[Webinar] From Policy to Practice: Advancing the National Poverty Reduction Strategy

Description

Poverty reduction is complex and requires a whole-of-society approach that includes [federal], provincial, territorial and municipal governments, employers, non-profit and community organizations, and individuals.

– A Time for Urgent Action, the 2024 Annual Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty

The 2024 Annual Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty, titled A Time for Urgent Action, gives us an updated picture of the state of poverty in Canada. After a low in 2020, the poverty rate is once again rising, with deep poverty increasing as well as many people struggling to afford their basic needs for the first time.

Income has not kept pace with the rising cost of living and working wages are no longer a reliable strategy to reduce poverty. The chasm between the cost of basic needs and income is leading to more core housing need, food insecurity, barriers to healthcare and transportation – disproportionately affecting marginalized communities such as Indigenous and racialized groups.

The report calls for transformative measures now, including a basic income floor indexed to the cost of living, fixing the social safety net, improving access to affordable housing and reducing food security, addressing structural inequities, and setting an ambitious target of reaching zero poverty in Canada.

Community-based efforts are at the forefront of the impacts of poverty and are essential in this transformation but cannot do it alone.

This webinar will explore what the Council heard from people across Canada in 2024, the federal government’s role in reducing poverty, as well as highlighting how communities – local organizations, collaboratives, associations and individual community members – can action this report.

Speakers

Scott McAfee, Chairperson, National Advisory Council on Poverty

Scott is a lifelong learner, a facilitator, a coach and a connector. He spent almost 20 years with the Government of New Brunswick where he worked on poverty reduction through the department of Social Development and the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation.

Scott has chaired OMISTA Credit Union, Falls Brook Centre, New Brunswick Food Security Action Network and the Fredericton Loyalists Rugby Club. He has also sat on the boards of the Atlantic Summer Institute, the Healthy Eating Physical Activity Coalition and Team Rural NB.

Scott is passionate about community, storytelling, innovation, belonging and supporting others.