County Statistics and Barriers

In keeping with the theme of discussing life for the actual residents of the north of Wellington County, today's posting will offer a statistical snap-shot of life in the areas of Wellington North (including Arthur and Mt. Forest), the township of Minto (including Harriston and Palmerston) as well as Guelph and Ontario as a whole, as comparison points. Of course, readers should always be aware of the dangers of statistics: their tendency to show only part of the entire picture and to be manipulated. The statistics which follow come directly from Statistics Canada's 2006 Community Profiles and the 2006 Census. Hopefully the data gives readers a partial sense for life in the County versus Guelph and the Province as a whole – at least as much as can be relayed through numbers.

Median Income of all families in 2005 (sum of the total before-tax incomes of all members of a census family)
Wellington North: $64,169
Minto Township: $61,434

Guelph: $74,927
Ontario: $69,156


Median Income of Female and Male Lone-parent families in 2005

Female Lone-parent families
Wellington North: $35,146
Minto Township: $30,062

Guelph: $38,690
Ontario: $36,496

Male Lone-Parent families
Wellington North: $58,506
Minto Township: $52,591

Guelph: $59,988
Ontario: $50,339


Median monthly payments for Rented Dwellings
Wellington North: $671
Minto Township: $645

Guelph: $800
Ontario: $801

Median monthly payments for Owner-Occupied Dwellings
Wellington North: $766
Minto Township: $826

Guelph: $1,205
Ontario: $1,046



Education

Percentage of population, 15 years and older, who do not hold any sort of certification, diploma or degree (including High School, College, Trades, University, etc.)
Wellington North: 35%
Minto Township: 34.9%

Guelph: 20.4%
Ontario: 20.5%

Percentage of population, 15 years and older, whose highest educational achievement is a High School certificate or equivalent
Wellington North: 29.8%
Minto Township: 28.5%

Guelph: 27.6%
Ontario: 26.8%

Language

Percentage of population who have no knowledge of either English or French
Wellington North: 2.4%
Minto Township: 0.84%

Guelph: 1.1%
Ontario: 2.2%


While statistics of the northern Wellington County region clearly vary from provincial averages and those of Guelph, there are still identifiable trends which are not lost simply because these communities are of smaller make-up. Female lone-parent families have lower household incomes than those of male lone-parent families – a stark gender difference that is seen across our and many other societies and which puts women at a greater economic disadvantage than men. Clearly, gender issues are bigger than the size of town you live in. What does appear to be a more localised phenomenon is that female lone-parent families in Minto Township and Wellington North gross less in a year than the provincial average while male lone-parent families actually gross more. So, while it is no surprise that provincial trends reflecting economic inequalities between men and women would also be found in more rural communities, the fact that they are perhaps further accentuated here is of note and speaks to the possibility that low-income women in the County may face more barriers than low-income men and low-income women who live in more urban centres.

Housing costs appear to be more affordable in the County. Rent is around 15-20% lower than in Guelph which is a plus for those renting, especially the County's more vulnerable members. By contrast, a lack of public transportation leading to heavy reliance on personal vehicles and the large distances to other towns and needed services may negate any savings to be had by the County's low-income residents.

As was alluded to by Richard in the previous posting, lack of transportation is perhaps one of the greatest barriers faced by low-income residents living in the north of the County and may contribute to create secondary barriers such as isolation. This speaks to the importance of having agencies extend their services to these areas instead of expecting residents of these areas to come to them. The Legal Clinic is trying to do just that. By opening satellite offices in four communities in the north of the County we hope to increase access to justice for people who may otherwise have not known about our services or felt they could not access them because of the distance to Guelph from where they live. Transportation is of course only one barrier a client may face. Other factors such as language may prevent someone from accessing services or even knowing they are there. Small communities can also be very intimate with word of people's problems spreading quickly in a community where everyone knows everyone to some degree. People may not access needed services because of a fear that their personal problems will become neighbourhood gossip. These are all factors that service providers must be aware of if they are to be effective and relevant.

