New report highlights income required to sufficiently cover the cost of living in Calgary

The pandemic has emphasized the importance of paying people living wages

A critical look at Alberta’s income support program

A challenging economy and the pandemic have disproportionately affected women and their families, but there’s hope for a better future

In advance of International Women’s Day, Calgary’s Women In Need Society and Vibrant Communities Calgary Forge Partnership to Help End Poverty in our city

The Canadian Poverty Institute is an inter-disciplinary institute housed within Ambrose University that seeks to heal poverty through teaching, research and public education.

YW Calgary is the largest and longest serving women’s organization in Calgary. We support our clients in meeting their immediate and most basic needs, then work directly with them to create positive change in their lives. We believe that healthy women and healthy families lead to thriving communities.

Calgary Immigrant Women's Association (CIWA) is a non-profit organization established in 1982 as a registered charity. CIWA is a culturally diverse settlement agency that recognizes, responds to, and focuses on the unique concerns and needs of immigrant and refugee women, girls, and their families. CIWA’s uniqueness is based on its gender specific mandate. Over the years, we have continually responded to emerging needs of immigrant women and girls, developed innovative programs, established meaningful partnerships, and have come to be recognized as a provincial and national leader in outcome-based gender-specific settlement services.

Momentum is a change-making organization that combines social and economic strategies to reduce poverty. We use a holistic approach that covers everything from financial literacy, entrepreneurship and skills training, to developing communication skills, and building self-confidence. At Momentum, everything we do is grounded in a community economic development model, which means we work with individuals, businesses and systems to build a more inclusive local economy.

Home Spritz is the premier home cleaning company in Calgary supporting local cleaners. We offer a living wage which supports buying local and helping the community we live in thrive. We allow you to talk directly with house cleaners and help support that relationship to ensure both parties are supported and happy. We know being grounded in the local communities we work will help build a better Canada.

Adult Literacy and Foundational Learning 

Income from employment that is sufficient to cover the cost of living in a given region is not only vital to reducing poverty but is a necessary component to a resilient city and economy. People need more than the bare minimum, this includes enough income to cover bank fees, education and training, internet costs, and the ability to save for an unexpected event. Other principles identified by Living Wage Canada include a wage that enables working families to have sufficient income to cover reasonable costs, promote social inclusion, and support healthy child development.

Working in collaboration with other municipalities, Vibrant Communities Calgary has adopted the new standardized methodology to calculate the living wage rate for Calgary.  The 2020 living wage is $20.69 per hour, a substantial 27% increase from the 2018 rate of $16.45, and a difference of 39% from Alberta’s minimum wage of $15 per hour.  

LivingWage_Brief_2020-Formatted.pdf

2020 has been a tough year. While the data is not all in, this year has brought inequities to the surface, in our own city and worldwide. 

Among those harder hit include Calgarians who were experiencing poverty before COVID-19 began. Parents, especially mothers, are struggling to balance work and childcare, and many are leaving employment altogether. Racialized groups and people with lower incomes are less likely to be able to work from home and much more likely to contract COVID-19. Unpaid sick leave was always an issue of poverty, but today it is a matter of public health. 

The intersection of COVID-19, the recession, and increasing food prices has made the vulnerable more vulnerable. We don’t have all the information yet, but need to be prepared to support Calgarians facing unprecedented challenges. As such, we’ll share the most recent data we have on poverty in Calgary and what we know about this radical new context.

poverty-snapshot-in-calgary_2020.pdf

Vibrant Communities Calgary and EndPovertyEdmonton believe the Alberta government plays a pivotal role in ensuring public safety, wellbeing, and in creating the right environment for civil society to adequately do its job. While we realize these are extraordinary times, Alberta’s debt and increasing health care costs are long standing challenges. When the causes of health care and opportunities for savings are closely examined, the evidence points overwhelmingly to various issues related to poverty. We understand and respect the difficult choices your government has had to make during an extremely challenging year, and we believe this submission presents a path forward towards modernizing our policies for the Alberta of today, helping create a strong foundation for the future. 

priorities-for-alberta-budget_vcc-epe-joint-submission_2021.pdf

At the Business Council of Alberta, we spend a lot of time thinking about shared prosperity—how can we ensure that all those who call Alberta home have the opportunity, security and belonging to live the life that they aspire to? According to recent reports from Vibrant Communities Calgary and End Poverty Edmonton, more than 120,000 Calgarians and 100,870 Edmontonians live in poverty, respectively, and poverty is over-represented in children, women, newcomers, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, and the working poor.

