Chandra's blog

It’s never easy saying goodbye. Today is my last day at CPJ before I move on to a new opportunity. I deeply value the mission and work of CPJ, so it’s hard to pass the baton to others and say goodbye to the friends and partners I’ve enjoyed working with at CPJ.

But saying goodbye can also be a celebration of a journey and all the learning and accomplishments that have accompanied it, so there’s a good feeling too. There have been many highlights in my four years at CPJ: meeting with committed Christians across the country who are deeply passionate about justice, working side-by-side with people within CPJ and other organizations who are seriously committed to a vision of a more just, more equitable society, and dialoguing with Members of Parliament and Senators about policy and about the faith and the values that motivate them. Read more »

Two different organizations have recently released helpful reports on economic equality and well-being that cast a somewhat dispiriting picture of the state of prevailing economic philosophies. On Tuesday, the Conference Board of Canada, a business-funded think tank, released its second report of the summer on income inequality, detailing how inequality has risen faster in Canada than in the United States.

The Conference Board report also notes that since the mid-1990s, Canada has had the fourth largest increase in inequality among its peer countries. Read more »

I realize the charts and tables in my previous blog posts updating economic trends are not the easiest to read, as a result of the fact that I have to upload them as an image. So I have created a PDF version of my blog posts from the original Word documents, along with the blog url and date in case you're interested in citing any of the information.

Still Waiting for Recovery: A Series of Blog Posts on the Recession's Impact

The recession of 2008-2009 hit fast and furiously, with a steep decline in Gross Domestic Product and employment. Since then, both indicators have recovered well, leading some to trumpet Canada’s quick recovery from the recession. But other indicators, such as social assistance caseloads, have not seen the same strong recovery. And still other indicators, while on their way back to pre-recession levels, still reveal worrisome trends.

We know that the recession significantly increased Canada’s poverty levels. But do Canada’s poor now risk being permanently left behind? Our survey of the economic indicators over the past several weeks suggests that the answer is yes. Read more »

We know that the recession significantly increased Canada’s poverty levels. But do Canada’s poor now risk being permanently left behind? In this series of blog posts, we’ll explore the economic indicators, updating the research in CPJ’s 2010 report on the recession, Bearing the Brunt.

Perhaps no other indicator better shows the growth in poverty and insecurity created by the recession than food bank use. The recession caused a record spike in food bank use, which rose 18% between 2008 and 2009. Following the recession, food bank use increased another 9%, reaching a record high of 867,948 people in March 2010. Between 2008 and 2010, food bank use increased 28%.1 (See Chart One for Food Bank Users in Canada.) Read more »

1. 1. Unless otherwise noted, data comes from Food Banks Canada, Hunger Count 2010, 2010, http://www.foodbankscanada.ca/documents/HungerCount2010_web.pdf.

We know that the recession significantly increased Canada’s poverty levels. But do Canada’s poor now risk being permanently left behind? In this series of blog posts, we’ll explore the economic indicators, updating the research in CPJ’s 2010 report on the recession, Bearing the Brunt. Check back over the next few weeks for new blog posts on each indicator!

As Canadians struggle with unemployment, inadequate Employment Insurance and social assistance, and involuntary part-time or precarious work, it is no wonder that more Canadians are struggling with debt. The low interest rates of the Bank of Canada throughout the recession and following have also contributed to growth in consumer credit that the Bank warns may be unsustainable once interest rates inevitably rise. Read more »

We know that the recession significantly increased Canada’s poverty levels. But do Canada’s poor now risk being permanently left behind? In this series of blog posts, we’ll explore the economic indicators, updating the research in CPJ’s 2010 report on the recession, Bearing the Brunt. Check back over the next few weeks for new blog posts on each indicator!

Housing is the biggest expense for low income Canadians who have been facing an increasing affordability squeeze over the past decade. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) considers housing to be affordable if a household is spending less than 30% of its gross income on housing. In 2006, 40.3% of all renter households in Canada spent 30% or more of their income on shelter. Read more »

We know that the recession significantly increased Canada’s poverty levels. But do Canada’s poor now risk being permanently left behind? In this series of blog posts, we’ll explore the economic indicators, updating the research in CPJ’s 2010 report on the recession, Bearing the Brunt. Check back over the next few weeks for new blog posts on each indicator!

During the recession, inflation was very low (in fact there were some fears of deflation), with an average inflation rate of 0.3% in 2009. However, food prices rose by more than the rate of inflation and more than the rise in average income, making food more expensive relative to income. Read more »

We know that the recession significantly increased Canada’s poverty levels. But do Canada’s poor now risk being permanently left behind? In this series of blog posts, we’ll explore the economic indicators, updating the research in CPJ’s 2010 report on the recession, Bearing the Brunt. Check back over the next few weeks for new blog posts on each indicator!

Social assistance or welfare is the bottom layer of the Canadian social safety net, intended to catch those who have no other source of income or means of livelihood. It is, however, in most cases a poverty income. Most provinces also require recipients to divest themselves of savings and assets, and all provinces maintain limits on savings for as long as a person receives assistance. It is therefore very difficult for recipients of social assistance to make their way out of poverty. Read more »

We know that the recession significantly increased Canada’s poverty levels. But do Canada’s poor now risk being permanently left behind? In this series of blog posts, we’ll explore the economic indicators, updating the research in CPJ’s 2010 report on the recession, Bearing the Brunt. Check back over the next few weeks for new blog posts on each indicator!

When someone loses their job, they need an alternative source of income. Employment Insurance is supposed to be that program for Canadians. Unfortunately, as CPJ’s report Bearing the Brunt showed, EI was totally inadequate in responding to the recession in 2008-2009 – at the recession’s peak, only half of all unemployed Canadians were receiving EI benefits. Since then, things haven’t gotten much better. Read more »