Without a proper analysis of more data, including that from other jurisdictions, it is hard to say whether this statistical snap-shot of Northern Wellington County shows variations that are really statistically significant or whether they are relatively close to the provincial average compared to other communities. Statistical technicalities aside, what is clear is that there are real differences in areas such as income in the north of the County compared to an area such as Guelph. This will have real effects on people living in these jurisidctions especially when taken together with the additional barriers that one may be faced with living in more rural areas. Further research into these more vulnerable populations would seem appropriate along with strategies to increase services to these areas. Legal Aid Ontario in particular, with it's focus on increasing access to justice, should not fall behind the curve in devising ways of outreaching to these populations and is commended for supporting Clinics like the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County in the pursuit of this goal.

Ontario Works in the County

One of the most important functions that the Legal Clinic performs is helping people who are having income maintenance problems. This essentially encompasses people who are trying to get onto Ontario Works (OW) or who have been on OW but have been temporarily suspended or cut off. OW is available to residents of Ontario who are in immediate financial need and who are willing to participate in employment assistance activities.

Given that OW is based out of and administered in Guelph, we thought it may be beneficial to check with OW to see how they serve Wellington County residents. Anna McGregor, the Employment Services Manager, kindly responded to a list of questions that I sent to her.

OW used to administer their system by way of home visits. In 2002, this changed with the introduction of the new Provincial OW computer system. Home visits were no longer possible because of the required access to the computer system. However, where there are medical issues, an OW Caseworker can visit the participant in their own home. OW has participated in a rural transportation strategy for the past several years and have finalized a method of transporting rural people through the use of the Volunteer Driver Service. Wellington County Social Services provides $95,000 per year for this service.

The main reason that an OW worker would pay a home visit is if the participant is just not physically able to get around. If the participant is travelling for any other purposes, it would be expected they would access the Volunteer Driver Service. When it has been established the participant truly does not have any access to transport and they are unable to access the Volunteer Driver Service, a Caseworker will visit them at their home. However, home visits are rarely performed and rarely requested by participants.

OW acknowledges that the need to reschedule appointments on a regular basis is significant but they note that missed appointment numbers are just as high proportionately in the City as they are in the County. Participants often do not indicate their reason for non attendance.

OW insist that they recognize the additional barriers participants in rural communities face. In addition to loneliness and isolation, County residents face a lack of services, including healthcare and a lack of employment opportunities.

Harriston...and Winter in Wellington County

Two weeks ago, we were back in Harriston. Talking to our friends at the Early Years Centre in Harriston, it appears that they are on the move!! A new building is currently being constructed for them in Mount Forest and it is anticipated that the hub of their operations will be moving to the Forest within the next year. Programs will continue to run at the Early Years Centre in Harriston but obviously these will be reduced as their operations shift to the Forest.

In addition to the library with its free internet access, Harriston has a food bank run through the local churches and of course the EYC is available to provide free childcare services. Of course, there are also many specific challenges that low-income county residents face which should not be overlooked. Chief among these – and hard to imagine on a glorious day like today with the temperature at 30C plus – is the cold Ontario winter.

The winter brings with it a host of challenges, foremost of which are rising energy costs. Those on a fixed income, such as recipients of OW and ODSP face higher prices each year for basic necessities including electricity, natural gas and hot water and in view of the rising oil prices, it is almost inevitable that these rates will again jump considerably this winter. These budgetary demands reduce the funds available to spend on other necessities including food, clothing, shelter and medicine.

One of the many organisations that is working to support low-income individuals that suffer from ‘energy poverty’ is the Low Income Energy Network (LIEN) (www.lowincomeenergy.ca). In April, they were successful in obtaining an Ontario Divisional Court decision which ruled that the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has the ‘jurisdiction to establish a rate affordability assistance program for low income individuals’. It remains to be seen whether the OEB creates such a program before this winter. Nevertheless, the Legal Clinic will be replete with resources this winter that will be aimed at giving clients who are having problems paying their utility bills as large a range of alternatives as possible.

Perhaps the other greatest challenge that the winter brings to those living in Wellington North is simply the ability to get around. Staff at the EYC told us that they were forced to cancel a number of programs in the winter as they were unable to travel to the communities where the programs were to be offered because of the hazardous road conditions. While those in Toronto complain about the time it takes to plough their streets, residents living in Wellington North often face multiple highway closures, instituted by the Ontario Provincial Police for safety reasons, and have to clear their own driveways and residential streets of snow. It can’t be much fun to try to do this and then find either that there is simply too much snow to move or that they will have to miss work or vital appointments in Guelph because of road closures.

Devin and I will be in Mount Forest on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th, where Devin will hopefully have time to blog about our day in Palmerston last week.