Social Planning: News, Issues and Current Research
Find out the latest in City and non-City work on social issues.
Canada West Foundation. Drawing Lines: Defining the Roles of Municipal, Provincial and Federal Governments in Addressing Urban Social Issues in Canada.
Posted: June 2008
To improve the effectiveness of responses to urban social issues the roles of the three levels of government need to be more clearly defined. This discussion paper argues that provincial governments need to be clearly responsible for root causes. It further argues that both the federal and provincial governments should more clearly empower municipal governments to be responsible for urban disorder.
This paper is not about determining how intergovernmental overlaps can be overcome through agreements, but rather about how we might reconceptualize the scope of governmental jurisdictions in Canada.
:: Download the report from the Canada West Foundation Website (
PDF)
Canada West Foundation. Moving Forward: Western Canadian Attitudes About Mobility and Human Capital.
Posted June 2008
This study looks at survey responses to a series of question covering mobility, education and the labour market. Among the findings: “when asked if they plan to move in the near future, the vast majority of western Canadians report that they are not going anywhere: 9 in 10 expect to be living in the same province in five years’ time, and half of all western Canadians are not even willing to consider moving to another province for a better job...” Elsewhere, it notes that western Canadians “are strongly supportive of increased funding to university and other post-secondary students, and view post-secondary funding as a priority. At the same time, less than half of all western Canadians feel that high school students are learning the skills necessary for workforce success.”
:: Download the report from the Canada West Foundation Website (PDF)
CMHC - Understanding the Status of Visibility in Canada
Posted May 2008
“Visitability in housing is a worldwide, affordable and sustainable design strategy aimed at increasing the number of family homes and neighbourhoods developed using the concept of universal design. Visitable housing is increasing in importance as the baby-boomer generation ages. This study researched the visitability movement in Canada, pinpointing its progress, diffusion, barriers and facilitators to being adopted by the housing industry. Best practices are examined in Canada, the USA and internationally. The study found that there is a need for further research on visitable housing in Canada, including dissemination of regular updates and data on new initiatives.”
:: Download CMHC - Understanding the Status of Visibility in Canada (PDF)
CMHC - Neighbourhood Effects and Concentration Levels of Aboriginal People in Canada’s Large Canadian Cities
Posted April 2008
“Using focus groups and 2001 Census data, this study looked at the housing patterns of Aboriginal people living in Canadian urban centres in an effort to identify their relationship to socio-economic outcomes like employment opportunities and improvement in the quality of culturally appropriate services.”
:: Download the Report from the StatsCan Website (PDF)
CMHC - The Role of Housing in Aboriginal Student Success - Post-Secondary Institutions in Vancouver
Posted March 2008
“What role does housing play in an Aboriginal students decision to attend or remain in college or university? This study of, and conducted by, Aboriginal students in the urban area of Vancouver examines the housing challenges they face on -and off-campus and asks what would be ideal Aboriginal student housing. Read more about how post-secondary Aboriginal student success might be improved by understanding the importance of family and community to these students, and by increasing access to various forms of housing, especially family housing, with flexible occupancy rates.”
:: Download the Report from the StatsCan Website (PDF)
SPARC BC - Exploring Recruitment and Retention Issues for Community Social Service Sector Employers
Posted March 2008
“A new study confirms that employers in community-based social services are experiencing recruitment and retention problems across the sector. The cause of the problem is clear-low wages and a lack of respect for the work performed.
The report presents survey results gathered from a number of B.C.’s unionized community social services workplaces, including community living, child care centres and agencies providing child, family and counselling services.”
:: Download the Report from the BCGEU Website (PDF)
Centre for Urban and Community Studies - Diversity and Concentration in Canadian Immigration: Trends in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, 1971-2006
Posted March 2008
This study compares immigration examines over the last 35 years. It notes that immigration in this period differs from that of previous decades in three key ways: "1. the increased concentration of immigrants in Canada’s
major metropolitan centres, especially Toronto, Montréal,
and Vancouver, the country’s largest Census Metropolitan
Areas (CMAs) and most important gateway
centres for immigrant settlement;
2. the dramatic shift in immigrant origins from Europe to
countries in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the
Middle East, and Africa, and the resulting increase in
Canada’s visible minority population;
3. the spatial redistribution of immigrants in major immigrant
receiving centres resulting from the resettlement
of earlier arrivals from inner-city areas to the suburbs and the settlement of many recently arrived immigrants directly in the suburbs.
:: Download the report from the Centre for Urban & Community Studies Website (PDF)
Canada West Foundation - The Next West Generation: Young Adults, Identity and Democracy
Posted March 2008
The Next West Generation: Young Adults, Identity and Democracy profiles the psychological traits, civic engagement, and political identities of western Canada’s young adults. The purpose is to understand how the arrival of a new generation will transform western Canada and, by extension, Canada. Dubbed the “the Next West Generation,” this group encompasses those born from 1970 onward.
