Public health report sheds light on poverty in region

GUELPH – For the second year, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) took a deep dive into poverty to discover what it looks like locally, how it is playing out for families and individuals, and how poverty contributes to negative health outcomes.

This isn’t entirely new information.

Most people think they know what it’s like to not have enough money to pay their bills and feed their kids. You put your head down, pull up your bootstraps and work hard to overcome it.

The report shows how difficult it is to break out of the poverty cycle, and how ultimately poverty can lead to negative physical and mental health outcomes for individuals, parents and their children.

Michael Whyte, manager of data and analytics with WDGPH, explained to the board of health on Sept. 2 what life is like for Laura, a composite figure who represents a single mother of two living on minimum wage.

“Using current local, provincial and national evidence, the report explores the relationship between income, employment, housing affordability, social assistance, food insecurity, homelessness and the population disproportionately affected by poverty,” states Whyte’s report.

The report was researched in 2025, when minimum wage was $17.60 per hour and the living wage in this region was pegged at $23 per hour.

The fictional Laura rents a two-bedroom apartment with her two children, aged three and seven. She has a full-time job in retail and earns minimum wage.

Annual expenses for Laura include rent, childcare, food, medical, transportation, clothing, internet/phone and miscellaneous, which includes things like car repairs and extracurricular activities for the kids.

On minimum wage, she’s in the hole about $6,000 per year. On a living wage, she might have a $700 or $800 surplus.

“A living wage does not promise luxury or remove stress,” Whyte said. “It adds a small financial margin.”

Laura makes ends meet by feeding the kids but not eating herself, not signing the kids up for extracurriculars or attending birthday parties, and using the food bank and other community supports. But if the kids are sick, that’s a day of lost wages. If the car breaks down, it’s a nightmare.

And if she wants to take courses to educate herself and find a better-paying job, it’s not just tuition she has to come up with but childcare and time – perhaps time from her paying job, making this option even more difficult.

Whyte said 16.3 per cent of children in lone-parent families in this region live in low-income households. And 89% of those who are food insecure have full-time wage earners in the household.

The report also examines a rental wage – that is the hourly wage needed for rent to account for no more than 30% of their gross income.

Based on the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Rental Market Survey, “In Guelph, the resulting 2024 rental wage was $30.73 per hour for a one-bedroom apartment and $33.46 per hour for a two-bedroom,” reads the report.

But, “In Guelph, the asking rent for a vacant two-bedroom unit was $2,270 per month, corresponding to a rental wage of approximately $44 per hour,” which far exceedsthe 30% affordability threshold, states the report.

Whyte’s report says there has been a growing reliance on social assistance programs, which still don’t raise families or individuals out of poverty.

“Locally, the number of Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) beneficiaries increased by as much as 14% across Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph in 2024-25,” it states. “Most OW beneficiaries in the region are single individuals without children (about 70%) or single parents (about 24%).”

The report recognizes that people living this close to the margins are at risk of homelessness. If they can’t pay rent, they lose their housing.

The report notes that recent immigrants, Indigenous and racialized populations face higher poverty than non-racialized residents. And they often have a harder time finding housing and jobs because of discrimination. 

Future reports will include the relationship between poverty and health outcomes across the life course, and evidence-informed actions to reduce poverty through public health and community partnerships.

“It’s important for us to recognize this. The decisions we make (as municipal leaders) can improve or disrupt the lives of people who are living in poverty,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer.