A new report Thursday on income and poverty in the Nipissing District finds the number of people living on social assistance in the area is close to double the provincial average.
This report by the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DNSSAB) is the first in a series on income and poverty in the district – painting a picture of the situation.
Mark King, the chair of DNSSAB told CTV News he was puzzled by new figures released from the board.
“I’m not sure how people are making ends meet. This is hard to fathom,” said King.
Using data from Statistics Canda, the report finds that in a population of 83,000 people in the district, nearly 6,700 or eight per cent - are on Ontario Works; nearly double the provincial average of 4.4 per cent.
“There has not been an increase in Ontario Works since 2018 … it draws attention to what we’re seeing on the streets in northern Ontario communities. Particularly North Bay,” said Lana Mitchell, executive director for Low Income People Involvement of Nipissing.
“What we need to be looking at is homelessness prevention programs. We need to be able to keep as many people housed in functional, sustainable housing as we can. We need to be looking at more housing allowances and push for more affordable housing allowances.”
The report also finds the average person on social assistance makes around $11,400 a year, which is less than one-third the average income for most single households in Nipissing.
“If you think about it, a single person on Ontario Works, the maximum they get is $733 a month. You can’t even rent a room and we wonder why people are struggling,” added Mitchell.
The total medium household income in Ontario is 25.5 per cent higher than that in Nipissing.
“Nipissing district has the fifth lowest household income in the province of Ontario,” added King.
King – who is also running as a candidate for council – has proposed a zero per cent tax increase to help struggling people citing this report as the reason why he supports it.
“There’s going to be tremendous discussion at the council table when we start to look at budgets inside the city and whether or not people can actually afford a tax increase,” said King.
In their findings, DNSSAB concludes Nipissing and seven other northern Ontario districts have the most cases of low income in the entire province.
