Canadian Social Research Links

Children, Families and Youth
- National Non-Governmental Organization Links -

[kids]
Updated April 2, 2008
Page révisée le 2 avril 2008
Sites de recherche sociale au Canada

Les enfants, les familles et les jeunes
- Sites d'organismes non-gouvernementaux nationaux -


Go to Canadian Social Research Links Home Page ]

Related Canadian Social Research Links pages:
- Early Learning and Child Care in Canada - Canadian NGO Links
- Early Learning and Child Care in Canada - Canadian Govt. Links
- Children, Families and Youth - Canadian Government Links
- Children, Families and Youth - International Links
- Children's Rights Links page - incl. Canada’s National Plan of Action for Children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the work of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (Special Session on the Rights of the Child), and related sites
- Unofficial Social Union Links Page (national)
- Unofficial Provincial/Territorial Social Union Links Page
See these related outside sites also...
- The (official) Social Union website
- The National Child Benefit website


Kids' Help Phone
===> 1-800- 668-6868


Poverty Quiz
Test your knowledge of child and family poverty in Canada
Source : Campaign 2000


NEW

Campaign 2000 Releases New Report on Child Poverty in Ontario
Media release
April 2, 2008
Toronto - A new report from the anti-poverty coalition Ontario Campaign 2000 finds that 1 in every 8 children in Ontario is living in poverty, according to Statistics Canada data. In a time of low unemployment, the 2007 Report Card on Child & Family Poverty in Ontario confirms that the solution to family poverty is not as simple as getting a job. Seventy per cent of all low-income children in Ontario live in families where at least one parent is working part-time or full-time, yet they are not able to earn enough to lift family income above the poverty line.

Full report:

It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation:
Time for a National Poverty Reduction Strategy

2007 report card on child and family poverty in Canada
(PDF - 542K, 8 pages)

Source:
Campaign 2000

Related link:

Working poor still losing ground:
Report shows Ontario child poverty rate still rising; system penalizes working poor

April 2, 2008
By Laurie Monsebraaten
When Andrea Duffield's youngest child started Grade 1 last fall, the single mother of three got a part-time job in the hope of pulling her family out of poverty. But the extra income caused her subsidized rent to double. And after taxes and work-related expenses, her Toronto family wasn't any further ahead.
Source:
The Toronto Star

NEW


Jump directly to:

National NGO Links
Provincial NGO links
National Child Day / Universal Child Day
Youth Leaving the Child Protection System

Campaign 2000 Reports Cards on Child Poverty
These links take you further down on this page.


IMPORTANT NOTE:
Regarding Child and Family Services (child protection, adoption, foster care, youth at risk, etc.)
(This link takes you further down on the page you're reading now)


From the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU):

What's New? - Links to 100+ Canadian, U.S. and international resources from Jan 2000 to the present.
Child Care in the News - 200+ media articles from January 2000 to the present
ISSUE files - links to 20+ theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info
Links to child care sites in Canada and elsewhere
CRRU Publications - links to ~60 briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications 
...........................................
NOTE: You'll find more links to CRRU site content in the NGO section of the Canadian Social Research Links Early Learning and Child Care page.


Kids Canada Policy Inventories
"The Kids Canada policy inventories are organized by policy field, as well as by jurisdiction [arranged from west to east to north].
The inventories are easy to use and navigate. Just click on the jurisdiction or program that interests you. To find out what other governments are doing, scroll up or down, or follow the links to a related table.
1. Administration of Child and Family Policies and Programs in Canada
2. Initiatives for Children and Families, Government of Canada
3. Income Supports, Provincial and Territorial
4. Leaves from Work, Provincial and Territorial
5. Early Childhood Education and Care, Provincial and Territorial
6. Policies and Programs for Children with Disabilities
7. Programs for Aboriginal Children
8. Programs for School-aged Children
9. Children, Families and the Justice System [coming soon]
10. Education Governance [coming soon]

Source:
Canadian Policy Research Networks - CPRN


Symposium on Early Child Development - A Priority For Sustained Economic Growth & Equity
September 27-30, 2005
World Bank – Washington, DC
"The Symposium brought together 150 participants from about 30 countries from the Latin and Central America and the Caribbean, East Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern and Central Asia, and Sub Saharan Africa, with the largest representation coming from LAC. (...) The symposium objectives were to: (i) Continue to build awareness of ECD as an important investment that nations can make to inform policymakers about the returns on ECD; (2) Highlight progress in the implementation of policy and program responses; (3) Identify and explore alternative mechanisms to finance effective early child development interventions that reach the beneficiaries, and (4) Learn from existing evaluations so that in the future, better-designed evaluations will respond to questions posed by policy makers and project managers to continue funding ECD."
- includes a detailed agenda and links to other symposium materials (audio/video presentations, speeches, etc.)

The three links below are to Canadian presentations dealing with Canadian issues.
Clicking a link downloads a video file and a Powerpoint presentation in each case.
If the video doesn't work, it's likely because you're trying to access the file from behind an office or university network that has a high level of security, or else the network admin just doesn't like people watching videos on company time. Try watching the video from home if that's the case...

Science of ECD: Biological Embeddings of ECD
Video and Powerpoint presentation, approx. 46 min.
by Fraser Mustard (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research)

Measuring ECD Longitudinal Research in Canada
Video and Powerpoint presentation, approx. 19 min
by Jane Bertrand (Council for Early Child Development and Parenting, Canada)
- incl. info about the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth

Investment in Early Childhood Development : The Economic Argument
Video and Powerpoint presentation, approx. 19 min
by Charles Coffey (Executive VP, Royal Bank of Canada)
[
Text version of this presentation - from the RBC Financial Group website]

Source:
Early Child Development (ECD)
"This site is a knowledge source designed to assist policy makers, program managers, and practitioners in their efforts to promote the healthy growth and integral development of young children."
[ The World Bank ]


NOTE Regarding Child and Family Services:
The scope of federal, provincial and territorial government programs and services for children, families and youth is quite broad. It covers health, social services, child protection, Canadian and international adoptions, foster care, child and family services, counselling, mediation, visiting homemaker services, children's rights, child maintenance, child care, child custody, and much, much more. The "Children, Families and Youth" pages of this site (national govt. - Canadian NGO - international) are my way of organizing links to some of that information. This site has no "Provincial/territorial Government Child and Family Services" page because there are others who do a very good job at that.

Here are two of the best Canadian child and family services sites that I've found:

Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare (Network of Canadian universities, non-governmental organizations and government)
Rich in content, easy to navigate, current and historical research, highly recommended!
- incl. links to:
PUBLICATIONS : Fact Sheets - Reviews & Bibliographies - Incidence Studies - Research, Policy - Proceedings - Journals
DATABASES : Published Research - Researcher Network - Research In Progress - French/English Lexicon
RESEARCH : Intervention Evaluations - Longitudinal Studies - Statistical Analyses - Internships - Consultation - First Nations Research - Funding Applications
POLICY : Legislation - Statistics - Reform Initiatives - Governance - Outcomes Tracking - Other Initiatives
EVENTS : CECW Events - Canada - International
ABOUT US

Child Welfare Resource Centre (CWRC) *- offers a multitude of links to provincial and territorial child and family services sites across Canada, including government departments, associations, resources for foster parents, adoption resources, Native child welfare sites, schools of social work, and much more.
*NOTE: on December 20/07, the CRWC website link took me to an error page that said: "can't find the server at www.childwelfare.ca". If the link to the home page isn't reactivated when you click, try going to www.archive.org and entering the CWRC's domain name (www.childwelfare.ca) in the "Wayback Machine" box Archive.org's home page. On the results page, you'll see links to the latest versions of the entire (or most of ) the content from the website on the date that you select.

BACK


Autism, Ontario

Ontario Court Ruling Strikes Down Lower Court's
Ruling on Autism Therapy

July 8, 2006
Ontario Court of Appeal rules that the provincial refusal to fund therapy for autistic children older than five does not constitute age discrimination.
- large collection of online resources on this issue going back to April 2005
Source:
DAWN-Ontario (DisAbled Women's Network-Ontario)

----------------------------

Call for a National Autism Strategy
"To date no province has offered autism treatment under the Medicare umbrella. Those provinces that offer autism treatment programs under the Social Services departments are often plagued with unconscionable waiting lists or discriminatory age-based cut-offs. It is time for the federal government to demonstrate leadership and develop a National Autism Strategy that would see federal budget surplus dollars transferred to the provinces specifically for autism treatment along with corresponding standards so that no child with autism will be left behind."

