A new report from United Way of Toronto is ringing the alarm bell on the city’s growing inequality, saying Toronto is at risk of becoming the “income inequality capital of Canada.”

The report, tabled Friday, found that the gap is widening between those who are financially well off and those who are not.

“Toronto is facing a big problem,” United Way Toronto CEO Susan McIsaac said in the report. “As access to opportunity is increasingly out of reach for too many that live here, the reputation of ‘Toronto the Good’ is being compromised. Because of the concentration of poverty, declining job quality and rising income inequality, we are seeing that Toronto can be a city of opportunity, but only for some.”

The report draws on an analysis of Statistics Canada data done in conjunction with the University of Toronto, as well as a survey of 2,684 participants done through EKOS Research Associates last year.

It found that while income inequality is a trend across the country, the gap is widening faster in Toronto than anywhere else in Canada. Between 1980 and 2005, the income inequality gap in Toronto grew by 31 per cent, the highest rate of any major city in Canada. By comparison over the same period, inequality grew at a rate of 28 per cent in Calgary, 17 per cent in Vancouver and 15 per cent in Montreal.

A host of reasons are cited for the growing increase in inequality. In part, technological advancement and increasing globalization in the late 80s began a trend of disappearing manufacturing jobs and a rise in lower paid, precarious service jobs, the report says. The report’s authors also cite a rise in lone parent families and singles, an Increasing tendency for higher income earners to partner with each other, more women entering the labour market, higher living costs and a slew of economic conditions that have favoured those with capital and real estate investments.

Zeroing in on Toronto, the report found that inequality among neighbourhoods in the city is even more pronounced. Between 1980 and 2010, the income divide between Toronto’s neighbourhoods grew by 96 per cent, it found.

“While the trends we are seeing hurt our entire city, the income divide between neighbourhoods is even more acute,” an executive summary of the report says. “As rich neighbourhoods have become richer, poor neighbourhoods have either stagnated or become poorer. From 1980–2005, average household income in the poorest 10 per cent of neighbourhoods increased by only 2 per cent—compared to incomes in the richest 10 per cent of neighbourhoods that rose by 80 per cent.”

The divide is also growing between the quality of jobs in the city, the report found, with about half of all workers in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area working in permanent, full-time jobs with benefits and security.

“Toronto’s labour market is separated by high-income jobs and low-income service jobs,” the report states.

According to the research, the idea that hard work plus access to opportunity will lead to access is no longer a given.

“Background and life circumstances, things we cannot control like race, gender, and household income growing up, have a real impact on our life chances,” the report summary states. “Where you come from and who your family is has a strong influence on what opportunities are available to you.”

Some 73 per cent of people in the city feel that hard work is no longer enough to get ahead, the report found.

While the city appears to be sliding toward an increasingly polarized future, the report found that there is still reason to be hopeful that the trend can be reversed.

In its summary, the organization says that despite the growing divide between rich and poor, levels of trust remain high in the city, with 57 per cent of people saying they trust most people.

“We also see that there is a widespread belief that people can have a positive impact in their communities,” the summary says. “In fact, 95% believe that they can make a small, moderate or big difference where they live—showing that self-efficacy is still alive and well.”

In light of its findings, United Way is calling on both the public and private sectors to take action to reduce inequality in the city.

The organization released a “Blueprint for Action” calling for all sectors to work together to ensure opportunities for young people, promote jobs as a pathway to stability and remove barriers to opportunity based on background.

“Working together we can restore hope, fairness and opportunity in our city,” the summary says.

More findings by the numbers:

  • 73 per cent of people agree that hard work is not enough to get ahead in Toronto today
  • A third of people feel they’re worse off now than they thought they would be ten years ago; 26 per cent feel better off; 36.9 said they’re about where they expected to be
  • One third of people say they’re worse off than their parents
  • 95 per cent of people believe they can make a difference where they live

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