:: Download the report from the Canada West Foundation Website (PDF)
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Pivot Legal Services & MOSAIC - Cultural Divide: A Neighbourhood Study of Immigrant Rental Housing in Vancouver
Posted March 2008
A survey team canvassed four apartment buildings in North Vancouver in order to assess demographic changes and neighbourhood issues. The study revealed that “overcrowding is widespread” in the community. It also discovered evidence of “significant shifts in tenant demographics” - particularly as related to the relative presence of immigrant families in the present day community versus in the past.
:: Read the full report on the Pivot Legal Website (PDF)
Canada West Foundation. Letters From Hastings and Main
Posted March 2008
The Canada West Foundation sent a writer to Vancouver to ask people working in the trenches of the DTES what general lessons they could pass on to other neighbourhoods across Canada...The paper offers a glimpse into some of the innovative programs operating in the DTES and guidance about bridging the gap between policy and the people it’s meant to help.
:: Download the report from the Canada West Foundation Website (PDF)
StatsCan Study - Sexual orientation and victimization
Posted: February 29, 2008
Gays, lesbians and bisexuals reported experiencing higher rates of victimization for violent crimes in 2004, including sexual assault, robbery and physical assault, than heterosexuals, according to a new study.
The study examined victimization rates, perceptions of discrimination, fear of crime and attitudes towards the justice system among gays, lesbians and bisexuals. It was based on data from the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS), which for the first time asked respondents to identify their sexual orientation.
[A]fter all …factors were taken into consideration, sexual orientation was still a factor in the likelihood of violent victimization. Compared with heterosexuals, the odds of being victimized were nearly 2 times greater for gays and lesbians and 4.5 times greater for bisexuals.
:: To see the complete synopsis see the StatsCan Webpage
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CMHC - Impacts of the aging of the Canadian Population on Housing and Communities
Posted February 2008
“There will be profound changes in the age structure of the Canadian population over the next 25 years. Population aging is taking place in a society that is being reshaped by a range of remarkable demographic and socio-economic trends. This Research Highlight puts together what we know about the aging of the Canadian population, explores potential impacts on Canadian communities and housing, outlines possible responses and indicates where further work is needed.”
:: View the complete report on the CMHC Webpage (PDF)
Pivot Legal - Research on B.C.’s Child Welfare System
Posted: February 21, 2008
Pivot Legal Society has released a new report, Broken Promises: Parents Speak out About B.C.’s Child Welfare System. The report is based on interviews and affidavits from service providers, social workers, lawyers and, in particular, parents whose children are or have been involved with the child protection system, the report depicts a short-sighted, crisis driven child protection system.
The report finds that children are all too often apprehended as the first form of intervention—even where there are less disruptive alternatives that could keep them safe. And many children are left lingering in care, cut off from family, community and cultural roots.
This project uncovered that the guiding principles and service delivery principles laid out in the Child, Family and Community Services Act, the legislation governing child welfare in B.C., are sound. However, the Ministry of Children and Family Development is failing to live up to these principles. While the apprehension of a child is meant to be a last resort, alternatives to apprehension are rarely available, and social workers do not have the time to explore alternatives where they may exist.
This study also found that the court process is alienating and plagued with inordinate delays. The effects of child welfare involvement are multi-generational, particularly among Aboriginal communities….
:: Download the report from the Pivot Website (PDF)
CPRN Leadership Summit – Keynote Presentations on Public Policy
Posted: February 21, 2008
From the Canadian Policy Research Network: “The two keynote presentations to CPRN’s Leadership Summit 2008 held in Ottawa on February 13 explored the deeply held values Canadians hold and how they influence their expectations for public policy.
CPRN President Sharon Manson Singer ... describes what Canadians have said they expect from government, business and community organizations and what they believe, as citizens, we should give back to society. The expectations and obligations represent a vision of the Canada that Canadians want. [It] …describes five public policy research challenges critical to achieving the vision Canadians hold and that will be addressed in CPRN research…: citizenship; diversity; productivity and skills; health and our ageing population; and the environment.
Frank Graves, President, Ekos Research Associates, Ottawa, explored some disturbing trends regarding trust in government and reviewed evidence about the values of Canadians and how they compare with the values of people in the United States. Graves also discussed the five policy challenges CPRN has identified...”
:: Sharon Manson Singer’s Presentation
:: Frank Graves’ Presentation
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BC Hydro Employee’s Community Services Fund - Now Accepting Funding Applications
Posted: February 21, 2008
“The BC Hydro Employees’ Community Services Fund is seeking funding applications to support British Columbia based registered charities in the health and social service sector for its annual "Special Projects" fundraising campaign. The application deadline is March 15, 2008.
