaign2000 National Report Card highlights how poverty unequally disrupts the lives of marginalized positionalities. Children and youth who face compounded forms of discrimination due to their race, sexual orientation, identities, disability status, and other identities are more likely to experience severe forms of poverty {1}. There are various pathways to poverty for queer children and youth, which commonly include being subject to stigmatization and discrimination due to their identity from families and/or foster care placement (out-of-home care) {2}. Many youth have fled their homes due to persecution, bullying, and other forms of harm. Without material gains or employment, they often struggle to get long-term care, resulting in a higher risk of food insecurity, homelessness, and poor health outcomes {1}.

Many young people may seek out friends, extended families, and chosen families as an alternative means of obtaining housing rather than traditional homeless shelters {3}.  Hidden homeless queer youth often struggle to be accounted for within research data, thus government interventions are limited as the demand for care is not illustrated within official statistics. Homeless 2SLGBTQI+ youth face uncertainty about the housing conditions, as couch surfing operates as a short-term relief, which puts them at risk of living on the streets. Unhoused queer youth face living on the streets are at risk of victimization, exploitation and violence.

C2K recognizes the institutionalized need for tailored interventions and approaches to better support families and youth with unique needs, straying away from a one-size-fits-all approach. As a result of 2SLGBTQ+ children and youth being more likely to face discrimination, they require further services and support (I.e., sheltering services & food banks) to enact inclusive and anti-oppressive approaches. Government initiatives range from affordable, safe housing and inclusive schools to higher incomes and employment support for young people.

In 2021, the government of Canada established the Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, which provided $100 million over five years to a series of initiatives to support 2SLGBTQI+ equality. Unfortunately, the funding is scheduled to end by 2027.  A significant portion of the funding is allocated to supporting community organizations that strive for inclusion and equality. Institutions must be accessible and equitable, creating measures such as cultural safety and humility training for staff, inclusive language, and zero-tolerance discrimination protocols to protect the well-being and safety of 2SLGBTQI+ youth.

Campaign2000 fully endorses renewing funding for the action plan and has signed the joint statement calling on the Canadian government to invest in the 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan. Federal funding can support the fight to end 2SLGBTQI+ discrimination and create a safer, more inclusive Canada.

{1} https://campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2025-Report-Card-on-Child-and-Family-Poverty.pdf

{2} https://www.startmeupniagara.ca/site/blog/2021/06/03/understanding-lgbtq2s-youth-homelessness-in-canada4

{3} https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/homelessness-lgbtq-poverty-shelters-1.5468262

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For Immediate Release July 21, 2026

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Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, pan-Canadian network of 120+ national, provincial and community partner organizations committed to working to end child and family poverty, hosted by Family Service Toronto.

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For some people, the CERB lifeline has become an anchor

The Hamilton Spectator & The Hill Times released a new article written by Amanda Therrien, senior staff lawyer at the National Association of Women and the Law, and Leila Sarangi, national director for Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty. The Article titled “For some people, the CERB lifeline has become an anchor” discusses the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) Clawbacks impacting vulnerable Canadians, particularly low-income, racialized, refugee, and young populations. CERB was enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused economic shutdowns, providing financial support during a time of need.

The CERB provided economic relief to low-income Canadians, greatly decreasing poverty rates in Canada during the first year of the pandemic. Despite that, the Canadian Government halted the emergency relief program, resulting in poverty rates returning to previous conditions. The economic implications of the pandemic remain a contemporary issue, as the aftermath, in combination with political instability and tariffs produces economic insecurity.

Despite the weakened economic condition, the Canadian government has diverted significant time and resources to obtain overpayments of CERB. The government has provided $123 million to Employment and Social Development Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) with the main goal of obtaining clawbacks. The justifications behind these measures are framed as a needed and justified use of public funds. However, instead of strengthening social safety nets that reduce vulnerability and marginalization, funds are allocated to relentless pursue low-income Canadians.

CERB Clawbacks disadvantage low-income Canadian as acknowledged by the Canadian government. Despite the government highlighting various actions to soften the blow, such as repayment plans, these approaches are sometimes followed by other aggressive approaches like garnished wages.

