Question Period Note: CHILDREN FIRST CANADA’S REPORT ON TOP 10 THREATS TO CHILDHOOD IN CANADA

2024 Release of Children First Canada’s Raising Canada: Top 10 Threats to Childhood in Canada Report

• The Government welcomes Children First Canada’s latest report on the state of childhood in Canada.
• In a country as prosperous as Canada, all Canadians, and especially children, should have a real and fair chance to succeed.
• The Government has made significant investments to support children’s wellbeing. This includes the introduction of the Canada Child Benefit, investments in early learning and childcare, dental care, and a National School Food Program, to only name a few.
• The Government is committed to continuing to improve children’s lives, in collaboration with provinces, territories, Indigenous partners, children and youth, and stakeholders.

Children First Canada

Children First Canada is a national charity that aspires to create a country where children can grow up free from the barriers that prevent them from achieving their full potential – starting with the protection of their most basic rights to childhood.

In addition to the annual Raising Canada report, since 2020, Children First Canada has hosted a Young Canadians’ Parliament to educate young people about their rights and Canada’s democratic system.

Sara Austin is the CEO and founder of Children First Canada. She and her organisation have been key stakeholders on the children’s file.

Children First Canada was contracted to plan and facilitate school food engagement with children and youth in 2022-23 to support the development of a National School Food Policy and Program.

Raising Canada report

Launched in 2018, Raising Canada is an annual series of research reports on the state of the nation’s children (ages 0-18). The report tracks the top “10 threats” to the wellbeing of children and youth in Canada and makes recommendations for change.

The 2024 report highlights that one in three children in Canada do not enjoy a safe and healthy childhood and identifies the following top 10 threats (consistent with last year):
• unintentional and preventable injuries;
• poor mental health;
• violence against children and child abuse;
• vaccine-preventable illnesses;
• systemic racism and discrimination;
• poverty (including food insecurity);
• infant mortality;
• bullying;
• limited physical activity and play; and,
• climate change.

Recognizing the disproportionate impact of the top 10 threats on different communities and individuals, the report takes an equity, diversity and inclusion lens, and stresses the importance of applying this lens to policymaking.

The report also highlights how the 1) influence of technology on children and adolescents; 2) inaccessibility of health care and other social services; and, 3) barriers to active youth engagement cross-cut all of the identified threats.

The report concludes with three main Calls to Action: 1) develop a National Strategy for Children that appoints an independent Commissioner for Children and Youth; 2) Invest in children and publish a Children’s Budget and; 3) Empower children by investing in child rights education and actively involving children and youth in the decisions that affect their lives. These recommendations are consistent with Children First Canada’s past recommendations.

Notably, the call for the appointment of an independent Commissioner for Children and Youth is consistent with calls from other stakeholders and with recurring recommendation from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Child Poverty and Food Insecurity

Poverty rates for children were below Canada’s overall poverty rate in recent years though it was equivalent (9.9%) in 2021. Between 2015 and 2022, the poverty rate for children went down from 16.3% to 9.9%.

The Government of Canada released Opportunity for All – Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2018. The Strategy offers a bold vision for Canada as a world leader in the eradication of poverty and is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending poverty.

The Strategy also sets ambitious and concrete poverty reduction targets based on Canada’s Official Poverty Line: a 20 percent reduction in poverty by 2020 and a 50 percent reduction in poverty by 2030, which, relative to 2015 levels, will lead to the lowest poverty rate in Canada’s history.

The Strategy brings together significant investments that the Government has made since 2015 to support the social and economic well-being of all Canadians. These investments include funding for key poverty reduction initiatives including the Canada Child Benefit (CCB). The CCB provides support to over 3.5 million families and over 6 million children, putting close to $26 billion, tax free, in the hands of Canadian families each year. Most families receiving the maximum CCB amounts are single-parent families, with approximately 90% of them being single mothers.

Food insecurity is a multidimensional indicator of poverty. According to the 2022 Canadian Income Survey, food insecurity among children in Canada increased to 28.4% in 2022 from 24.3% in 2021, with over 1 in 4 Canadian children living in households that experience food insecurity. For the provinces, rates of food insecurity among children are lowest in Quebec (19.5%) and highest in Prince Edward Island at 41%. While data on children experiencing food insecurity in the territories are not available, rates of food insecurity, in general, in the territories are high, with 36.4% of people living in a household that experienced food insecurity. Food insecurity rates varied by territory, with Nunavut (62.6%) having the highest rate, followed by the Northwest Territories (27.6%) and then Yukon (21.4%).

Recent government investments

The rollout of new and recent initiatives is expected to contribute to long-term reductions in poverty and to improve children’s wellbeing.
o Canadian Dental Care Plan –$13.0 billion over five years, starting in 2023-24, and $4.4 billion ongoing to Health Canada to implement the Canadian Dental Care Plan. The plan would provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with annual family income of less than $90,000, with no co-pays for those with family incomes under $70,000. The plan would begin providing coverage by the end of 2023 and will be administered by Health Canada, with support from a third-party benefits administrator.

o The Government announced a series of measures to build more homes, make it easier to rent or own a home and help Canadians who can’t afford a home.
o Measures to build more affordable child care spaces include launching a new Child Care Expansion Loan Program, with $1 billion in low-cost loans and $60 million in non-repayable grants for public and not-for-profit child care providers to build new spaces and renovate their existing child care centres, among other investments.
o The Government of Canada committed $1 billion over five years in federal funding to create a National School Food Program, to provide up to 400,000 more kids healthy meals – helping them learn, grow and reach their full potential.
o The Government launched a new Canada Disability Benefit with $6.1 billion over six years, and $1.4 billion ongoing, to supplement provincial and territorial benefits, increasing the financial well-being of over 600,000 working-age persons with disabilities. This proposed benefit would provide a maximum benefit of $2,400 per year for low-income, working-age persons with disabilities, and indexed to inflation.
o The Government will invest $1.5 billion over five years in the new National Pharmacare Plan. This first phase will ensure the effective roll-out of pharmacare, while providing immediate support for the health care needs of women and covering lifesaving diabetes medication.

If Pressed (Children’s Commissioner)

• Federal, provincial and territorial governments are all responsible for the implementation of children’s rights and several mechanisms already exist to facilitate their coordination.

• For example, all provinces have children’s advocates or representatives to protect children’s rights and allow children to pursue remedies for violations of their rights. Other mechanisms, such as the Human Rights Commissions and Tribunals, facilitate coordination and monitoring of children’s rights.

• Our government continues its whole-of-government approach to children’s rights, including to deliver on the commitment to ensure the voices and needs of children are represented in our agenda.

“The state of childhood in Canada is at a breaking point. Children today are facing unprecedented threats – from rising poverty to mental health crises to violence ni their homes and online. Parents are struggling to offer their children a better way of life than they had as the very foundations of what it means to grow up in Canada are eroding. We’re watching a generation fall behind, and the consequences will echo for years to come if we don’t act now…”
– Sara Austin, Founder and CEO of Children First Canada