"Onerous reviews for people on ODSP — many of whom suffer from mental illness —will become less stressful under a new process."

[1] http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/02/18/ontario-simplifies-medical-reviews-for-people-on-disability-support.html

he Supreme Court rendered an historic decision (Kanthasamy v. Canada) on December 10, 2015 clarifying how immigration officers should decide applications for humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) consideration. Many refugees and vulnerable migrants must rely on H&C provisions in order to remain in Canada or to be reunited with family members.

 Six legal clinics in Toronto launched a new initiative on December 4, 2015, to provide employment law services to low-income residents in the east end of the City of Toronto. The launch event for the Toronto East Employment Law Services (“TEELS”) was held at Flemingdon Community Legal Services, 1 Leaside Park Drive in Toronto. The event was well attended, including by Primier Kathleen Wynne, Minister Michael Coteau and MPP Arthur Potts. Attendees heard precarious workers speak about the many challenges they face, including the story of a worker who had not been paid by her employer for over ten months.

By Jennifer Stone, Staff Lawyer

(Click here to download a .pdf version of this article)

This month the Toronto Children’s Aid Society (CAS) and others issued a Report[1] revealing Toronto’s child poverty rate is the highest in Canada at almost 29%. As in the CAS’s similar report last year, “children of colour, Indigenous children, children from single-parent or newcomer families, and children with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty in Toronto.” Regent Park has the highest child poverty rate in the country, at an alarming 63%.[2]