Unfortunately, although repayments of emergency benefits are limited to a six-year period; there are exemptions to this legislation that can extend for several more years. There is a vital need for policy reform to prevent further debt collection that is deepening an already precarious group.

There is a striking distinction in the treatment of the wealthiest Canadians and the Poor. While the Canadian government squeezes the few resources of the less privileged to obtain back CERB overpayments, which will not make a significant impact on the economy, the rich are exempt from repayment. Affluent asset-owning individuals are absolved of tax obligations under the pretext of hardship. The Canadian government should not impose a financial burden on economically disadvantaged Canadians while waving the debts of the rich. The poorest Canadians should not be required to repay debts that will diminish savings, produce debt, and affect their ability to pay for necessities. Instead, the mandatory repayments of CERB must END, similar to how the luxury tax was abolished for the Upper class.

Read The Full Article Here: For some people, the CERB lifeline has become an anchor

 How poorly informed polices and decisions rooted in neoliberalism produces Food insecurities

The United Nations declared access to FoodFood as a human right, yet Canada, with an abundance of resources and income, fails to uphold the rights of Canadians. Millions of households lack access to affordable, safe, and nutritious Food. Investing In Tomorrow: Future without Poverty (2025) reported that, “in 2024, an estimated 25.5% of people living in the ten provinces, almost 10 million Canadians, lived in a food-insecure household. Half of the 10 million were families with children, reflecting inadequacies in jobs and social supports required to enable working-age families to afford basic needs” {1}.

There is a common misconception that food insecurity results from limited FoodFood or poor individual choices. Mainstream discussions center on individual responsibility, which calls upon the disenfranchised to obtain stronger employment and education. Rising food prices are deemed unenviable, as inflation and other economic factors are also taken into account. The stances highlighted above ignore the structural roles that produce these food inequities. The right to FoodFood has been limited by poor policies, insufficient social safety nets, and the state’s outsourcing of food support to nonprofit organizations {2}.

As outlined in the Investing in Tomorrow: A Future Without Poverty report, income support has played a vital role in poverty reduction, as the pandemic illustrated that child benefits help offset the rising cost of living, preventing many families from falling below the poverty line {1}.

Thus, increasing federal and provincial support, including social assistance, minimum wage, and child benefit wages, alongside further welfare aid, can enable children and families to obtain Food. However, the state has failed to provide income support in a significant and substantive way. Social assistance, such as Ontario Works (OW), falls short, as many OW recipients remain food-insecure and require greater incentives to cover daily expenses{3}.

Instead, the Canadian government has delegated a significant portion of food support to nonprofit organizations. Millions of Canadians use food banks to obtain free or low-cost Food to support their households. Nonprofit organizations have done great work at both the local and national levels to address the high number of users, using an accessible, philanthropic approach. These services, nonetheless, do not have the capacity to support the rising number of households experiencing severe food insecurity {4}. Limited resources and staff often constrain these organizations as they provide short-term relief to Canadians. Measures enacted by nonprofit organizations are band-aid solutions and fail to eradicate food poverty in Canada {4}. The source of food insecurity lies in limited financial aid; therefore, food literacy programs, community gardens, and food banks cannot address acute poverty and produce food security {5}

Deferring to neoliberal policies that center profit over care must end, as Food is a human right that must be low-cost and accessible to all Canadians. There is an active need for an interdisciplinary approach that draws on the agriculture and retail sectors, the Canadian government, nonprofit organizations, and various other Food Actors to enact food security {5}.

Written By: Mariam M

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{1} https://campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2025-Report-Card-on-Child-and-Family-Poverty.pdf ( Featured Photo from report card)
{2} https://proof.utoronto.ca/food-insecurity/what-can-be-done-to-reduce-food-insecurity-in-canada/
{3} https://feedontario.ca/research/hunger-report-2024/
{4} https://righttofood.ca/from-community-food-centres-canada-to-right-to-food/
{5} https://openpolicyontario.com/when-the-food-industrys-fortunes-partly-depend-on-the-existence-of-food-banks-rethinking-roles-in-the-fight-against-food-insecurity-in-canada/

Aged-out youth are often between the ages of 16 and 19 who exit institutions such as prisons, child welfare systems, and other institutions into community life. They are a large demographic with unique characteristics, strengths, inner power and resilience.  Support for addressing the needs of aged-out youth should draw upon their strengths, personal interests, identity, and knowledge. Their lived experience makes them unique experts, as they oftentimes know what is best for them, thus requiring tailored approaches that align with their goals and needs.

