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Toronto / August 28 2020 - The report Senior Poverty & Inequity: The Toronto Experience co-authored by Social Planning Toronto and Well Living House was released in August 2020. The report draws on data from the 2016 Census and the Indigenous-led Our Health Counts Toronto research study. It paints a disturbing picture of senior poverty in the City of Toronto, particularly among Indigenous, racialized, and immigrant seniors.
Key findings include:
- Immigrant seniors are twice as likely to live in poverty compared to non-immigrant seniors (20.0% versus 10.4%). Immigrant seniors who came to Canada between 1991 and 2010 have the highest rates of poverty, ranging from 35.7% to 36.9%.
- Racialized seniors are twice as likely to live in poverty compared to non-racialized seniors (25.5% versus 12.9%). Most racialized senior groups have higher rates of poverty than non-racialized seniors, with the exception of Japanese and Filipino seniors. Staggering rates of poverty are experienced among Korean (45.7%), West Asian (45.2%), and Arab (37.7%) seniors.
- Among immigrants and non-immigrants, senior women have higher rates of poverty than senior men, with a larger gender difference among immigrants. Among immigrants, 21.7% of senior women and 17.8% of senior men in Toronto have low incomes; among non-immigrants, 11.0% of senior women and 9.6% of senior men in Toronto have low incomes.