OTTAWA - The Ottawa Food Bank is calling for a Municipal Poverty Reduction Strategy.
In its Hunger Report 2019, the food bank says 65% of people living in poverty in Ottawa are unattached individuals.
CEO Michael Maidment says the Municipal Poverty Reduction Strategy would “determine what actions we can take to coordinate and concentrate the efforts of local non-profit organizations working hard to reduce poverty.”
The Ottawa Hunger Report 2019 says a great municipal strategy builds on its local wealth of knowledge. It adds targeted areas for municipal jurisdiction include affordable housing, investments in early childhood development, investment in transit and active transportation and affordable recreation.
More than 39,000 people go to the Ottawa Food Bank every month.
The Ottawa Hunger Report 2019 shows 60% of food bank clients state social assistance as their primary source of income, and 47% of clients are single.
The report states families with kids are “faring better in Ottawa since the Canada Child Benefit” was introduced. Poverty rates dipped to an eight year low in Canada in 2016. But the report notes poverty among single people in particularly high compared with the provincial average.