Unfortunately, this demographic is often mischaracterized within institutions, often labelled as “trouble”, and “at-risk”. Their lived experience interacting with systems, alongside their marginalized social locations, heightens their vulnerabilities to individual and structural risk factors.  Aged out youth are more than harmful stereotypes; these are individuals with a multitude of complexities, capabilities and assets to contribute to society. Support that values autonomy, dignity, and equity is needed, alongside support that highlights structural causes of their precarity rather than seeking to shift individual blame or victimization.
In 2025, Campaign 2000 collaborated on various national housing-focused initiatives, including the release of the Neha Review Panel’s final report {1}. The Neha Review Panel is a crucial, groundbreaking human rights enforcement mechanism created to address systemic housing insecurity. This vital mechanism is one of the few human rights-centred review panels in Canada that draws on the housing needs and lived experiences of women, Two Spirit, Trans, gender-diverse people, and young people experiencing poverty. Discussion centred on aged-out young people who are vulnerable to housing insecurity, incarceration, and acute poverty. A year after the panel, concerns about aged-out youth transitioning to adulthood remain, as these vulnerable demographic needs are grossly unmet. Policy reform must be implemented and operated through a human rights, intersectional, and anti-oppressive approach.

Neoliberal policies, such as cutting government spending on vital social programs, are felt acutely by youths who need support. Poverty-reduction initiatives, ranging from income support to transitional housing and employment services, can help youth successfully exit institutions. Campaign 2000 report card highlights a “2025 report card by the Standing Senate Committee on Youth Aging Out of Care based on the 8 Transition to Adulthood Pillars of the Equitable Standards“{1}.

Racialized youth are disproportionately interacting with institutions such as child welfare and judicial systems, thus requiring anti-discriminatory measures to be enacted to eliminate race-based oppression. Black and Indigenous youth experience discrimination throughout their engagement with institutions, as they are more likely to be separated from their families by child welfare agencies and more likely to receive punitive outcomes than their white counterparts. Anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism continues after transitioning out of care, as racism is deeply embedded in employment and housing systems, increasing the risk of poverty.
Programs, policies, and practitioners must defer from practices that do not consider race and intersectionality and engage in trauma-informed and culturally safe approaches that recognize and seek to dismantle racial disparities at all levels. Youth need a voice in their care, as their lived experience can help inform stronger interventions and enable self-determination and autonomy. Aged-out Youth are more than their labels; while it is significant to note their marginalization, it is also important to recognize their strength and resilience. There is a significant portion of aged-out young people who successfully transitioned out of care and contribute to society; for some, their capabilities are hindered by structural obstacles. Structural reform must be put in place to eliminate barriers and foster a safe, supportive and inclusive transition for all youth.

Written By: Mariam M

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References

{1} https://cms.nhc-cnl.ca/media/Neha/Reports/final-report-and-recommendations-ENGLISH%20(web).pdf

{2} https://campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2025-Report-Card-on-Child-and-Family-Poverty.pdf

{3} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUovRRFHieI

{4} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFedfeuC_aA

{5} Cover Photo retrieved from C2K National Report Card.

Read More At:

• Campaign2000 report card, Investing in Tomorrow: Future without Poverty (2025), calls upon the Canadian government to uphold the promise to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000, read more about the progress here: https://campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2025-Report-Card-on-Child-and-Family-Poverty.pdf
• Watch: Dialogue on Adequate Housing for Families and Preventing Child Apprehension (YouTube).
• Read: Neha Review Panel Final Report.
• Visit: Neha Review Panel releases reports, advocates call for action.

National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21, 2026), is a holiday that honours the diverse and rich cultures, histories, and resilience of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples have inhabited these lands for thousands of years, communicating through complex and beautiful languages. Indigenous Peoples have maintained unique knowledge systems, traditions, and ways of life.

Drawing on this day’s core values, it is significant to address the barriers faced by the Indigenous population, particularly children and youth, to participating in their cultural practices.

