http://www.fcm.ca/english/communications/nov262003.htm

Urban income gap still growing, says FCM study


OTTAWA, Nov. 26 - The gap between those with the most income and those with
the least continues to grow in Canada's cities, says a report released
today by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).

The report, Falling Behind: Our Growing Income Gap, focuses on three cities
? Calgary, Toronto and Saskatoon ? to investigate the growing income gap,
which was first identified in FCM's 2001 Quality of Life (QoL) Report.

The three cities have each demonstrated successful yet different approaches
to dealing with the consequences of income disparities. Calgary provided
information, analysis and support to community and business-driven
initiatives. Saskatoon partnered with a range of institutional, government
and community members. Toronto, which funds, administers and provides many
community and social services, worked with other funding agencies, orders
of government, community organizations and business and civic leaders.

The report finds the income gap has serious consequences. Those most at
risk of living in poverty are children, lone-parent families, visible
minorities, immigrants and refugees, seniors, people with disabilities, and
Aboriginal people.

User fees, transportation costs, eligibility requirements and other access
issues block low-income individuals and families from participating in
community life. Low-paying jobs have limited, if any, benefits or
protection. And the concentration of low-income individuals and families
into neighbourhoods contributes to isolation and "ghettoization".

Lack of cooperation and collaboration among governments aggravates the
income gap. Greater collaboration and better working relationships among
federal, provincial and municipal governments are crucial, because no
single order of government or public sector institution can reduce the
income gap.

Prepared by Caryl Arundel and Associates with Hemson Consulting Ltd.,
Falling Behind: Our Growing Income Gap builds on FCM's QoL Report, which
reports on economic and social indicators in 18 Canadian urban centres. FCM
released the first QoL Report in 1999. That report found the income gap
between the wealthiest and poorest citizens was greater in Canada's cities
than in the country as a whole; the 2001 Report found the gap was widening.

FCM will release its third report in the QoL series in February 2004.

For more information, contact:

·          FCM: Robert Ross, Communications, (613) 241-5221, ext. 399; cell
(613) 720-0545.

·          Calgary: John teLinde, Community Strategies, City of Calgary,
(403) 268-5160, [log in to unmask]

·          Saskatoon: Bill Holden, Senior Planner, Community Services
Department, City of Saskatoon, (306) 975-2687,
[log in to unmask]

·         Toronto: Harvey Low, Community and Neighbourhood Services, City
of Toronto, 416-392-8660

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