The provincial project must be provincial in scope and of a capital nature. This project can receive funding up to $100,000. The regional projects pertain to four regions with the following funding amounts for a capital project: up to $30,000 in the Lower Mainland and up to $10,000 for Vancouver Island, the South Interior and the North….”
:: BC Hydro Community Services Fund Webpage
SPARC BC – Still Left Behind – Income Assistance and the Cost of Living in BC
Posted February 20, 2008
The latest edition of SPARC BC’s annual study of income assistance rates.
From the press release: “[I]ncreases to income assistance in 2007 have had little effect in improving the lives of welfare recipients in British Columbia, who struggle daily to meet basic needs…With little in the 2008 BC Budget for poverty reduction, BC welfare recipients are still left behind...
Findings of the report show that total incomes for households on income assistance (including the federal benefits for children) only meet 45% of the minimum monthly expenses for a single adult; 72% of the expenses of a single parent with a three-year-old; 46% of a childless couple’s expenses; 62% of the expenses of a single parent with a teenager; and 70% of the expenses of a couple with two children under six.
:: Follow this link to download the report
Book Launch - In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
Posted: February 20, 2008
Join the Portland Hotel Society and Insite for the launch of Gabor Maté’s latest book “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts,” this Friday February 22 at the InterUrban (1 East Hastings) in Vancouver. This important new book helps to humanise the forgotten victims of addiction in the Downtown Eastside.
Gabor is the staff doctor for the PHS as well as a best-selling Canadian author. The InterUrban is at community arts gallery run by the PHS.
:: To RSVP - rsvpcanada [at] randomhouse.com.
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United Way - Day of Caring
Posted: February 19, 2008
The United Way of the Lower Mainland Day of Caring which will take place in early June 2008. This is a program which pairs staff from businesses in the community with local non-profit organizations needing volunteers to complete a specific project. This could be anything from painting the rooms in a shelter, to assembling a play structure for a family drop-in centre.
:: United Way - Day of Caring Webpage
Thursday, February 21, 2008 - WISH Benefit Screening: The House of Sand
Posted: February 18, 2008
A benefit screening of The House of Sand in support of the WISH Drop-In Centre Society. Takes place 7:00pm at the Park Theatre (Cambie and 17th). Cost: $10 per ticket. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at www.festivalcinemas.ca.
A bit about WISH: The WISH Drop-In Centre Society serves women working in the survival sex trade in Vancouver. For the past 22 years WISH has provided a place of respite and safety for women... WISH provides consistency in lives of women who constantly experience violence, trauma, and discrimination out on the street.
:: WISH Drop-In Centre Website
StatsCan - Study: Impact of neighbourhood income on child obesity
Posted: Monday, February 18
A new study published in today’s StatsCan Daily makes the link between childhood obesity and neighbourhood of residence.
“Children living in Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods gained more weight over an eight-year period than those living in more middle-income areas, according to a new study using longitudinal data...
The study suggested that the impact of a neighbourhood’s poverty level rather than affluence may matter most in a child’s weight.”
:: StatsCan - Study Webpage and Link to Report
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UBC Continuing Studies - Intern Students Looking for Practicum Placements
Posted: February 17, 2008
UBC Continuing Studies is looking for organizations willing to supervise a student (or students) from the UBC Certificate in Multimedia Studies Intensive Program for a three week period.
The practicum period for the current program will take place from March 31st to April 18th, 2008.
:: More info
Aboriginal Housing Meeting (March 3) and White Paper
Posted: February 13, 2008
The Provincial Government is developing a ten-year off-reserve Aboriginal Housing Action Plan for BC as part of its commitment to address housing need in the province. The off-reserve Action Plan will speak to the entire housing continuum – from homelessness to home ownership – and will also examine the capacity needs of Aboriginal organizations involved in housing off-reserve.
As part of this process, they are convening a session to discuss off-reserve Aboriginal housing in BC. The session will take place on March 3rd, 2008 from 10 am - 3:30 pm in the conference room at the downtown BCIT Campus, 555 Seymour Street.
:: Invitation Letter (PDF)
:: Off-Reserve Aboriginal Housing: Discussion Paper (PDF)
StatsCan – Immigrant labour market Study; Visible Minorities as Victims of Crime Study
Posted: February 13, 2008
Two reports on today’s StatsCan Daily. The first, a study of the 2006 Canadian immigrant labour market, reviews the labour force situation for newcomers of three different tenures – very recent immigrants, recent immigrants and established immigrants. It also looks at different ethnocultural communities and their relative rates of success as measured by employment rates. One key finding: “many very recent immigrants in the core working-age group (aged 25 to 54), regardless of their region of birth, had experienced more difficulties in the labour market than the Canadian born.” And another: Among very recent immigrants, only those born in Southeast Asia had unemployment rates, employment rates and participation rates that were more or less on par with the core working-age Canadian-born population.”