Investing in Tomorrow: Future Without Poverty (2025) illustrates the high poverty rates of Indigenous children compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts, linking these disproportionate rates to historic and ongoing effects of colonization, institutional racism, marginalization, and discrimination. The report found that 23.7% of Indigenous children lived in poverty, a rate that is two times higher than that of non-Indigenous children{1}. The socioeconomic status of Indigenous children and families has played a key role in cultural erosion. Poverty and inequality can contribute to the lack of means to engage in cultural practices due to material deprivation. Indigenous families residing on reserves experience food and housing insecurity at alarming rates. In 2024, nearly one in three Indigenous Peoples aged 15 and older were living in moderate or severely food-insecure households {2}. As a result, Indigenous families may spend more time focusing on their economic challenges rather than engaging in cultural practices.

Furthermore, state interventions such as child welfare can result in Indigenous children losing access to their cultures and traditions. Child welfare systems seek to protect the well-being of children, and those that fall into the categories of being at risk of “imminent or future danger” face high chances of being apprehended into state care {3}. However, there are significant racial disparities for children who are removed from their homes. Indigenous children and youth are apprehended at disproportionate levels, making up 30% of those in state custody despite representing a smaller proportion of the population {3}. One rationale behind these removals can be attributed to “neglect”; a parent who is unable to provide necessities (i.e., housing and food) sufficiently may face the removal of their child into state care. Indigenous populations, especially those living on reserves, often lack proper infrastructure, social safety nets, and resources such as clean water and safe housing. These issues are further amplified by colonial practices and policies that have resulted in intergenerational trauma and unhealthy coping mechanisms, making Indigenous populations more vulnerable to poverty.

 The mass removal of children mirrors the legacy of residential schools, where children and youth were forcibly taken from their homes, communities, families, and cultures. Residential schools operated for over a century, with closures occurring as recently as the 1990s. These institutions operated nationwide with the intent of assimilating students into Euro-Canadian society. Although residential schools have closed, anti-Indigenous racism continues to operate within contemporary institutions. Indigenous children are being separated from their families, community members, and Elders, losing access to communal support, a fundamental aspect of Indigenous ways of life. Additionally, reduced interaction with cultural and spiritual teachings, combined with placement in care with non-Indigenous or Western caregivers, reinforces the same patterns of cultural genocide inflicted during the residential school era.

Despite historic, organized efforts to suppress Indigenous Peoples and dismantle their ways of life, these measures have failed. Indigenous communities remain deeply committed to disrupting settler colonialism, an ongoing act of resurgence and collective strength. Thriving through resistance, celebrations such as National Indigenous Peoples Day represent a powerful defiance against cultural suppression and systemic oppression. June 21, 2026, marks the 30th anniversary of National Indigenous Peoples Day. Coinciding with the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, this date holds significant spiritual and cultural significance, as many Indigenous nations have gathered here for generations to practice their traditions and celebrate new beginnings. Centred on the key themes of restoration and celebration, National Indigenous Peoples Day provides an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples to fully embrace and practice their heritage while promoting dialogue, relational learning, and meaningful community engagement with allies. Ultimately, seeking true reconciliation requires the federal government to establish concrete, meaningful efforts that support cultural revitalization, address structural inequalities, and fully uphold the self-governance and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples.

The Campaign200 report card, Investing in Tomorrow: A Future without Poverty (2025), calls upon the Canadian government to uphold its promise to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. Read more about the progress here: https://campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2025-Report-Card-on-Child-and-Family-Poverty.pdf.

Post By: Mariam M

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References

{1} https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810028301

{2} https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310083501

{3} www.ohrc.on.ca/en/interrupted-childhoods-over-representation-indigenous-and-black-children-ontario-child-welfare

Key Findings

1. 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.
2. Toronto continues to hold the troubling distinction of being the child poverty capital among Canada’s largest municipalities
3. Half of all children in one-parent households live in poverty, and almost all children not in census families live in poverty
4. Families are falling further below the poverty line, struggling to make ends meet
5. Child poverty affects families in every ward, while concentrated pockets of poverty persist across the city
6. 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?” 

