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RENEWING ONTARIO’S POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY

A Step-by-Step Guide to HoStinG your own ConSuLtAtion

SeSSion in your Community

Table of Contents1. introduction 1

2. Looking back: ontario’s First poverty reduction Strategy 2

3. How to manage your Consultation Session 5

a. Consultation Goals 5

b. Guiding principles 5

c. discussion Questions and Consultation template 6

d. Format 7

e. Location, timing, and Logistics 7

4. Assistance 7

5. Consultation Summary template 9

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1. Introductionwhen Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy was launched in

2008, it signaled a bold new vision of a province where every person has the

opportunity to achieve his or her full potential, and contribute to and participate

in a prosperous and healthy ontario.

today, ontario continues that commitment by planning for the next five-year

Strategy through a series of online, regional, and province-wide consultations.

regional consultations began in windsor on August 6, 2013, and will be taking

place across the province until october 2013. At the same time, ontarians can

participate in the online consultations at: ontario.ca/breakingthecycle.

TIPThere are many ways to have your say: visit ontario.ca/breakingthecycle to participate in an online survey and to submit your ideas on how Ontarians can work together to reduce poverty.

input received during the consultations will help build the new

poverty reduction Strategy.

two products are available to help individuals who wish to host their

own consultations:

• Step-by-Step Guide for Facilitators/Consultation Summary

template (this document)

• Consultation booklet

(downloadable at: ontario.ca/breakingthecycle)

this package has been developed as a step-by-step guide to

walk you through the consultation process and to assist you in

sharing ideas and input.

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2. Looking Back: Ontario’s First Poverty Reduction Strategyrecognizing that the best way to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty is by helping kids living in poverty

get a good start in life, Breaking the Cycle focused on children and their families. the government set a clear

target of reducing the number of children in poverty by 25 per cent over five years.

with the unanimous passage of the Poverty Reduction Act, 2009, ontario made a long-term commitment to

addressing poverty.

What We’ve Accomplishedto support the Strategy, ontario made investments in key areas:

The visual above is for illustrative purposes only. It is not representative of all investments made nor does it reflect the level of investment in each area.

Ontario Child BenefitHealth Accessibility

Financial aid

Employment and trainingTuition grants

Social assistance

Communities

Menta

l hea

lth

Early learning and child care

Supports for newcomers

Social innovation

Student nutrition

Minimum wageTax credits

Affordable housing

Financial literacy

Education

the poverty reduction Strategy has had an immediate positive impact on the lives of children and will continue

to improve outcomes for ontarians over the longer term. in the first three years of the Strategy alone,

approximately 47,000 children and their families were lifted out of poverty.

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Among many other important programs, our government is:

• investing approximately $1 billion in the ontario Child benefit to help

more than half a million families provide everyday necessities to over

950,000 children

• Supporting child care modernization by investing more than $1 billion

in child care in 2013-14

• Continuing to implement full-day kindergarten by investing approximately

$963 million in the 2013-14 school year to support approximately 184,000

students, saving families up to $6,500 per child per year on child care costs

• making postsecondary education more accessible through major

investments in student financial aid, including $1.5 billion in grants and

loans to students through the ontario Student Assistance program in

2012-13, and reducing tuition by 30 per cent for students from low- and

middle-income families

$1BTO OVER 950,000

CHILDREN IN 510,000 FAMILIES

$1,210/year (2013)

$250/year (2007)

O

NTARIO CHILD BENEFIT

TIPYou can find the previous Poverty Reduction Strategy annual reports at: ontario.ca/breakingthecycle.

$10.25

$9.75

$9.00

$8.50

$8.00

$7.50

$7.00

$6.50

1996 2003 2010

7 INCR

EASES

MINIMUM WAGE

Since 2003, the government has also:

• increased social assistance rates by 16-18.7 per cent for

individuals, families, and persons with disabilities**

• Committed nearly $3 billion in the largest affordable

housing investment in ontario’s history

• implemented seven increases to the minimum wage,

from $6.85 to $10.25/hour

*Preliminary figures; final figures for 2011 will be reported in the 2013 Poverty Reduction Strategy Annual Report, scheduled to be released in December. **Dependent on family/benefit type; effective September (Ontario Disability Support Program) and October (Ontario Works), 2013.