Senator Munson Launches an Inquiry into the Treatment of Autism
Senate Wakes Up!
May 11, 2006
OTTAWA, May 11, 2006 – The Honourable Jim Munson, Senator (Ottawa – Rideau Canal) rose in the Senate today to launch an inquiry on the plight faced by parents of children with autism. “It is heartbreaking to see what families with autistic children have to deal with,” said Senator Munson.

Senate Debates of May 11, 2006 - Autism!

Source:
Barbara Anello
Acting Chair
DAWN Ontario: DisAbled Women's Network
Email: anello@vianet.ca
Email: dawnontario@sympatico.ca
URL: http://dawn.thot.net

----------------------------

AUTISM: the Latest Prevalence Rates in USA - Now 1 in 175
By Barbara Anello
Acting Chair, DAWN Ontario: DisAbled Women's Network
May 5, 2006
"Below is the latest bombshell in the USA about the prevalence rates for autism. Clearly, this is getting media attention in the USA. We, in Canada, need to capitalize on this and send this information to all MPs and Senators, especially Tony Clement, the Minister of Health, and ask them for the corresponding study results in Canada and what are they doing about it? Clearly, this would support the case that the government needs to mandate the Public Health Agency with monitoring what the heck is going on and using this data to feed into policy development.

As a mother of a child living with autism, I am asking all parents, family and friends of children with autism to send this to their MPs, and the Health Minister, with the request that the government recognize the problem and monitor the situation in Canada. "

- includes links to contact info for the federal Minister of Health, MPs and Senators, plus a selection of articles from American media.

Read More & Take ACTION!

Barbara Anello
Acting Chair
DAWN Ontario: DisAbled Women's Network
Email: anello@vianet.ca
Email: dawnontario@sympatico.ca
URL: http://dawn.thot.net

Related Links:

Autism resources
- includes Autism FAQ - Autism Information Center Resources for Families - Developmental Screening - Resources for Researchers - Kids' Quest - Publications
NOTE: this is the organization that did the two surveys that served as sources for the new autism estimates. When I checked the Autism resources page of the CDC site on May 7, there was no mention (yet) of the new release...
Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)

US survey shows autism very common
May 06, 2006
WASHINGTON, MAY 5: The first national surveys of autism show the condition is very common among US children —with up to one in every 175 with the disorder, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. This adds up to at least 300,000 US schoolchildren with autism, a condition that causes trouble with learning, socialising and behaviour, the CDC said. The CDC analysed data on 24,673 children whose parents took part in two separate government surveys on health in the United States to generate its first national estimate of the prevalence of autism.
Source:
Financial Express (India)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Says 300,000 Children Have Autism
Number may be higher, and cause is not known

May 4, 2006 — Three hundred thousand children. That's how many the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports suffer from autism. It has remained a baffling and often devastating disorder, and the new numbers show how widespread it is. The CDC reported that 5.7 children out of every thousand — one in 175 — have the problem. And the total may be higher because many doctors do not recognize the early warning signs.
Source:
ABC News Online

Google.ca News Search Results:
"autism study, CDC, May 2006"
Google.ca Web Search Results:
"autism study, CDC, May 2006"
Source:
Google.ca

NDP MP tables private bill on autism care
April 25, 2006
Alberta is the only province in Canada that pays for autism treatment and therapy, but NDP MP Peter Stoffer has tabled a private members bill that would ensure every province does the same. "No matter where you live in this country, you should have equal access to the healthcare system when it comes to autism," he told CTV News.
[NOTE: check the right-hand side of the CTV page for links to six more related stories and three videos.]
Source:
CTV News

Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect - 2003
October 4, 2005
"The rate of substantiated maltreatment in Canada, excluding of Quebec, has increased 125%, from 9.64 substantiated cases per thousand children in 1998 to 21.71 in 2003. This increase in documented maltreatment may be explained by improved and expanded reporting and investigation procedures such as: 1. changes in case substantiation practices; 2. more systematic identification of victimized siblings; and 3. greater awareness of emotional maltreatment and exposure to domestic violence."
- incl. links to : major findings, related CECW Information Sheets on CIS-2003 (Physical abuse of children in Canada - Sexual abuse of children in Canada - Child abuse and neglect investigations in Canada: Comparing 1998 and 2003 data - Child Neglect in Canada) + "Information Sheets Coming Soon" (Child Neglect In Canada - Domestic Violence - Emotional Maltreatment), plus Introduction to CIS Cycle II

Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect - Major Findings - 2003
HTML version
PDF version (2.9MB, 162 pages)

Source:
Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare

Google Web Search Results : "Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse, October 2005"
Google News search Results : "Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse, October 2005"
Source:
Google.ca

Related Link:

Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect: Final Report (2001)


Protecting children, helping adults: Bringing two worlds closer together
6th National Child Welfare Symposium
May 26 - 27, 2005
Mont Royal Centre, Montreal, Québec
[The Call for Abstracts closed December 3, 2004.]
Conference Themes: domestic violence * mental health * child protection * drug abuse * intellectual disabilities

"The Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare (CECW) is proud to present the detailed program, including a registration form, for the 6th National Child Welfare Symposium (www.cecw-cepb.ca) , to be held at the Centre Mont-Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 26 - 27, 2005. Protecting Children, Helping Adults: Bringing Two Worlds Closer Together, is bringing together researchers and practitioners with managers and decision makers who wish to build bridges between services for adults (specifically in the areas of domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health problems, and intellectual disability) and child welfare services. A forum on social policy is taking place at the end of the second day of the symposium. Its goal is to lay the groundwork for co-ordinating services for adults and services for children, with the aim of responding better to the respective needs of the members of families in difficulty. Taking the risk of intervening, together—should this be the starting point for concerted action?"

Program (PDF file - 1.4MB, 14 pages)

Source:
Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CANADA: Researching Resilience in Children and Youth [conference]
15-17 June 2005
University of Kings College
Halifax, Nova Scotia
"The International Resilience Project (IRP) is a research project that is using different types of research methods to examine what helps children and youth cope with the many challenges they face in life. The project is working with children, youth, and elders in 12 countries and on 5 continents around the world. It is a 3-year pilot study funded by the government of Canada through Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. The Project is hosting an international conference to present leading edge innovations in building, sustaining and researching resilience in children and youth, globally.(...) Researchers, policy makers, child advocates, clinicians, and community workers globally are being invited to share their work. "
-
Key note speakers include: James Garbarino * Hamilton McCubbin * Laura McCubbin * Cindy Blackstock * Zahava Solomon
-
The following sub-themes will be explored at the conference: (A) Theories of resilience in children and youth across cultures (B) Research methods in the study of resilience across cultures and contexts (C) Interventions to build resilience in children and youth, including prevention and treatment.
Source:
"The International Resilience Project (IRP) is an international research project that is using different types of research methods to examine what helps children and youth cope with the many challenges that they face in life. It looks at this from the perspective of youth, elders and others in each community that participates. The project is working with children, youth, and elders in twelve countries and on five continents around the world. It is a 3-year pilot study funded by the government of Canada through Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada."


National NGO Resources 
Ressources nationales non gouvernementales
(A-Z)

Ability Online
"A computer network designed to enhance the lives of children and youth with disabilities or illness by providing an online community of friendship and support."
Graphic version of this site
Text version of this site
En ligne directe
(French version of this site)
"Ability OnLine is a free internet community where children/youth with disabilities/illness and their parents can meet others like them, make friends from all over the world, share their hopes and fears, find role-models and mentors, and feel like they belong. Ability OnLine began in 1991 and has grown from a small Bulletin Board Service (BBS) to a web based network with members from around the world."
- Ability Online recently recorded the three millionth visit to its website (in 10 yrs.)...
About Us - read why Ability Online was created and how it's evolved since then.