The second release, focusing on visible minorities as victims of crime, notes that “Canadian-born visible minorities had rates of violent victimization in 2004 that were three times higher than visible minorities who were born abroad” – something that the authors attribute, in part, to the fact that Canadian-born visible minorities are younger, less-likely to be married, more likely to low-income earners, and, more likely to be engaged in evening activities than their foreign-born counterparts.
:: StatsCan - The 2006 Canadian immigrant labour market
:: StatsCan - Visible minorities as victims of time
CMHC - The Dynamics of Housing Affordability
Posted: January 2008
“The Highlight summarizes the results of a research conducted by Statistics Canada and CMHC that reviewed the dynamics of housing affordability. The research examines those Canadians who lived in households spending 30 per cent or more of its before-tax income on shelter costs over the 2002 to 2004 period and how often this occurred, whether it was occasional or persistent.”
:: CMHC - The Dynamics of Housing Affordability (PDF)
Vancouver Police Department - Lost in Transition: How a Lack of Capacity in the Mental Health System is Failing Vancouver’s Mentally Ill and Draining Police Resources
Posted January 2008
From the Report Summary: “The Vancouver Police Department has conducted research that reveals there is a profound lack of capacity in mental health resources in Vancouver. The result is an alarmingly high number of calls for police service to incidents that involve mentally ill people in crisis. More than one-third of all calls for Vancouver Police involve people with mental health issues. In the Downtown Eastside, it increases to almost one in every two calls. VPD officers, along with the citizens with whom they come in contact, are bearing the burden of a mental health system that lacks resources and efficient information sharing practices, often with tragic consequences.”
:: Download the report from the Vancouver Police Department Website (PDF)
Canada West Foundation - Big Cities and the Census: The Growing Importance of Big Cities on the Demographic Landscape
Posted January 2008
The West is now as urban as other regions of the country. Furthermore, the West is home to Canada’s fastest growing CMAs. Abbotsford, Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon all emerge in the top five within their respective size categories whether growth is considered over the short-term (2001-2006) or the long-term (1961-2006). British Columbia remains the most urbanized province in western Canada. Each of its large city-regions (Abbotsford, Kelowna, Vancouver, and Victoria) are in the top five when it comes to both short-term and long-term growth.
:: Download the report from the Canada West Foundation Website (PDF)
Centre for Urban & Community Studies - Family Violence and Homelessness: Connections and Dynamics
Posted December 2007
This paper provides a synopsis of literature exploring the connections between family violence and homelessness. It explores the connections between adverse childhood experiences and later-life homelessness, as well as the impacts that exist within vulnerable specific populations. The paper concludes with some attention on the implications for service provision.
:: Download the report from the Centre for Urban and Community Studies (PDF)
The Canadian Immigrant Labour Market: 2006
Posted December 2007
“New results from the Labour Force Survey show immigrants had a wide array of labour market experiences, often influenced by their time since landing, where they settled, their gender, their age and also their educational attainment.
In 2006, immigrants who had been in the country for more than 10 years (established immigrants) had labour market
outcomes that most closely resembled those of the Canadian born. However, immigrants who had landed since 2001 (or
very recent immigrants, those who landed in Canada 5 or less years prior to 2006) had the most difficulty in the labour
market in 2006, followed by those who landed between 1996 and 2001 (or recent immigrants, those who landed in Canada
between 5 and 10 years prior to 2006)...”
:: Download the report from the StatsCan Website (PDF)
Scandinavian Political Studies - E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century - The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture - Robert Putnam
Posted June 2007
“Ethnic diversity is increasing in most advanced countries, driven mostly by sharp increases in immigration. In the long run immigration and diversity are likely to have important cultural, economic, fiscal, and developmental benefits. In the short run, however, immigration and ethnic diversity tend to reduce social solidarity and social capital. New evidence from the US suggests that in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods residents of all races tend to ‘hunker down’. Trust (even of one’s own race) is lower, altruism and community cooperation rarer, friends fewer. In the long run, however, successful immigrant societies have overcome such fragmentation by creating new, cross-cutting forms of social solidarity and more encompassing identities. Illustrations of becoming comfortable with diversity are drawn from the US military, religious institutions, and earlier waves of American immigration.”
:: Download the Article via the Blackwell Synergy Website (PDF)
CMHC - Social Inclusion and Urban Form: An Exploratory Research Study
Posted January 2007
“What role does a city’s physical attributes, such as the pattern of streets, land use, open spaces, or transportation connections to other neighbourhoods, play in a community’s social development? Through a literature review, interviews with key informants and a panel discussion, this research project explored the link between urban form and social inclusion in a Canadian context. The aim of the study was to review existing research about the impact of urban form and social inclusion; to identify emerging thinking; discover what other research is being done and identify research gaps.”
:: Download the Report at the CMHC Website (PDF)
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