Public Policy

This federal election will be decisive for our country as Canadians go to the polls looking for strong leadership on the challenges we are all facing, now intensified amid unravelling trade agreements and an uncertain economic future. Your vote is your chance to make a difference.

In the 2025 provincial budget, United Way Greater Toronto urges government to act on policy solutions that ensure Ontarians have access to the basic building blocks of a good life, supporting a stronger, more resilient Ontario.

United Way leaders from across Ontario addressed an open letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford calling for urgent action from the provincial government on intimate partner violence, starting by declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic.

On May 29th, United Way Greater Toronto, Sheridan College, Mississauga Board of Trade and the Metamorphosis Network will host leading mayoral candidates for a debate on the critical social and economic challenges facing Mississauga.

As the Government of Ontario outlines its budget priorities for the coming year, Ontario United Ways are calling for investment in, and engagement of, the non-profit sector to deliver the full range of housing options, particularly the affordable and deeply affordable homes, so desperately needed in this province.

United Way Greater Toronto, in collaboration with creative agency Sid Lee, turned a 150 sq ft. residential parking spot into an affordable one-bedroom rental opportunity for $250/month

Watch the mayoral candidates debate hosted by United Way Greater Toronto, The Toronto Star and Toronto Metropolitan University on May 31.

This brief, submitted jointly by United Ways across Ontario, Tower Renewal Partnership and Neighbourhood Change Research Partnership provides feedback on proposal changes to enable the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to set minimum requirements which municipalities must impose on landowners, if they have rental replacement by-laws. It follows an earlier submission in December 2022 with recommendations to the provincial government on preserving and renewing existing affordable rental stock so that low-income Ontarians can remain safely and securely housed.

Ontario United Ways present four areas for the province to invest in that will address the growing roots of poverty and create a lasting impact.

United Way Greater Toronto makes recommendations to the Government of Ontario on portable benefits policy to mitigate the impact of precarious employment on the health and wellbeing of workers and the provincial economy.

United Ways across Ontario, Tower Renewal Partnership, and Neighbourhood Change Research Partnership make recommendations to the provincial government on preserving and renewing existing affordable rental stock so that low-income Ontarians can remain safely and securely housed.

More people experience homelessness than ever before, and services meant to help are at a breaking point. We have the resources to end this crisis.