Without the Poverty Reduction Strategy, an estimated 15.9 per cent of Ontario’s children would have been living in poverty in 2011.

Instead, the Strategy prevented 61,000 children from being in poverty that year.

With the Strategy, the actual child poverty rate in 2011 fell to 13.6 per cent.*

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An Ambitious Target

the first poverty reduction Strategy set out to reach an ambitious target:

reducing the number of kids in poverty by 25 per cent over five years.

despite the government’s investments in poverty reduction, it is unlikely that the

target will be met, in large part because of the global recession. However, this

target gave the government something to strive toward, raised the bar for

success, and set the foundation for future work.

The Choices

Governments around the world are faced with increasingly difficult choices about how to allocate limited resources in

a time of competing demands. ontario is no exception.

despite the impact of the worldwide recession and the

continuing climate of global economic uncertainty, the ontario

government has chosen to continue the fight against poverty.

ontario’s poverty reduction Strategy plays an important role in

lifting children out of poverty and in preventing them from falling

into poverty in the first place.

Achieving More Together

Collaboration brings people together to share ideas and use a diversity of perspectives to lead to improved outcomes.

in order to grow and prosper in the next decade, we need to continue to work together to achieve our shared goal of

reducing poverty.

TIPTo learn more about Ontario’s Budget and economy, visit: ontario.ca/budget.

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3. How to Manage Your Consultation Session a. Consultation Goal

b. Guiding Principles

Participatory: Consultations should strive to engage participants in a way that is interactive and creative.

participants should feel comfortable expressing their opinions.

Inclusive: Consultations should facilitate an environment of reciprocal learning and respect for the diverse

perspectives of all participants.

Accessible: Consultations should be as accessible as possible.

Solutions-Focused: Consultations should focus on real, practical ideas to reduce poverty.

this toolkit was designed to help you achieve these goals through the conversation you’ll lead using the

questions on the next page.

TIPTo learn more about the government’s commitment to accessibility and to help ensure that you incorporate accessibility considerations into your consultation, visit: http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/programs/accessibility/understanding_accessibility/planning_meeting.aspx.

the goal of the public consultations is to:

• build on our lessons learned;

• better understand the challenges; and,

• consider the choices that we will need to make as a community in order to

determine the priorities for the renewed poverty reduction Strategy.

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c. Discussion Questions and Consultation Template

whether you tackle all of the questions in your discussion or just a couple,

please consider the following:

1. Looking back over the last five years of ontario’s first poverty

reduction Strategy, what worked well? what can we do differently

moving forward?

2. the first Strategy focused on children. Going forward, should there continue to be a specific focus? if so, who or

what should be the focus?

3. what is the most important thing the Government of ontario can do to help reduce poverty? is there an initiative

that was implemented as part of the first Strategy that should be revisited?

4. How can all levels of government, community groups, the private sector, and other stakeholders work together

to better address the barriers that keep people from getting out of poverty (e.g., access to: employment,

education, child care, supports, etc.)?

5. when it comes to reducing poverty in ontario, what would success look like 15 years from now?

For your convenience, we have developed the template at the end of this document to help you record the

responses from your consultation.

you can submit your completed consultation template

by e-mail or regular mail as follows:

1. Fill out the template directly on your computer.

2. Save the template to your computer.

3. e-mail the template as an attachment to:

povertystrategy@ontario.ca.

or

1. print the template.

2. Fill it out in writing.

3. Scan and e-mail the template to: povertystrategy@ontario.ca, or send it by regular mail to:

poverty reduction Strategy

ministry of Children and youth Services

56 wellesley Street west, 15th Floor

toronto, ontario m5S 2S3

TIPDepending on the size of your consultation, you may want to consider having one or more people help you combine all of the responses into one template for submission.