Meaghon Reid and Erick Ambtman are Executive Directors for Vibrant Communities Calgary and End Poverty Edmonton, respectively, organizations that have a big, audacious goal to end poverty in Alberta. They join BCA president and host of this episode, Adam Legge, to dive into the relationship between poverty and shared prosperity, how COVID-19 has both accelerated the problem but also the opportunity for solutions and how businesses help drive meaningful action in reducing (and eliminating) poverty in Alberta.

Meaghon and Erick share several concrete ways businesses can help reduce poverty in Alberta beyond a cheque, including

Look at or develop social procurement policies to use purchasing power to support local community businesses

Look at vendors and contractors and their practices around paying a living wage and supporting the well-being of employees

Consider your ability to pay a living wage for employees

Assist with innovation for social service agencies and non-profits and look for opportunities to provide knowledge and insight to service agencies

Reach out to service agencies in your community to learn what they need and add supplies or materials to your bulk order

For the complete conversation on these ideas, please go to 43:35.

More Than a Cheque: Reducing Poverty and Building Shared Prosperity in Alberta

The year 2019 marked the beginning of phase two for Calgary’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. The refreshed strategy Enough for All 2.0: Leveraging Our Communities’ Leadership to Tackle Poverty in Calgary (E4A 2.0) was developed after several months of community consultation and is informed by the evaluative learnings from phase one, the first four years of the strategy (2015-2018). This evaluation report shows progress and identifies gaps in the Goals, Levers of Change, Principles and the role of the Champions and Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) in advancing the strategy. 

The short and long-term influences of the provincial deficit, Alberta’s economic downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to be determined. It is likely that demand for resources will increase at a time when funding for social programs is at risk. We may also see a ‘new level of vulnerability’ and poverty as Calgarians who were managing before the pandemic now deal with reduced income from unemployment and mounting debt related to deferred mortgage and/or utility payments and/or use of credit to obtain emergency supplies. 

evaluation-report_2019.pdf

Refreshed poverty reduction strategy for 2019–2023

Over the past five years, there have been significant changes in the social and economic landscape in our community. For example, citizens have experienced the effects of a significant fall in the price of oil, an increase in unemployment rates, and a persistent downturn in the economy. At the same time, progress has been made by community organizations, as well as all levels of government introducing of the Alberta Child Benefit, the increasing and indexing of income support programs to the cost of living, six new community hubs, and a national poverty reduction strategy to name a few. Yet, poverty is the day-to- day reality of more than 120,000 Calgarians.

EnoughforAll2.0.pdf

E4A-2-0-Summary.pdf

Convene stakeholders and provide a platform for collaboration

Leverage advocacy through shared communication 

E4A-Advocacy-Stakeholder-Map.pdf

Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) has been advocating for policies to reduce poverty for over a decade, and from our perspective Budget 2019 raises concerns in our collective desire to reduce poverty in Calgary. Although we understand and respect the difficult choices our government has had to make as they work to balance the budget, our role as a backbone organization of Enough for All, Calgary’s poverty reduction strategy, commits us to share our concerns, and deepen awareness. 

vcc-response-to-alberta-budget_2019.pdf

VCC's Response to the Alberta Budget 2019

As we reflect on 2019, we, as a community, made incredible strides in making aspects of what contributes to poverty in Calgary, now, only part of our history. We worked with individuals, community groups and leaders to increase local capacity work to develop concrete poverty reduction initiatives. Diligent work happened broadly across our levers of change, as we saw changes in policies, regulations, investments, structures, and practices, as well as developments in programs, services, and supports that help Calgarians ‘beat the odds.’ Together, we expanded public awareness and support to address various causes of poverty. 

Our story this year was full of new chapters. In March 2019, the Enough for All Strategy refresh was launched. Enough for All 2.0: Leveraging our Communities’ Leadership to Tackle Poverty in Calgary was the culmination of countless hours of consultations from all sectors in our community. It was an affirmation that this strategy has worked, and a confirmation that there is still a lot of work to do. 

report-to-community_2019.pdf

The 2019 Alberta budget will impact Calgary’s efforts to achieve the goals within the Enough for All strategy. The budget’s primary focus is on jobs and the economy with a plan to reduce spending by 2.8% over the next four years. VCC has identified which areas of the budget will impact the goals of Enough for All. 

provincial-budget-e4a-fact-sheet_2019.pdf

Alberta Provincial Budget 2019: E4A Fact Sheet

Due to some significant and largely positive changes in social policy, and a refreshed Enough for All strategy, VCC has decided to release a Poverty Snapshot for 2019. 