Adoption Council of Canada
"The Adoption Council of Canada (ACC) is the umbrella organization for adoption in Canada. Based in Ottawa, the ACC raises public awareness of adoption, promotes placement of waiting children and stresses the importance of post-adoption services. Our services include a quarterly newsletter, a resource library, referrals, and conference planning."
- incl. links to : About the ACC | Organizations | News | Viewpoints | Legislation | Events | Publications | Research | Glossary | Newsletters | Canada's Waiting Children | Links | Statistics | Principles

Related Links:

Web Sites with Information on Adoption (ACC) - almost 30 links to Canadian (incl. provincial/territorial) government and non-government resources, and five American online resources

Canada's Waiting Kids (CWK)
"Canada's Waiting Kids is an online resource for the Canada's Waiting Children Program of the Adoption Council of Canada (ACC). The Web site lists photos and background information about Canadian children waiting for permanent adoptive families. It also provides information about domestic adoption in Canada of children in the care of Canadian child welfare agencies. Canada's Waiting Kids is a service of the ACC. The ACC is not an adoption agency but an information and referral service. This program is made possible by grants from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the ongoing support of Wendy's Restaurants of Canada."
- incl. links to : Adoption Process | Older/Special Needs Kids | Resources | Info and Support Groups | Photo Album | Social Workers' Corner | Terms and Conditions | Overview | Adoption Myths | Find Out More | FAQs

Alberta Adoption profile web site
Source : Alberta Children's Services

Albertans can view children at website
April 2003
"Alberta has changed its photolisting web site to protect the privacy of children listed for adoption. ACC has offered help in developing ethical guidelines for photolistings." More...
Source : Adoption Council of Canada (ACC)
NOTE: This ACC review of the Alberta government adoption photolisting web site is very comprehensive - and it includes links to many other related resources



Alliance of Five Research Centres on Violence
- Challenging violence against women and children, and family violence through academically-linked community-based research. Mission Statement: The Alliance of Five Research Centres on Violence exists to build community and academic partnerships to carry out research and public education to eliminate violence against women and children, and family violence.
The Five Centres:
The FREDA Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children - British Columbia/Yukon
RESOLVE: Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children - Ontario
Le Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur la Violence Familiale et la Violence Faite aux Femmes (CRI-VIFF) - Québec
Muriel McQueen Fergusson Family Violence Research Centre - New Brunswick
Check each of these for a multitude of resources and links to detailed information on family violence.

World Conference on Prevention of Family Violence 2005
October 23-26, 2005
Banff, Alberta
"The World Conference on Prevention of Family Violence 2005 will bring together a diverse group of international leaders, researchers and policy and program experts to share promising practice in family violence prevention, intervention, support and follow-up. The goals of the conference are to heighten global awareness of family violence, strengthen leadership networks and collaborative partnerships, and point the way for a generation free of family violence."
Source:
National Children's Alliance
Alliance nationale pour les enfants

...


Beverley Smith's Page
In May 1997 a Canadian homemaker, Beverley Smith, laid an official complaint at the United Nations that Canada discriminates against homemakers in its tax, divorce and childcare laws and in Statistics Canada studies.
"Beverley Smith is a long-time researcher and activist promoting equality for all roles for men and women, paid and unpaid, and for the state to value the family side of the career family balance. (...) working to get a fairer tax climate to all kids, and all ways to raise them, addressing child poverty in a way that shows no favoritism for lifestyle or career choice"

Kids First Parent Association of Canada
"We are a communications network of people working to better the lives of children. Through our efforts we endeavour to raise the social status of time devoted to caregiving and the anchor it provides, though unpaid, to a healthy society."
- incl. links to : About Us | History/Background | Caregiving Research | Health of Children and Parents | Finances of Families and Nations | Career Trends and Feminism | Unpaid but Meaningful Labor | Contact Us | Laws and Politics

Recent Developments in Caregiving
- free weekly newsletter by Beverley Smith of Calgary, available via e-mail by subscription [ bevgsmith@hotmail.com ]
Each issue includes recent news and information on a wide range of topics, such as the positive effects of good care, the negative effects of bad care, caregiving research, the characteristics of caregivers, child and parent health, career trends, family finances, legal and political, and much more...

Related Links:
(these links appear in each issue of the newsletter)

http://members.tripod.com/beverley_smith__1

http://unitednatcomplaint.tripod.com

http://dataforuse.tripod.com

http://kidsfirst1.tripod.com

http://vuthruotherseyes.tripod.com

http://worldkidquilt.tripod.com

NOTE:
For a counterpoint to Ms Smith's viewpoint, see Fact and fantasy: Eight myths about early childhood education and care (July 2003) by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)
I don't normally include links to opposing viewpoints unless I have some ideological differences with an author or an organization. In this specific case, I don't have Ms Smith's extensive experience in caregiving situations, and I respect all of the hard work that she and her supporters do to promote a cause in which they believe so fervently. However, I feel that the kind of support that she advocates for families with children is the same as the support that's demanded by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the National Citizens' Coalition - tax cuts - and I don't support tax cuts on that scale. The federal government's ability to influence national well-being is undermined with each tax cut and with each tax transfer to the provincial governments, and the provision of support on the level that Ms Smith advocates would, in my view, eliminate any possibility of ever seeing a national system of affordable, accountable, quality day care in Canada.



Bullying Awareness Network

Beyond Rhetoric: Canada’s Second Conference on Bullying
Ottawa Congress Centre
March 21-23, 2005
"The conference will bring together academic and community-based researchers, service providers youth, policy makers, and key stakeholders in order to better understand issues relating to bullying and victimization; and move towards finding effective solutions."

Conference at a Glance + daily rates, presentations, speakers, etc.


Caledon Institute of Social Policy

A Bigger and Better Child Benefit:
A $5,000 Canada Child Tax Benefit
(PDF file - 324K, 63 pages)
Ken Battle, January 2008
The federal child benefits system has undergone far-reaching changes over the past two years, with the addition of the Universal Child Care Benefit and non-refundable child tax credit to the existing Canada Child Tax Benefit. While these two so-called "new" programs (they are actually worn retreads from the past) have infused substantial new monies into the child benefits system, they also have made it complex, inequitable and virtually incomprehensible to Canadian families.

NOTE: includes a detailed section entitled "Evolution of child benefits 1918-2007."

A $5,000 Canada Child Tax Benefit:
Questions and Answers
(PDF file - 56K, 11 pages)
by
Ken Battle
January 2008

Child Benefits Levels in 2003 and Beyond: Australia, Canada, the UK and the US
Michael Mendelson
April 2003
Abstract
"Australia, Canada, the UK and the US all have programs providing cash benefits to families with children. This study is a detailed comparison of current child benefit rates in the four countries, for a representative lone parent family with one child and a two-parent family with two children. It also compares Canada’s child benefits in 2007, when all announced increases are implemented, to those in Australia, the UK and the US. The paper calculates the changes that would be needed to replicate UK child benefits in Canada, and analyzes the implications of these changes."
Full Document (PDF file - 75K, 13 pages)
Source : Caledon Institute of Social Policy

Architecture for National Child Care (PDF file - 58K, 21 pages)
November 2002
by Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman
"The case for investing in high quality child care is compelling and unequivocal."

Related Links:

A National Child Care Strategy: Getting the Architecture Right Now
A Report of the National Liberal Caucus Social Policy Committee with the collaboration of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy
Chair: John Godfrey MP
November 2002

Time to Decide on Child Poverty: Laggard or Leader?
The Competitive Requirement for a Canadian National Child Care Strategy
A Draft Report of the Social Policy Committee of the National Liberal Caucus
John Godfrey MP, Chair
August 2002

Website of John Godfrey, MP, Don Valley West


Campaign 2000
Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Campaign 2000 began in 1991 out of concern about the lack of government progress in addressing child poverty. Campaign 2000 is non-partisan in urging all Canadian elected officials to keep their promise to Canada's children. There are over 85 national, community and provincial partners actively involved in the work of Campaign 2000. Hundreds of other groups across the country work on the issue of child poverty every day, such as children's aid societies, faith organizations, community agencies, health organizations, school boards, and low-income people's groups.
Follow these links from Campaign 2000's Home Page : What's New - Take Action - Report Cards - Resources - About Campaign 2000

Campaign 2000 Partners - Complete list of all Campaign 2000 national, provincial and community partners - including links to 60+ websites of these NGOs and other groups from across Canada.

Campaign 2000 Report Cards - Links to the most recent report cards on child poverty at the national level as well as for the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Ontario. You'll even find a link to the child poverty report card for the City of Toronto on the report card page. (Click on the links down the left side of the page)

2007 Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada - Campaign 2000

No Change 18 Years Later – New Report Shows Child Poverty at 1989 Levels
Media release
November 26, 2007
Eighteen years after the 1989 all-party resolution of the House of Commons to end child poverty in Canada the rate is exactly the same, says a new report from Campaign 2000. Despite a growing economy, a soaring dollar and low unemployment, Statistics Canada data shows the after-tax child poverty rate is 11.7%, exactly where it was when all federal parties decided action was urgently needed.