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d. Format

the format of your discussion can be tailored to the number of people in your group and be scaled to suit

their needs.

depending on the size of your group, you might want to have an open discussion with the whole group or break

out into smaller groups.

one example of how you could run a session is to:

• post large sheets of paper on the walls (if space permits) with key questions written at the top.

• encourage participants to add their ideas to each sheet (using stories, words, or images to express their ideas).

• discuss all of the ideas as a larger group.

A facilitator’s role is to stimulate discussion and, most importantly, listen.

e. Location, Timing, and Logistics

the location, timing, and logistics of your consultation should be as convenient and

inclusive as possible for those invited. Questions to consider include:

1. is the venue accessible for persons with disabilities and by public transit?

2. is the timing appropriate for invited participants?

3. is there enough signage so that participants can easily find their way to the

consultation location?

4. will you provide a variety of different ways participants can contribute (e.g., oral,

written)?

4. Assistance if you have any questions that come up as you plan your consultation session,

please send an e-mail to: povertystrategy@ontario.ca.

RENEWING ONTARIO’S POVERTYREDUCTION STRATEGY

CONSULTATION SUMMARY TEMPLATE

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5. Consultation Summary Templateplease use this form to record and submit your feedback.

Sections 1 to 3 of this form will help us understand who you are and the type of consultation you conducted.

Kindly complete these sections in full. please only include the name of the organization(s)/individual(s) hosting

the consultation. please do not include the names or any other identifying information of participants.

Section 4 of this form will help you document the discussion about the proposed consultation questions. if you

did not discuss a question, simply leave that area blank. please note that there is a 1-page limit for each question.

if you have additional feedback, please provide it under Section 5.

you can submit your completed consultation template by e-mail or regular mail as follows:

1. Fill out the template directly on your computer.

2. Save the template to your computer.

3. e-mail the template as an attachment to: povertystrategy@ontario.ca.

or

1. print the template.

2. Fill it out in writing.

3. Scan and e-mail the template to: povertystrategy@ontario.ca, or send it by regular mail to:

poverty reduction Strategy

ministry of Children and youth Services

56 wellesley Street west, 15th Floor

toronto, ontario m5S 2S3

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Section 1 Organizer Information

Section 2 Location and Date

Section 3 Participants

Type or write your answers in the space below.

name of hosting organization/group/community

type of organization(please select from the list)

name of organizer(First and last name)

Location(City or town)

number of people participating

description of participants (e.g. employees/members of the organization,

members of other organizations/groups, community

members, families)

date(dd-mm-yy)

organizer contact information(e-mail address and phone number with area code)

Community members

(e.g., individuals, families, informal groups)

poverty sector association or representative organization

other non-profit or voluntary organization

private sector

Local government (e.g., municipalities, regions, counties)

other:

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Section 4 Consultation Questions for Consideration

Question 1:

Looking back over the last five years of ontario’s first poverty reduction Strategy, what worked well?

what can we do differently moving forward?

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Question 2:

the first Strategy focused on children. Going forward, should there continue to be a specific focus? if so, who or

what should be the focus?

Section 4 Consultation Questions for Consideration (continued)

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Question 3:

what is the most important thing the Government of ontario can do to help reduce poverty? is there an

initiative that was implemented as part of the first Strategy that should be revisited?

Section 4 Consultation Questions for Consideration (continued)

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Question 4:

How can all levels of government, community groups, the private sector, and other stakeholders work together

to better address the barriers that keep people from getting out of poverty (e.g., access to: employment,

education, child care, supports, etc.)?

Section 4 Consultation Questions for Consideration (continued)

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Question 5:

when it comes to reducing poverty in ontario, what would success look like 15 years from now?

Section 4 Consultation Questions for Consideration (continued)

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do you have any other thoughts, comments, or suggestions you would like to provide?

Section 5 Additional Feedback

Thank you for your initiative and participation in conducting a consultation. We appreciate and value your input.

Together, we are building Ontario’s future.

If you have any additional questions or comments, please send them to:

povertystrategy@ontario.ca.

ontario.ca/breakingthecycle

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