The purpose of this snapshot is to provide Enough for All stakeholders with low-income statistics that can be utilized in their current and future efforts, and more generally to make Statistics Canada and other income data more accessible. 

a-snapshot-of-poverty-in-calgary_2019.pdf

2018 was the fourth and final evaluation year of the Enough for All (E4A) strategy utilizing a Collective Impact, approach with Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) as the backbone. Given this, this evaluation report highlights how the E4A goals progressed to reduce poverty in Calgary, as well as challenges and considerations that emerged over four years of implementing E4A. 

evaluation-report_2018.pdf

Arguably the most significant recommendation that was implemented was the introduction of a provincial child benefit. In 2015, the Government of Alberta introduced the Alberta Child Benefit. The benefit resulted in $175 million going to 127,345 families with household incomes of less than $41,200. Combined with the Government of Canada’s changes to the national child benefit, the level of child poverty in Alberta was reduced by 50 percent. 

albertas-progress-in-poverty-reduction_2019.pdf

2018 marks the halfway point in the strategy. We have much to be thankful for, including child poverty in our province has been reduced by 50 per cent, the Government of Alberta increased and indexed our income support programs, the Government of Canada released Opportunity for All, a national strategy to reduce poverty, our province released a provincial housing strategy, 10,000 were housed through the housing first approach, 81,000 were approved in Calgary’s Fair Entry program so that they could more easily access subsidies for city services and more than 40,000 made use of the sliding scale transit pass. Together under the Enough for All banner, we are making a difference in our community.

report-to-community_2018.pdf

2017 was the third year of implementation of the Enough For All (E4A) strategy, utilizing a collective impact approach with Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) as the backbone. In its third year of implementation, E4A is clearly becoming both a network and an anchor that weaves and grounds all poverty reduction preventions and interventions in Calgary. In 2017 there were clear and measurable changes that demonstrated progress and alignment within each of the four goals of the E4A strategy. Collaboratives and stakeholders within E4A, to varying degrees, are orienting their development, planning and outcomes to one or more of the E4A goals. This focus and tightening of alignment is being integrated throughout all of the work and is a significant indictor of the shifting and strengthening landscape of the E4A collective impact. Overall, the numbers of people living with low incomes in Calgary has not changed dramatically and remains steady in spite of significant limiting factors of increases in population and unemployment and strenuous economic conditions in Alberta. The E4A strategy, as both net and anchor, has been pivotal in preventing more people moving into poverty and low income in Calgary. Social change requires everyday commitments coupled with dedication to the long-term investment to create positive change within the complex issue of poverty. This evaluation illustrates the early changes that are being achieved as a result of the E4A strategy alongside recommendations to increasingly strengthen the strategy and its collective impact approach. 

evaluation-report_2017.pdf

George Brookman, a businessman and volunteer, met with Pamela an Indigenous community partner who is an advocate for education, wellness and volunteering. George and Pamela discovered they share a desire for giving back to the community and helping those in need. 

Calgary’s living wage is not the minimum wage. Minimum wages are legislated by the provincial government and are set so that no employer may pay below the legal minimum. A living wage is a proxy for the cost of living in any given community. It is not an arbitrary number, but is instead determined by calculating average expenses, taxes and government transfers for a given household. A living wage considers the basic needs of an average family of four with two working parents and two children, plus additional costs we all incur from time to time, to allow for a family to fully participate, thrive and build their human and financial assets (e.g., education and savings).

LivingWage_2018.pdf

Poverty is different than low income. Enough for All defines poverty as the condition of a human being who is deprived of the resources, means, choices and power to acquire and maintain self sufficiency while being able to be an active participant in society. Low Income 

is based exclusively on one indicator; income. This report focuses primarily on the incidence of low income and the ways in which low income may be manifested or developed (e.g., under employment or unemployment). Adding to the complexity, there are three different measures of low income used in Canada; Market Basket Measure, Low Income Cut-Off and Low Income Measure. For the purpose of this report, we have included the definition of the second and third measurements.

poverty-in-calgary-snapshot_2018.pdf

Calgary welcomed 93,255 immigrants in the period of 2011 to 2016 (Statistics Canada, 2016). With the total number of immigrants, including non-permanent residents within Calgary totaling 431,870, Calgary has the fourth largest immigrant population in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2016). The more recent a person has immigrated to Canada, the more likely they are to be living in low income. 

poverty-affects-newcomers_2018.pdf

2017 was the third year of implementing Enough for All. Given the complexity of the underlying causes of poverty – including income, mental health, education, racism and marginalization – a foundation of the strategy is that all sectors need to work differently. As a community, it requires that we balance our organizational goals with the needs of our fellow Calgarians who live in chronic scarcity. No one sector or organization can reduce the prevalence of poverty in our community. Greater collaboration is required. 