Complete report card:

It Takes a Nation to Raise a Generation:
Time for a National Poverty Reduction Strategy
(PDF file - 542K, 8 pages)
November 2007

Version française:

Il faut une nation pour éduquer une génération :
Le temps est venu pour une stratégie nationale de réduction de la pauvreté
(fichier PDF - 565Ko, 8 pages)
Rapport 2007 sur la pauvreté des enfants et des familles au Canada

Source:
Campaign 2000 Report on Child and Family Poverty in Canada
Main page - includes links to both the French and English media releases and reports, as well as links to national report cards for previous years and for selected Canadian provinces.
[ Campaign 2000 ]

Related links:

Campaign 2000 Provincial report cards on child poverty
- incl. links to child poverty reports for BC - AB - SK - MB- ON - NB - NS
NOTE: (Nov. 26/07) As at this date, not all provinces have posted a child poverty report card for 2007. However, if you click the link above you can access reports for those jurisdictions for earlier years. The links below are to those jurisdictions that have a 2007 report online on Nov. 26.

British Columbia:
2007 Child Poverty Report Card (PDF file - 196K, 19 pages)
November 2007
Source:
First Call BC

Alberta:
Child and Family Poverty Too High in Wealthy Alberta
November 26, 2007
Related link:
Wages and Child and Family Poverty in Alberta: Fact Sheet
Source:
Public Interest Alberta

Manitoba:
A Province Left Behind.... Where's our poverty eradication plan,
Prime Minister Harper, Premier Doer and Mayor Katz?
(PDF file - 971K, 38 pages)
November 2007
Source:
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

New Brunswick:
Child and Family Poverty report card 2007 (PDF file - 780K, 6 pages)
November 2007
Source:
New Brunswick Human Development Council

Nova Scotia:
Child poverty in Nova Scotia: The facts (PDF file - 370K, 9 pages)
November 24, 2007
By Pauline Raven, Lesley Frank and Renee Ross

Related links:

BC's Child Poverty Rate Tops Again
Or is this headline just trying to manipulate you?
By Rob Annandale
November 26, 2007
"(...)To say a Vancouverite who earns $20,000 per year is living in poverty would indeed seem preposterous to many of the more than one billion people worldwide who survive on less than a dollar a day."
Source:
The Tyee
<begin Leap of Logic rant:>
EH? Comparing the incomes of someone living in Vancouver with someone in Africa or Asia?
Reality check: It's the cost of living, Stupid. I would have expected this kind of distorted comparison from minions of the Fraser Institute, but from the Tyee?? Yech.
(Read the Comments section immediately below the article for similar helpful advice to Mr. Annandale.)
</end Leap of Logic rant.>

From the Edmonton Social Planning Council:

Standing Still in a Booming Economy:
Finding Solutions for Low Income Working Households
(PDF file - 672K, 51 pages)
October 2007
Table of contents:
* Introduction * Methodology * Reporting the Trends (Profile of Edmonton’s Economy - Employment - Employment Earnings and Benefits - Market Income - After-Tax Income - Economic Growth and Family Incomes - Income Distribution - Job Market - Unionization - Low Income - Workers in Low Income Households) * Recommendations (Labour Market - Transfer Programs - Tax Measures) * Conclusion
[NOTE: this isn't part of campaign 2000's provincial child poverty reports, but it's recent and it's about poverty in Alberta, so it's included here for information purposes.]

From CBC:

* B.C.'s child poverty rate worst in Canada: First Call report (November 26)
* Child poverty rate in Manitoba remains too high: Social Planning Council of Winnipeg (November 26)

From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Survey: Poor kids’ lot gets worse
November 27, 2007
The national child poverty rate may be the same as it was in 1989, but life for poor Nova Scotia families isn’t, says a new report on child poverty.

Poverty Quiz - Test your knowledge of child and family poverty in Canada.

Addressing the Falling Fortunes of Young Children and their Families: A Community Building Approach
This is a two-year national project (January 2006 through March 2008) which aims to identify strategies to improve the income and wages, including the living wage, of young families and their children.

Regional Partner Organizations
(Click the link above to access the websites of the organizations listed below)
* Community Services Council, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Family Service Association of Toronto
* Women's Habitat (Toronto)
* North End Women's Centre (Winnipeg)
* Social Planning Council of Winnipeg
* First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition

Canada’s Child Poverty Levels not Budging -
New report shows child poverty “entrenched” in Canada over 25 Years

Campaign 2000
23 November 2006
The rate of child and family poverty in Canada has been stalled at 17-18% over the past 5 years despite strong economic growth and low unemployment, according to a new report by Campaign 2000.

Oh Canada! Too Many Children in Poverty for Too Long [pdf, 6pp, 311KB]
2006 report card on child poverty in Canada

Version française:
Oh Canada! Trop d'enfants pauvres et depuis trop longtemps [pdf, 6pp, 331KB]

Earlier editions of the
report card on child poverty in Canada
- reports in English and French going back to 2002
TIP: if you scroll to the bottom of the earlier editions page, you'll also find links to a 2002 report to the UN Special Session on Children entitled A report on a decade of child and family poverty in Canada and a November 2001 Campaign 2000 Bulletin entitled Family Security in Insecure Times: Tackling Canada's Social Deficit.

Related Links:

Aboriginal children are poorest in country: report
B.C. and Newfoundland have highest rates; Alberta and P.E.I. have lowest rates

November 24, 2006
A national network of advocacy groups released a report on Friday that paints a bleak picture of poverty facing First Nations children in Canada. In its report, called Oh Canada! Too Many Children in Poverty for Too Long, the advocacy group Campaign 2000 says First Nations children are suffering the greatest levels of poverty of all children in the country.
Source:
CBC News

Google Web Search Results:
"Campaign 2000, child poverty reports, 2006, Canada"
Google News Search Results:
"Campaign 2000, child poverty reports, 2006, Canada"
Source:
Google.ca

Campaign 2000 Calls for an Ontario Action Plan to Address Child Poverty
News alert
March 2, 2006
"A new report by Ontario Campaign 2000 finds that 443,000 children in Ontario are living in poverty and the child poverty rate is stalled at 16%, despite strong economic growth."

Complete report:

Putting Children First:
2005 Report Card on Child Poverty in Ontario
(PDF file - 346K, 8 pages)

Version française:
Les enfants d’abord : Rapport 2005 sur la pauvreté des enfants en Ontario (fichier PDF - 278Ko., 8 pages)
Le 2 mars 2006

Source:
Campaign 2000
Campagne 2000 (version française du site)

Poverty hits one in six kids in Ontario
Study blames increase in part-time, contract work
Report urges hike in minimum wage, quality child care
March 2, 2006
One in six children in Ontario lives in poverty, a study being released today found. That's 443,000 people under 18 across the province.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Google Web Search Results : "2005 Report Card on Child Poverty in Ontario"
Google News search Results : "2005 Report Card on Child Poverty in Ontario"
Source:
Google.ca


First Ministers told to take action to lower shameful poverty rates
News alert - Campaign 2000
Kelowna, BC,
23 Nov 2005
"Activists took their annual child poverty report directly to the First Ministers meeting here today. The findings are discouraging. For almost 30 years the poverty rate has been stuck at one-in-six children. Whether families are mother-led, have two parents, are working full time or on social assistance the numbers are static. A particularly disturbing finding is that child poverty rates for Aboriginal, immigrant, and visible minority children are twice the national rate. Campaign 2000 National Coordinator Laurel Rothman, whose organization prepares the annual update, was joined by Peter Dinsdale of the National Association of Friendship Centres. They are clearly frustrated by misplaced government priorities and jurisdictional wrangling."

Provincial Child Poverty Report Cards were also released in BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia (see below).

