Then and Now, Child Poverty (2 of 2)

Child Poverty on Rise in City, Report finds

Toronto Star, June 9, 2026 

Morgan Sevareid-Bocknek

Sharma Queiser has researched the social issues that Torontonians face for more than a decade, authoring reports that aim to raise awareness and improve lives. 

Every few years, she’s been part of the team that puts together a report card on child and family poverty for Social Planning Toronto. 

But co-authoring the report this time was different for her. It’s the first time the report has come out since she became a parent. The team found that for the third consecutive year, child poverty rates have risen in Toronto, disproportionately affecting families who are immigrants, racialized or have a single parent in their households. 

“Working on this report hit differently this year,” she said. “I see every day how precious and 

vulnerable children are, and how much their surroundings affect them.” 

The rate of child and family poverty in Toronto rose 0.4 percentage points to 25.7 per cent. Between 2022 and 2023, 1,800 children became impoverished. In total, 119,690 children in Toronto live in poverty. 

The report is based on the most recently available census and tax filer data. 

The report uses the Census Family Low-Income Measure, After Tax to define poverty as 50 per cent of the national household median income ($74,200 after tax) and is adjusted for household size. 

“Some people wrongly believe that poverty is the result of individual failings,” Queiser said. 

“But reports like this show that it’s a widespread, systemic issue and it needs a co-ordinated 

response,” Queiser added. 

One of the most disheartening parts of working on this report was seeing how many children and families are struggling in a wealthy city like Toronto, Queiser said. 

“Behind every number is a real family trying to afford the basics — housing, food, child care, transit and recreation.” 

The report includes profiles of all 25 wards to help residents understand what child poverty looks like in every neighbourhood, and Social Planning Toronto is encouraging voters to ask municipal candidates tough questions about how they will work to improve conditions for impoverished children. 

“Right now the city of Toronto is the only level of government that’s listening to us,” said Jin Huh, the executive director of SPT. At a provincial and federal level, there has been “concerning backtracking,” she said. 

“There is more of an emphasis on defence and global concerns more than what working people and struggling people are dealing with.” 

The city of Toronto first released a poverty reduction strategy in 2015, when the rate of child poverty was 29.1 per cent. Since then, the rate has gone down, buoyed by government supports like the Canada Child Benefit, but it’s been creeping back up since 2021 and now sits at 25.7 per cent. 

“These supports alone aren’t enough to tackle today’s challenges,” said Queiser. 

“Prevailing issues like housing affordability, food insecurity, a changing labour market and the rising cost of living mean that we need to double down.” 

Toronto continues to be the child poverty capital of Canada’s large municipalities (population of more than 500,000). The city’s rates of child poverty are higher than both Ontario’s rate of 19.9 per cent and the national rate of 18.3 per cent. 

Winnipeg has the second highest poverty rate of 23.6 per cent, followed by Peel Region, at 21.7 per cent. 

Half of all Toronto children who live in a single-parent household are living in poverty. Those 

experiencing the deepest poverty are one-parent families with two children. These families are living on average nearly $17,000 below the poverty line, up more than $10,000 compared to 2015. 

All wards in Toronto have impoverished children living in them, though there are concentrated pockets in northwest Toronto, Scarborough and the downtown core, the report found. 

Nine of the city’s wards had a child poverty rate of 30 per cent or higher. Toronto Centre, Humber River–Black Creek and Scarborough–Guildwood all have rates higher than 34 per cent. The ward with the lowest rate is Parkdale–High Park, at 15.3 per cent. 

According to census data highlighted in the report, Indigenous, racialized, immigrant and newcomer children and children in temporary households face the highest rates of poverty because of “long-standing systemic inequities,” including discrimination while seeking employment, housing and access to services. 

Huh wants Torontonians to think about what kind of city is being built for children. 

“How can it be acceptable that one in four children are living in poverty in this wealthy city?” 

Note: To Broadbent’s point (see 1 of 2), in 2026 there remained more food bank services in 

Toronto than McDonald’s restaurants.