The past year saw greater signs of progress on this front. The Financial Empowerment Collaborative coordinated the filing of 8,000+ tax filings, resulting in $3.7 million in refunds. The Social Policy Collaborative launched a shared policy pilot in which 11 organizations contributed funds to the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy to provide evidence-based research on both basic income and the changing face of poverty in Alberta. The research will provide a foundation for advocacy moving forward. The Community Hubs Collaborative created a toolkit – a resource that any group can use to improve access to services in their community. The City of Calgary launched the sliding scale transit pass, which over 40,000 accessed in the first few months of its implementation alone. The City’s Fair Entry program continued to remove barriers to its services. The Community Housing Affordability Collective has been fully active in promoting the development and improved accessibility of affordable housing. The Indigenous Advisory Committee held two community sessions to deepen the community’s understanding and help advance the response by organizations and individuals to the 94 calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Report. 

report-to-community_2017.pdf

Our goal at Vibrant Communities Calgary is to achieve a sustained reduction in the number of Calgarians living in poverty. We do this by bringing all members of the community together to address the root causes that contribute to poverty. 

By providing leadership, fostering collaboration and championing social justice and pragmatic action, the 2018 Implementation Plan seeks to inspire real progress toward the goal of cutting poverty in Calgary in half by 2023 — so Calgarians’ basic needs are met and all have the opportunity to participate fully in their communities. 

implementation_plan_2018.pdf

implemenation-plan-summary_2018.pdf

The year 2016 marks the second year of implementation of the Enough for All strategy (E4A) within a collective impact approach, and of Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) being the backbone organization to the strategy. This evaluation illustrates the abundance of poverty reduction efforts and activities, and the breadth and depth of poverty reduction work in Calgary. What truly makes E4A different is its collective impact approach: the alignment and leveraging of highly coordinated areas of differentiated work towards common goals. Currently there are clusters of highly coordinated work happening in Calgary, yet much of the work is disconnected. This result is not uncharacteristic in the early formation of a collective impact initiative and will require continued investment in relationships, continuous learning and strategic funding to further embed the E4A strategy within collective impact. 

evaluation-report_2016.pdf

evaluation-response_2016.pdf

In 2016, Vibrant Communities Calgary completed the second year of guiding the implementation of
 the Enough for All (E4A) poverty reduction strategy. It was a difficult year for many Calgarians who lost their jobs as the city’s unemployment rate climbed to 10.3%. Many struggled to not fall into poverty. The increase in those accessing the food bank, increase in personal bankruptcies and crimes are proxies for the increase in economic precariousness in our city. 

In this unsettled environment, we applaud and cannot underestimate the positive impact of the Alberta Child Benefit and the enhanced Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit. Low income families who filed their taxes accessed hundreds of millions of tax-free dollars to assist them in raising their families. Revisions to both provincial and municipal legislation has helped regulate the pay-day lending sector. Coupled with new credit services of First Calgary Financial’s Cash Crunch Loans, and both ATB Financial’s and Cashco Financial’s access to mainstream banking services has made a difference for unbanked and underbanked Calgarians. City Council approved the new sliding scale transit pass through which Calgarians with the lowest incomes have access to a monthly pass for less than the price of two tickets. And, Calgarians continue to utilize improved access to City services through the Fair Entry program. 

report-to-community_2016.pdf

From May to August 2016, Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) hired an individual to complete a comprehensive stakeholder engagement process to inform a revision of VCC’s Living Wage Initiative. The Living Wage Initiative is inclusive of maintaining Calgary’s Living Wage calculator, administering communication of Calgary’s Living Wage rate including notification of annual increases, advocating for policy change that supports a Living Wage and finally, coordinating the Living Wage Leader Program. 

Summary of the Living Wage Initiative Strategic Revision Engagement Process.pdf

Summary of the Living Wage Initiative Strategic Revision Engagement Process

In the spring of 2015, the Enough for All (E4A) Impact and Evaluation Steering Committee was formed with the mandate to support the development and delivery of an annual community report on the progress of the aspirational goals of E4A, and Vibrant Communities Calgary’s value as the backbone organization. Committee members were actively involved in the recruitment and selection of external evaluators responsible for developing a framework for evaluating the collective impact of E4A, as well as assessing the effectiveness of Vibrant Communities Calgary as a backbone organization. Our committee is made up of a cross-section of community volunteers and representatives from various organizations with an interest in ensuring the success of the E4A strategy. 

evaluation-report_2015.pdf

Calgarians came together and developed Enough for All, Calgary’s community-driven poverty reduction strategy, and 2015 marked the first full year of its implementation. Vibrant Communities Calgary (VCC) was given the opportunity to guide its implementation, and with courage and determination the community has put its collective shoulder into realizing the strategy. 