Complete report:

Decision Time for Canada: Let’s Make Poverty History
2005 Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada
[pdf, 12pp, 500KB]

Version française:

Une décision s’impose au Canada : Abolissons la pauvreté
Rapport 2005 sur la pauvreté des enfants au Canada
[pdf, 12pp, 500KB]

--------------------------------------

Provincial reports

British Columbia
Fact Sheets on Child Poverty in British Columbia, 2005 [pdf, 14pp, 300KB]
BC Campaign 2000
November 2005
Source:
First Call BC

Saskatchewan
Report Card on Child Poverty in Saskatchewan, 2005 [pdf, 12pp, 422KB]
November 2005
Source:
Social Policy Research Unit - University of Regina

Manitoba
Where There's a Will There's a Way: If Not Now, When?
Manitoba Child and Family Report Card 2005
. [pdf, 21pp, 658KB]
November 2005
Source:
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

Nova Scotia
The Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Card 2005: 1989–2003 [pdf, 20 pp, 508KB]
Source:
Nova Scotia Office - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Reducing Child Poverty to Increase Productivity: A Human Capital Strategy
Brief to the Standing Committee on Finance
(PDF file - 89K, 8 pages)
Pre-Budget Consultation
September, 2005
By Laurel Rothman
National Coordinator, Campaign 2000
"The fact that 15% of our youngest citizens are growing up in poverty does not bode well for Canada’s future productivity performance, which is the focus of the 2005 Pre-Budget Consultations. Broad based investment in our human capital is essential for a productivity agenda. "Canada’s Fiscal Outlook projects surpluses of almost $30 billion over the next five years. With consecutive multi-billion dollar budget surpluses, Canada has the resources to make substantial progress. We call on the federal government to commit a portion of these surpluses to invest in children, as they have committed portions for healthcare and equalization payments."

Submission to the Federal Labour Standards Review - Excerpts
September 26, 2005
Campaign 2000
"Campaign 2000 maintains that federal labour standards should be modernized to reflect leading standards and 'best practices'in other advanced economies. They need to be updated to reflect changes in the labour market and workforce over the past 40 years, with a particular emphasis on ensuring protection for vulnerable workers."

Complete brief:

Submission to the Federal Labour Standards Review Commission
Re: Part III of the Canada Labour Code
(PDF file - 57K, 7 pages)
August 15, 2005
From: Laurel Rothman, National Coordinator

Related Link:

Federal Labour Standards Review Commission

Fifteenth Anniversary Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada - 2004
November 2004
"On the 15th anniversary of the all-party resolution to end child poverty in Canada, Campaign 2000 will release its annual Report Card on November 24, at 10am EST."

Complete report:

English version:
One million too many: Implementing solutions to child poverty in Canada
2004 report card on child poverty in Canada
[pdf, 12pp, 186KB]

Version française:
Un million de trop : mettre en oeuvre des solutions pour s'attaquer à la pauvreté des enfants au Canada
Rapport 2004 sur la pauvreté des enfants au Canada
[pdf, 12pp, 193KB]

Provincial Child Poverty Report Cards: Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, British Columbia
NOTE: click the link above to access the poverty reports when they are released on November 24, or use the contact information below to obtain more information for a specific province.

Related Links:

FirstCall BC (Vancouver)
Edmonton Social Planning Council
Winnipeg Social Planning Council
Campaign 2000 - Ontario
Community Services Council - Newfoundland and Labrador
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Nova Scotia)

Child poverty: setting new goals
November 24, 2004
CAROL GOAR
"Giving up is not an option. But clinging to a faded dream is not a solution.
So today, on the 15th anniversary of his parliamentary resolution to end child poverty by 2000, Ed Broadbent will set a new goal. He will challenge Canadians to reduce the child poverty rate to 5 per cent within 10 years. His new target lacks the tidy finality of the one he persuaded all MPs to endorse on Nov. 24, 1989, shortly before his retirement as leader of the New Democratic Party. It is less ambitious, less appealing.But Broadbent, who returned to active politics this year, believes it is realistic and achievable. He calls it 'a new agenda for a new time.'
The child poverty rate currently stands at 15 per cent. It was 15.2 per cent when Broadbent issued his clarion call 15 years ago."
Source:
The Toronto Star

Google News search Results : "Campaign 2000, child poverty report 2004"
Google Web Search Results : "Campaign 2000, child poverty report 2004"
Source:
Google.ca

---------------------------------------------

Editorial: Renew pledge on child poverty
May 10, 2004
"(...)Nearly half a century ago this nation decided that none of its citizens should have to forgo needed health care just because his or her family didn't have enough money to pay for it. So how can it be that we still expose more than 1 million children to the risks of poor health and lost opportunities for personal growth and fulfillment just because they were born into families that happened to be poor? Because they couldn't answer that question in 1989, MPs promised to make every effort to rid the country of child poverty by 2000. And because they still cannot answer that question, they need to renew their pledge, and this time to follow through on it."
Source:
The Toronto Star
NOTE: this article is about the Campaign 2000 report Pathways to Progress (see the next link below)

Low wages condemn families to poverty
News Alert
May 5, 2004

---------------------------------------------

Pathways to progress:
Structural solutions to address child poverty
By Christa Freiler, Laurel Rothman and Pedro Barata
May 2004
Executive Summary [PDF -14pp 95KB]
Full paper [PDF - 82pp 360KB]

Version française:
Les voies du progrès : solutions structurelles pour s'attaquer à la pauvreté infantile
Résumé [16pp 105KB]
Rapport [83pp 390KB]

"Child poverty remains firmly entrenched in Canada. Pathways to Progress: Structural Solutions to Address Child Poverty challenges governments to work together on a social investment strategy that will forge pathways out of poverty for one million children today, and will secure pathways to the future for generations to come."

---------------------------------------------

Jobs alone not a pathway out of poverty, study shows
News Alert
November 23, 2003
"More than half of all children living in poverty have parents who are in the paid labour force, says a report released today by Campaign 2000."

Complete report:

Honouring Our Promises
Meeting the Challenge to End Child and Family Poverty
2003 Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada
(PDF file - 183K, 12 pages)
"Fourteen years ago, the House of Commons unanimously resolved to "seek to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000". Despite consecutive years of economic growth more than one million children, or almost one child in six, still live in poverty in Canada."
[ version française - format PDF - 190Ko., 12 pages]

Earlier Campaign 2000 child poverty reports - links to 2002 child poverty report, A Report on a Decade of Child and Family Poverty in Canada (May 2002), The UNSSC: Putting Promises Into Action, Family Security in Insecure Times: Tackling Canada's Social Deficit (November 2001)

Provincial child poverty report cards : incl. British Columbia - Manitoba - Nova Scotia - Ontario - Saskatchewan

............................................

Diversity or Disparity?
Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada (ECEC)

Second Report, Community Indicators Project
October 2003

For the first time, the number of child care spaces declines in Canada
News Alert
October 28, 2003
Release of Diversity or Disparity? Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada (ECEC), Second Report, Community Indicators Project
"...cuts to child care budgets in the three richest provinces - British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario - resulted in an overall loss of spaces"

Media Kit: contains media release, Q&A. (PDF file - 178K, 3 pages)
Full Report - HTML (NOTE: the table of contents is in the left-hand margin of the report page)
Full Report - PDF - 288K, 16 pages

Related Links:

About the Community Indicators project
Project reports
- links to HTML and PDF versions of this year's report and last year's (released in October 2002), as well as French versions of reports for both years.

............................................

Poverty Amidst Prosperity - Building a Canada for All Children
Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada, November 2002

Campaign 2000
"For the first time in a decade the number of children living in low-income families has dropped from one in five, to one in six, says a new report released by Campaign 2000. The change follows four consecutive years of falling child poverty rates. But that figure is still higher than in 1989, when one in seven children were poor, prompting the House of Commons to pass a unanimous resolution to eliminate child poverty."
News Alert - November 21, 2002
Complete report online (HTML)
[NOTE: If you're using Netscape 4.7, the "HTML" link above may not work - use Opera or Internet Explorer, or else download the pdf version of the report]
Complete report (PDF file - 107K, 4 pages)
Version française:
La pauvreté en période de prospérité – bâtir un Canada pour tous les enfants (fichier PDF - 11Ko., 4 pages)
Source:
Campaign 2000

Related Links:

Children, an overlooked investment - (PDF file - 72K, 2 pages)
Manitoba 2002 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty
November 2002
Source : Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

Saskatchewan Child Poverty Report (PDF file - 307K, 10 pages)
November 2002
Source : Social Policy Research Unit (University of Regina, Saskatchewan)

BC Campaign 2000 (First Call BC) Report Card on Child Poverty in 2002
November 25, 2002
Fact Sheet #1 What is Child Poverty?
Fact Sheet #2 Child Poverty In British Columbia
Fact Sheet #3 Child Poverty by Family Type
Fact Sheet #4 Making Ends Meet
Fact Sheet #5 Child Poverty and BC Employment and Assistance
Fact Sheet #6 School Fees
Fact Sheet #7 Humiliation and Shame
Source : FirstCall BC

