In Ontario, if a child needs autism services, they’re put on a waitlist alongside 61,000 other kids. Meanwhile, 52,000 adults with developmental disabilities are stuck on waitlists for support. Children’s Aid agencies across the province are warehousing kids in motels and office buildings because there aren’t enough placements.
Waitlists. Broken promises. Crumbling social services.
Doug Ford has underfunded our community services to the point of crisis — and it’s pushing workers into poverty.
Social workers, child therapists, addictions counsellors, shelter workers, legal aid staff, and countless other frontline social services workers are some of the lowest paid workers in the public sector. Ford’s Bill 124 capped public sector workers’ wage increases at 1% at a time of skyrocketing inflation, forcing workers to turn to food banks, moonlight in second jobs, and rack up debt.
The legislation was struck down in 2022. Since then, Ford has been busy picking winners and losers, giving some workers the wages that were stolen from them while ignoring others – including community services workers.
Community support workers provide critical frontline services that our kids, families, and communities rely on, dedicating their lives to supporting our communities’ most vulnerable. Stability, dignity, and decent wages for workers will mean better services for all.
We can’t afford this crisis any longer. Ontario’s public services are worth fighting for – demand fair pay for frontline social services workers!
Send an email to your MPP demanding that workers in social services receive fair pay now and into the future. We’ve already drafted an email, so all you have to do is fill out the form and hit send.