Ontario must correct course after 50 years of stalling on poverty and human rights

Written submission for pre-budget consultations in advance of the 2026 Ontario budget

Fifty years ago, in 1976, Canada acceded to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights after securing the explicit support of the provinces, including Ontario. The Covenant, which is legally binding on all provincial and municipal governments in Canada, requires that Ontario use its maximum available resources to progressively realize the right to an adequate standard of living.

The right to an adequate standard of living means that everyone has the right to the necessities required to live with dignity. This standard includes other human rights, such as the right to food, the right to adequate housing, and the right to social security. It applies to every person regardless of sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, or other identity status.

By committing to the Covenant, Ontario agreed to take continuous, proactive action towards helping every person in Ontario achieve an adequate standard of living. Furthermore, it agreed to do this as quickly as possible by using the maximum resources it has available across society.

Over the last five decades, Ontario has become about 50 per cent wealthier on a per-capita basis, as measured by our GDP. Yet poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity are not only still with us – they are worsening at an alarming rate.

The implication is clear: Ontario has failed, and continues to fail, in its obligation to ensure that no one is left behind.

Ontario must change course. It cannot continue to break this international commitment and fail to protect its people from poverty. In 2026, we are again recommending that Ontario focus its budget on progressing towards an adequate standard of living for all Ontarians. Given the urgency of the situation, we ask that the provincial government use all the tools at its disposal to fulfill its human rights obligations, including its fiscal, legislative, and regulatory means.

Recommendations

1. To uphold the right to an adequate standard of living: Invest in income supports that will prevent poverty or help people escape poverty.

• Commit to a multi-year plan to raise Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program benefits to adequate levels.
• Provide the maximum shelter benefit to every social assistance recipient, without requiring them to provide proof of shelter costs.

2. To uphold the right to adequate housing: Prevent evictions, protect renters, and invest in affordable housing.

• Protect security of tenure for renters by extending rent control to all rental units, ending vacancy decontrol, and restoring fair hearings and appeal rights at the Landlord and Tenant Board.
• Make sustained, multi-year investments in deeply affordable and supportive housing.
• Increase funding for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit to support more people who need help to rent in the private market.