Provincial report cards - Campaign 2000 links to reports cards for previous years and other jurisdictions (NS, ON)

Campaign 2000 Media Conference: Failing Grades for Canadian Child Care
October 24, 2002
"Whatever the indicator - availability of spaces, affordable fees for parents, helping low income families or meeting quality standards Canadian child care services receive a failing grade, says a new study sponsored by Campaign 2000."
Early Childhood and Care Community Indicators Project - description of the initiative
Project reports

Back Up Child Poverty Promises with Real Money, PM Urged
News Alert
October 1, 2002
"The real test of the government's commitment to fight child poverty will be in the investment priorities of the next budget, said child poverty advocates following the Speech from the Throne."
[For other links to analysis of the federal government's Speech from the Throne (Sept. 30/02), go to the Canadian Social Research Links General Federal Government Links page]

Putting promises into action: Campaign 2000 Brief to the Standing Committee on Finance
Pre-budget consultation
by Laurel Rothman
Campaign 2000
September 9, 2002
"Substantive action is required in this federal budget to address child and family poverty and meet the government's stated objectives of improving the lives of all children."
Complete report online:
Putting Promises into Action
(PDF file - 546K, 12pages)

Campaign 2000 UN Special Session on Children website
The UN Special Session on Children: A Promise to Act
- incl. links to : Introduction - Resolution - Letter to the PM - 6 steps you can take - Status report - Related links - Contacts

End Child/Family Poverty: Meeting with Your MP National Campaign
July 17, 2002
"Campaign 2000 is currently engaged in an intensive all-party national awareness campaign to ensure that child and family poverty becomes a key component of the upcoming federal budget."

Putting Promises Into Action : A Report on a Decade of Child and Family Poverty in Canada, May 2002 (PDF file - 297K, 16 pages)
May 2002
[version française]
"A comprehensive plan of social investments for children will promote an inclusive society and contribute to an enriched economic and social environment. These investments are essential to providing Canada's, and the world's children, with the best start and an equal opportunity to succeed."


Note: on the Campaign 2000 Home page, you'll also find these two related links:
- Canada's PM develops stage fright for UN Children’s Session (April 30)
- Letter to Prime Minister Chretien on the occasion of the UN Special Session on Children (April 16)

Family Security in Insecure Times: Tackling Canada's Social Deficit
Almost one in five children still lives in poverty in Canada -an increase of 39%since 1989
November 2001 Bulletin
Press Release
Complete Report
(PDF file - 4 pages, 666KB]
Related Press Releases

Report on Child Poverty in Canada - Promises Not Kept
Special focus on Manitoba
November 2001
Cover
(PDF file - 1.4MB, 1 page)
Report (PDF file - 268K, 1 page)
Source : Campaign 2000 and the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg

Child Poverty - A National Disgrace
November Initiative 2001
On November 26th Campaign 2000 opened a photo exhibit at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and in nine other locations.

Photo Exhibit Online

Get on with the job of a National Children's Agenda, groups urge Premiers
Press Release
July 27, 2001
Toronto - Today a national coalition exhorted Canada's Premiers to make children a top priority by taking action to eradicate Canada's persistent levels of child poverty. Campaign 2000, a national coalition of over 85 groups, released a detailed open letter in anticipation of next week's annual Premiers' Conference
Open Letter (HTML).
Open Letter (PDF file - 77K, 7 pages)Also from Campaign 2000:
The Relationship Between Reliable Child Care and Lone Mothers' Attachment to the Labour Force: Mothers' Voices and the Public Policy Perspective
Campaign 2000 public forum on child care
June 2001- incl. links to almost a dozen reports and presentations, such as:
The Early Childhood Development Initiative: A Vision for Early Childhood Development Services in Ontario - April 2001(PDF file - 229K, 10 pages)
Stacking the Deck: The Relationship between Reliable Child Care and Lone Mothers' Attachment to the Labour Force - May 2001(PDF file - 1,182K, 20 pages)

Campaign 2000 continues: Keep the promise to eliminate child and family poverty in Canada
June 5, 2001

Stacking the Deck: The Relationship between Reliable Child Care and Lone Mothers' Attachment to the Labour Force
PDF file - 1,182K, 20pp
Summary Report from the Interviews, May 2001

The Early Childhood Development Initiative: A Vision for Early Childhood Development Services in Ontario
Ontario Campaign 2000 Consultation Paper
PDF file - 10pages, 229KB
April 9, 2001
Developed in consultation with representatives from: Campaign 2000, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, Ontario Association of Family Resource Programs, Toronto Public Health, Metro Association of Family Resource Programs and Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care.


Campaign Against Child Poverty
Campagne contre la pauvreté des enfants
"The Campaign Against Child Poverty is a national, non-partisan coalition of citizens from faith-groups, social justice groups, charities, child welfare organizations and others concerned about the unacceptably high levels of child and family poverty in Canada. We are also concerned about the hazards to the future educational, social, physical, developmental and employment success of those children presently living in poor families. (...) We are affiliated with no political party, and our only special interest is to reduce the numbers of poor children in Canada. We are funded by private citizens across Canada, by foundations, faith communities and NGO's, all of whom share our vision of a poverty-free country."
- incl. links to : Who we are - What we do - Why we do it - Public education messages - Links to sponsors

Maybe it’s time we had a commission investigating child poverty...
April 23, 2005
The Campaign Against Child Poverty ran this full-page ad in the Toronto Star on April 23. It talks about the 15% of our children - more than 1,000,000 kids – who live below the poverty line, about how, more than 15 years ago, Canadian Parliament voted unanimously to end child poverty, and how Europe and Scandinavia have proven conclusively that child poverty rates can be dramatically reduced with no risk to national economies. It talks about the need for a national early childhood education and care plan, affordable housing, a livable minimum wage, and support for the National Child Tax Benefit.
Source:
Campaign Against Child Poverty


CanChild
"CanChild is a centre for childhood disability research that seeks to maximize the life quality of children and youth with disabilities and their families. CanChild is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team working in the field of childhood disability. The aims of this research centre are to:
• take a leadership role in identifying emerging issues for research, practice, policy and education
• conduct high-quality research
• effectively transfer knowledge into practice at clinical and health system levels
• provide education for consumers, service providers, policy makers and students"
- incl. links to: What's New - Our Research - Online Publications - List of Articles & Books - Measures & Multimedia - Browse by Theme - External Links - Order Form - Contact Us
Source:
McMaster University Faculty of Health Science


Canadian Association for Young Children


Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)

Slow progress wins Nova Scotia a failing grade in the fight against child poverty among Canadian provinces
Press Release
November 24, 2003
"HALIFAX: A report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds that Canada and Nova Scotia have lost ground in efforts to reduce child poverty. 'Promises to Keep: The Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Card 2003' finds that child poverty today is worse than it was in 1989 when Canadian parliamentarians determined that child poverty should end by the year 2000."

Complete report (PDF file - 132K, 18 pages)


Offord Centre for Child Studies (formerly the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk)
- The mission of the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk is to improve life quality of children in Canada by reducing the suffering and disadvantage associated with children's emotional and behavioural problems.

The Effects of Breakfast on Children's Mood, Behaviour and Ability to Learn
Prepared By Aurelia T. Shaw, Yvonne Racine and David R. Offord

- see Appendix C - How is the Problem of School Hunger Addressed in Canada?

- see also Appendix D - Identifying Populations for Breakfast Programs : Undernourished children and children from low-income families



Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children - " ...for the promotion and protection of children's rights in Canada and abroad"
"The mandate of the Coalition is to ensure a collective voice for Canadian organizations and youth concerned with the rights of children as described in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Summit for Children Declaration. Formed in 1989 after the unanimous adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the United Nations General Assembly, the Coalition has grown to include over 50 national and provincial non-government organizations (NGOs) committed to promoting and protecting the rights of children in Canada and abroad."
- incl. links to : More About the Coalition - Our members, and links to their sites - UN Special Session on Children - How Does Canada Measure Up? Say it Right - Quiz


Canadian Council on Social Development

Child Health and Safety
June 4, 2007
In conjunction with our partners in Mexico and the United States, the Canadian Council on Social Development has released Child Health and Safety, a new report in the Children in North America series. It provides indicator data on the physical, mental and environmental health of children.
- incl. links to Growing Up in North America (May 2006) and other related material

Complete report:
* Child Health and Safety in Canada, the United States and Mexico
(PDF file - 1 MB, 64 pages)

* Executive summary: Child Health and Safety in Canada, the United States and Mexico
(PDF format, 241 kb)

Français:
* Le bien-être des enfants au Canada, aux États-Unis et au Mexique (format PDF, 1 Mo)
* Sommaire executif: Le bien-être des enfants au Canada, aux États-Unis et au Mexique (format PDF, 244 kb)

Related Links:

Children in North America Project website
The Children in North America Project aims to highlight the conditions and well-being of children and youth in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Through a series of indicator reports, the project hopes to build a better understanding of how our children are faring and the opportunities and challenges they face looking to the future.