Read The Full Report Here

Hamilton’s first Child and Family Report Card has been released! Using taxfiler data, this new report explores family and child poverty, finding that Hamilton’s child poverty rate of 21.1% in 2023 is higher than both the Canadian(18.3%) and Ontario (19.9%) rates. That means that one in five children in Hamilton are living in poverty. This is over 24,000 children in Hamilton. Read the full report here!

A Community Conversation was held on June 9, 2026 to discuss the Family and Child Poverty in Hamilton Report. Ted Hildebrandt (Senior Social Planner) presented key findings from the report. He was joined by Leila Sarangi (National Director, Campaign 2000: End Child & Family Poverty), who presented on the 2025 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada. This was followed by a discussion on understanding the findings, exploring impacts on children and families, and identifying solutions. Watch Here!

Campaign 2000’s 2026 Pre-Budget Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance calls on the federal government to take immediate action to reduce rising child poverty in Canada. Nearly 1.4 million children are living in poverty, 2.5 million children live in food-insecure households, and families are falling an average of more than $15,000 below the low-income threshold.

The submission outlines clear, evidence-based recommendations to strengthen the Canada Child Benefit through a new End Child Poverty Supplement of up to $8,500 for the first child in low-income families. It also calls for expanded access to the benefit for families facing barriers and stronger income supports for those experiencing the deepest poverty. These investments are essential to ensuring every child and family in Canada has the resources they need to thrive.

Read the full submission here!

Investing in Tomorrow: A Future Without Poverty

Campaign 2000 has released the 2025 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada, drawing on the latest national data to examine the state of child and family poverty across the country. More than two decades after Canada pledged to eliminate child poverty, progress is moving in the wrong direction.

 Child poverty rose for the third consecutive year, with nearly 30,000 additional children falling into poverty. Today, 802,000 children (10.7%) live in poverty using Canada’s official measure, and nearly 1.4 million children live in poverty using a broader income measure. At the current pace, it would take almost 400 years to end child poverty in Canada.

Poverty Is Rising and Deepening

As housing and food costs increase, families are falling further behind. On average, families with children are living more than $15,000 below the poverty line, and 1.2 million adults are working but are still unable to meet basic needs.

Government supports remain critical but are no longer keeping pace with the cost of living. The Canada Child Benefit prevented more than 580,000 children from falling into poverty in 2023, yet its impact has weakened over time. Food insecurity is also worsening, with 2.5 million children living in food-insecure households across the provinces and severe food insecurity doubling since 2019.

Key Findings

• Nearly 1.4 million children in Canada are living in poverty using a broader income measure.
  
• Inflation and high costs of housing and food further eroded the purchasing power for families in low income
  
• 45.2% of children in lone-parent families live in poverty, compared to 10.1% in couple families
  
  
• More than half of children living on reserve were in poverty in 2023
  
  
• Almost all children not living in families experience poverty
  
  
• Poverty rates are highest in Nunavut, followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba
  
  
• Income inequality continues to widen, with the top 10% of families earning nearly 19 times more than the bottom 10%

• Nearly all children under 18 years of age who do not live in families live in poverty (99%)

• 2.5 million children in provinces lived in food-insecure households. The number of children in severely food-insecure households doubled between 2019-2023

The Path Forward

The report reinforces that poverty is not inevitable. Evidence shows poverty can be reduced when governments invest in income supports and public services such as child care, housing, and health care.

The 2025 Report Card calls for strengthening Canada’s poverty reduction plan, restoring the effectiveness of the Canada Child Benefit through a CCB End Poverty Supplement, expanding affordable child care and housing, ensuring wages and benefits lift families above the poverty line, and addressing systemic inequities faced by marginalized families.

Resources to Share

• National Report Card in English
• Accessible Report English
• Press Release English
• Infographic English

• National Report Card in French
• Accessible Report French (Forthcoming)
• Press Release French
• Infographic French

Provincial and Territorial partners also contributed their own report cards, highlighting how child and family poverty is experienced across different regions of the country. The full provincial and territorial reports are available below:

• Yukon – Press Release, Infographic
• British Columbia
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba– Press Release, Brief
• Ontario (Forthcoming)
• New Brunswick, French
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• Newfoundland and Labrador (Forthcoming)
• Toronto (Forthcoming)
• Hamilton (Forthcoming)
  
  Sign the Campaign 2000 call to action and share it with your networks.