Much has happened as a result of the first full year of implementation. Creative Theory, the external evaluators of the implementation of the strategy reported the first year’s progress (which you will read about in this report). The United Way, the City of Calgary, Bow Valley College, the Government of Alberta and Momentum made the Financial Empowerment Collaborative a reality. The YWCA realigned its strategic plan with Enough for All. The Government of Alberta launched the Child Benefit which will supported tens of thousands of Calgary families. The City of Calgary launched its Fair Entry program making it easier for low-income Calgarians to access city services. The Aboriginal Advisory Committee continued to advance the strategy by focusing on the unique issues facing Calgary’s Indigenous community members. 

report-to-community_2015.pdf

The development of this implementation plan marks another milestone in the realization of a Calgary in which our great grandchildren will visit the museum to learn about poverty. The plan builds on the Enough for All strategy approved in May 2013 and benefits from the community consultation and initial project development work carried out during 2013 and 2014.

implementation-plan_2015.pdf

implementation-plan-summary_2015.pdf

Poverty Costs 2.5 is an updated version of the original Poverty Costs 2.0 (2013) report. Action to End Poverty in Alberta and Vibrant Communities Calgary have chosen to update the June 2013 report with the most recent statistics and data using the Low Income Measure After-tax (LIM- AT). Many policy recommendations have also been refined to reflect new data and current provincial realities. Our organizations recognize that LIM-AT is a more accurate poverty line measure, going forward, for a number of reasons. LIM-AT is an internationally used and recognized poverty line that allows for comparative analysis of progress. It is increasingly being used as the de-facto poverty line in Canada.

poverty-costs-2-5_2015.pdf

Poverty Costs 2.5: Investing in Albertans - Revised Edition

Community Voices compels us to listen to the views and experiences of people who have been homeless and who have accessed human and social services in Calgary. The purpose of the Community Voices study was to stimulate collaborative participation with people experiencing homelessness in an effort to collectively influence program and policy evaluation and development. The study had three major objectives: 

To engage the experience and participation of persons previously or currently experiencing homelessness in gathering and sharing feedback into existing programs and services, and into policies at the municipal, provincial and/or federal levels; 

To heighten public visibility of issues surrounding homelessness, by sharing the stories and experiences of those affected and those who serve them; and 

To expand, coordinate and deepen research capabilities of all participants. 

The Community Voices project, which began in 2011, was spearheaded by Homeless Awareness Calgary (now dissolved) in collaboration with researchers and students at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary and community experts. Community Voices is a Participatory Action Research project which is defined by a collaboration of equal partnership between researchers and community experts. Co-researchers jointly agree on the goals and purpose of the research, collaborate to determine the nature of data collection and analysis, as well as synthesize results cooperatively. 

community-voices.pdf

Poverty Costs 2.0: Investing in Albertans is a follow-up report to the work presented in Poverty Costs: An Economic Case for a Preventative Poverty Reduction Strategy in Alberta (2012). Indeed the final chapter of the first Poverty Costs report outlines in a broad way, the kinds of policy driven components a comprehensive strategy to reduce poverty in Alberta would require. Sherri Torjman, an eminent social policy expert, has identified 10 “poverty policy” areas where provincial/territorial governments can create or improve upon existing policies and legislation with a view to preventing and reducing poverty.

poverty-costs-2-0_2013.pdf

Poverty Costs 2.0: Investing in Albertans

Calgary is a prosperous city with a strong economy, the highest average income and lowest unemployment rate in the country. Yet, in the midst of this prosperity poverty remains a reality. In 2010, there were 114,000 Calgarians living below the poverty line.1 Many more struggle just above the poverty line. A lack of savings and high levels of debt affect many families, and a significant number worry about not having enough money for housing and even for food.

Enough-for-All-Strategy.pdf

An economic case for a preventative poverty strategy in Alberta. Some argue that reducing the number of people living in poverty is a
 moral imperative, and that we should therefore accelerate our efforts to address it. Others argue that our assistance programs are more than generous already. Maintaining the status quo is certainly an option – we could choose to declare that the programs and policies we have in place now are the most we are willing to do. If this is the case, it begs the question: What is the financial cost of this decision to our provincial government, to taxpayers, and to those living in poverty? How much does it cost to perpetuate poverty in Alberta?

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