Partners in the project:

Canadian Council on Social Development
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (U.S.)
Population Reference Bureau (U.S.)
Red por los Derechos de la Infancia (Mexico)

First-of-its-Kind Report Examines Child Well-Being in Canada, United States and Mexico:
Economic and Social Integration Have Profound Effect On 120 Million Children in North America
(PDF file - 36K, 2 pages)
Press Release - May 2, 2006
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report that examines the state of child well-being in North America – Growing Up in North America: Child Well-Being in Canada, the United States & Mexico – reveals that gains in human development across the continent have not kept pace with the last decade’s dramatic advances in technology, trade, and investment. In this first-of-its-kind report issued today, the three project partners – the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México – call for attention to child well-being against a backdrop of economic and social change in North America.

Growing Up in North America:
Child Well-being in Canada, the United States and Mexico
May 2006
- includes links to:
* Complete report (PDF file - 1MB, 50 pages)
* Executive Summary (PDF file - 92K, 2 pages)
* Fact Sheet (PDF file - 35K, 2 pages)
* Press Release: Economic and Social Integration Have Profound Effect On 120 Million Children in North America (see above)
* From canada.com (May 1): Well-being of children may be overlooked as Canada, U.S., Mexico grow closer
* CCSD Op Ed [March 2006]: Message to Harper, Bush and Fox: Shortsighted to ignore 120 million kids
* Grandir en Amérique du Nord [French] (PDF file - 1.2MB., 56 pages)
* Creciendo en América del Norte [Spanish] (PDF)
* Children in North America Project website

Project partners:

Annie E. Casey Foundation
Since 1948, the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) has worked to build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families in the United States. The primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families.

Red por los Derechos de la Infancia en México (site available only in Spanish)

--------------------------------------

Some families losing ground
in effort to provide stable family incomes
Media Release
April 26, 2006
OTTAWA – One-third of Canadian children living in poverty have a parent who works at a full-time job, according to a new report by the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD). The Progress of Canada's Children and Youth 2006 also shows that this situation is deteriorating. In 1993, one-quarter of poor children had a parent who worked full time. "Family income is recognized as one of the keys to healthy child development," says Dr. Peter Bleyer, CCSD President. "Yet job security eludes many Canadian parents, and that has an enormous impact on what their kids eat, how they learn, and where they play." Temporary, part-time, contract, and seasonal employment now make up 37% of Canadian jobs, compared to 25% in the mid-1970s. The CCSD report also shows that investing in children through government transfers brought the child poverty rate down from 27% to 18% in 2003.

Complete report:

The Progress of Canada's Children & Youth
HTML version

- incl. links to : Portrait - Family Life - Economic Security - Physical Safety - Community Resources - Civic Vitality - Health Status - Social Engagement - Learning - Labour Force Profile of Youth - Data Sources - Web-Only Supplementary Data - Tools - Contact Us - Français
PDF version (2.5MB, 84 pages)
Tools - links to individual PDF files for each chapter of the report, plus fact sheets, press release, etc.

Source:
Canadian Council on Social Development
(CCSD)

Child Care for a Change!Shaping the 21st Century
Childcare & Early Learning Conference

November 12-14, 2004
Winnipeg Convention Centre

"The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) is the host of the conference “Child Care For A Change! Shaping the 21st Century." The conference will take place at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, in Winnipeg, from November 12th to 14th, 2004. This exciting pan-Canadian conference will feature inspiring speakers such as UN Special Envoy Stephen Lewis and Quebec Education Critic Pauline Marois. It will provide ample time for a rich dialogue and debate during sessions like the special Town Hall Meeting on Child Care. It is expected that the ideas generated from the conference will influence public policy and public perception about early learning and child care and help set the agenda for the next decade."
General Info - Program (incl. list of 15 workshops)- Speakers - Papers - Registration - Accommodation

 

The Progress of Canada's Children 2002
November 4, 2002
- incl. links to : Communiqué - Highlights - Backgrounder - Ontario Backgrounder - Speaking Notes

The Progress of Canada's Children 2001
Canadian Council on Social Development

March 27, 2001

Communiqué
Backgrounder
Highlights
Section 1: Table of Contents, Intro, Highlights (Acrobat Reader required)

We need to build on the National Children's Agenda and take it beyond early childhood development, to create a national, coherent approach to providing supports for children of all age groups.


National Child Day is here – but will children with special needs be celebrating?
Communiqué
November 20, 2001
Ottawa – The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) today marked National Child Day with the release of a report highlighting the difficulties and barriers facing children with special needs – problems which should be diminishing, given the Prime Minister’s public commitment to Canada’s children in the last Speech from the Throne, but which in fact remain daunting.
Executive Summary
Full Report Online (PDF file - 281K, 56 pages)

The Incidence and Depth of Child Poverty in Recession and Recovery: Some Preliminary Lessons on Child Benefits
Background Notes for a Presentation to the House of Commons Subcommittee on Children and Youth at Risk
June 6, 2001
Andrew Jackson
"While the NCB itself appears to be working as intended, higher provincial social assistance benefits are clearly needed to reduce the depth of child poverty."

Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance, detailing our priorities for the 2000 federal budget
October 26, 1999

- "To lay the conditions for future social cohesion and sustainable economic prosperity shared by all, the CCSD is calling for a Children's Budget focused on the critical needs of Canadian children, youth and families"

- incl. "Reinvesting in the Social Infrastructure" - improvements to the NCA and NCB, for example...

"The CCSD also recommends that the government index the child benefit system to inflation (at an estimated cost of $200 million per year) and ensure that benefits flow to all poor children, including those living in families that rely on social assistance."

Income and Child Well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate
by David P. Ross and Paul Roberts

May 1999

Rethinking Child Poverty - David Ross,summer 1999

Child Poverty in Canada: Recasting the Issue - David Ross, Toronto April 1998
"According to the Fraser [Institute] analysis, child poverty is really only a problem among those who live in families where incomes are so low that the parents cannot even afford adequate food and shelter (...) let me remind them that Canada is not a Third World country."

Overview: Children in Canada in the 1990s
David P. Ross, Katherine Scott and Mark A. Kelly

November 1996

 (53 pages, PDF file, 775K)

- Data for 1994-95 National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (first Internet edition 1998)



Canadian Child Care Federation
"The overall mission of the Canadian Child Care Federation is to improve the quality of child care services for Canadian families."
- incl. links to : Affiliates -About Us - Membership - Networks - Press Room - Projects - Publications - Search - Links

Links to Affiliates - links to the websites of 14 affiliates of the CCF


Canadian Children's Rights Council
"The Canadian Children's Rights Council was formed in the early 1990's to monitor compliance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Canada. (...) We are a non-profit, non governmental educational and advocacy organization dedicated to supporting the rights and responsibilities of Canadian children. (...) We are a member of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN), an international, world-wide organization which is comprised of over 2000 member children's rights organizations."
- highly recommended site - tons of content!
- covers many aspects of children's rights, including child poverty, child and youth justice, children's identity rights, child protection, parental alienation syndrome and much more...
- large section devoted to education about the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child + analysis of the Government of Canada's actions and reports to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Canadian Children's Rights Council Links
- 200+ links in the following areas:
* United Nations * Human Rights Commissions in Canada * Human Rights Commissions in countries other than Canada * Child Genital Mutilation * Child Abuse * The Child Rights Information Network (CRIN ) * Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) * Youth Suicide * Children's Identity Rights / Children's Identity Fraud / Paternity Fraud * Child Poverty * ADHD - Ritlan * National Child Day * Canadian Family Law / Parent support Groups * Canadian University Human Rights Related Sites * International Children's Rights Links * Non-Canadian University / College Human Rights Related Sites * Canadian University Law Schools * Other Links of Interest

Table of Contents - large collection of online resources, mostly news articles


Canadian Education on the Web - Everything from soup to nuts about education in Canada, including: Boards of Education, Canada-Wide Organizations, Commercial Education Sites, Community Colleges, including Cégeps in Quebec Databases, Clearinghouses and Directories, Distance Education, Education Journals,Education Libraries, Educational Networks, Educators and Education Resources, Elementary and Secondary Schools, Faculties of Education, Independent Institutions, Jobs in Education, Ministries of Education, Private School Organizations, Provincial Organizations, School Board Organizations, Student Newspapers, Student Organizations, Teachers' Organizations, Universities and Colleges, and Other Canadian Education Internet Lists.


Canadian Foster Parent Home Page


Canadian Health Network



Canadian Policy Research Networks - CPRN
Réseaux canadiens de recherche en politiques publiques - RCRPP

"We are one of Canada's leading think-tanks, specializing in social and economic policy research and public engagement. We are a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization. Our mission is to help make Canada a more just, prosperous and caring society."

Research Networks
"CPRN's research is organized under four Networks - Family, Work, Health and Public Involvement. We emphasize projects that bridge economic and social policy issues. Projects are selected on the basis of their social importance and availability of funding. We seek the widest possible range of funding sources to ensure no single voice dominates the research process."
For each of the four networks, you'll find links to the following content: People - Research Themes - Publications - Events - Partners - Links - What's New

Research Themes
18 themes in all (only the main themes dealing with kids appear below),incl. links to the following content for each theme: Sub-Themes - Publications - Partners - Events - Links
Research themes focusing on families and children:
Cities and Communities
Citizenship and Diversity
Governance and Social Policy
Kids Canada Policy Digest [coming soon!]
Social Cohesion Nexus Family Network
The Best Policy Mix for Canadians Family Network
Urban Nexus Family Network

Publications : Links to 300+ CPRNreports

Newsroom
- incl. links to News Releases - CPRN in the News - e-network - NetworkNews - Policy Direct

Site Map --- links to all major pages in the website; good way to get around...


Canadian Union of Public Employees

From patchwork to excellence in child care
November 2, 2004
"OTTAWA – Canada will go from patchwork to excellence if all levels of government work together to create the public, not-for-profit child care system that Canadians deserve and need, said Paul Moist, CUPE national president. Moist made the remarks as he joined with child care workers, parents and children to greet Minister Dryden Tuesday morning as Dryden began his day-long meeting with provincial social development ministers to discuss the child care program."
- incl. links to the following related articles:
* Wages for child care workers: the link with quality
* URGENT: Tell Ken Dryden to make child care history
* CUPE’s analysis of the federal speech from the throne
* CUPE blasts throne speech as blueprint for weak federalism
* Rapid response wins reprieve for BC college child care centre

For more on the current (late 2004) round of federal-provincial-territorial negotiations concerning child care,
go to the Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd.htm


CanLearn Interactive
"Welcome to CanLearn Interactive, the one-stop online source for information on post-secondary education in Canada. Whether you're a student, a teacher, a counsellor, or a parent, CanLearn Interactive has everything you need to help plan and finance education and learning. You will find information about Canadian universities and colleges, scholarships, and much more. CanLearn Interactive also includes the National Student Loans Service Centre, where you will find all the information you need to apply for, maintain and repay your student loans."



Carrefour action municipale et famille
[website in French only]

“More time for family : It’s Everybody’s Business!”
North American Conference on the Family
May 23 to 27, 2003
Longueuil, Québec
"...deliberations about the impact of globalization and neoliberalism on family policies "
This conference is organized jointly by:
Carrefour action municipale et famille, an organization grouping municipalities involved in family policies and active throughout the Province of Québec, and the World Family Organization (WFO), North American Chapter. The World Family Organization is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) bringing together governments, research institutes and community organizations which purport to help families. The organization has a Category “A” consultative status with the United Nations.




Centre of Excellence for Early Child Development - University of Montreal

Centre of Excellence for Children and Adolescents with Special Needs - Lakehead University

The Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth-Centred Prairie Communities - Social Planning Council of Winnipeg
Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare
- University of Toronto
Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement
- Students Commission (national youth advocacy group)

Expert Advisory Committee on children announced
News Release
November 23, 2001
OTTAWA -- Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State for Children and Youth, today announced on behalf of Health Minister Allan Rock, the creation of a National Expert Advisory
Committee on the Centres of Excellence for Children's Well-Being. Ms. Blondin Andrew made the announcement at a national conference in Ottawa featuring the work of the five Centres of Excellence. Over 400 experts, including researchers, policymakers, and professionals in health, education, child care and social services are attending the conference.
Members of the National Expert Advisory Committee
Source : Health Canada

Government of Canada announces five centres of excellence for children's well-being
News Release

October 5, 2000

Read this Health Canada news release for information about all five centres


Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System (London Family Court Clinic)
The is a non-profit agency in London, Ontario, which advocates for the special needs of children involved in the justice system as young offenders, victims of crime or abuse, or as the subjects of custody disputes. Our advocacy includes assessment, counselling, prevention services, research, dissemination of information, and training for the community.
The Centre has seven core areas: Child Witness Project - Clinical Supports Program - Counselling Services - Custody and Access Project (including mediation) - Research Services - Young Offender Services - Violence Prevention Services
Web Links -excellent resources!
- incl. Child Abuse - Relationship Abuse - Restorative Justice - School Violence & Bullying - Victims of Crime - Women Offenders - Young Offenders

Centre for Families, Work & Well-Being
The Centre for Families, Work and Well-Being at the University of Guelph conducts research and outreach to workplaces on work-family conflict, workplace policies, and community supports. The Centre website includes a large selection of resources and links related to work and family.

Father Involvement Research Alliance (FIRA)
FIRA is a pan-Canadian alliance of individuals, organizations and institutions dedicated to the development and sharing of knowledge focusing on father involvement, and the building of a community-university research alliance supporting this work.
- incl. links to the following Research Clusters:

* Immigrant Fathers * Gay/Bi/Queer Fathers * Separated and Divorced Fathers * New Fathers * Indigenous Fathers * Young Fathers * Fathers of Children with Special Needs

FIRA online resources - papers, books, articles, reports, and
and excellent collection of links to parenting resources and father resources.

Inventory of Policies and
Policy Areas Influencing Father Involvement
(PDF file - 2.4MB, 160 pages)
By Donna S. Lero, Lynda M. Ashbourne and Denise L. Whitehead
May 2006
The purpose of this inventory is "to begin to identify the various ways current policies and institutional practices may affect fathers in diverse subpopulations and social circumstances across Canada, and to encourage discussion, analysis and debate about how policies and practices might better serve to support fathers."


Child & Family Canada
...a unique Canadian public education website. Fifty Canadian non-profit organizations have come together under the banner of Child & Family Canada to provide quality, credible resources on children and families on an easy-to-navigate website. The managing partner of the consortium is the Canadian Child Care Federation



Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa

Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada
"The Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC) arose from the second Canadian conference on Child Care held in Winnipeg in 1982. Over 700 delegates from all Provinces and Territories called for an effective voice to pursue child care issues at the federal level and to promote a broad consensus of support within all regions of Canada. We are an incorporated, non-profit, bilingual Association."

Patchwork to Framework: A Child Care Strategy for Canada - Report
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada
November 2, 2004
"From Patchwork to Framework: A Child Care Strategy for Canada is constructed around three main recommendations:
1. Enact legislation with supporting agreements outlining service entitlement, standards, quality enhancements, and accountability and leadership responsibilities.
2. Establish a schedule for federal funding to reach 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2020 outlining goals and timelines for funding and service provision in 5-year increments over a 15-year period.
3. Support parents to balance work and family responsibilities by enhancing maternity/parental benefits and family responsibility leaves."

Complete Report (PDF file - 260K, 27 pages)
Highlights (PDF file - 148K, 4 pages)

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Version française:
Stratégie canadienne en matière de services de garde à l’enfance – Cadre d’action proposé
Fichier PDF - 284Ko., 31 pages
Points saillants
Fichier PDF - 132Ko., 4 pages
Source:
Association canadienne pour la promotion des services de garde à l'enfance

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Related Links:

Open Letter to Honourable Ken Dryden and the Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Child Care /
Lettre ouverte à l’honorable Ken Dryden et aux ministres provinciaux et territoriaux responsables des services de garde à l’enfance

October 27, 2004
- includes a link to the