Grey Bruce Public Health Joins Regional Call to Raise Ontario Works Rates & Address Food Insecurity
Public health units across the region want Ontario Works rates raised, citing a monthly shortfall of up to $859 for a single adult after rent and food.
Grey Bruce Public Health has joined public health units across southwestern Ontario in calling on the provincial government to raise social assistance rates, saying inadequate income is the root cause of household food insecurity in the region.
The statement, issued July 27, cites Public Health Ontario data showing that one in four households in southwestern Ontario experienced household food insecurity in 2024, meaning they lacked reliable access to enough food because of financial constraints.
Rising housing and living costs are pushing households to choose between rent and groceries, the units say.
The units’ central figure concerns a single adult receiving Ontario Works. Comparing 2024 local food and rent costs against that income, they report a monthly deficit of between $301 and $859 depending on the community — the amount by which income falls short of covering food and shelter alone, before transportation, utilities, child care, clothing or medication.
The range draws on 2024 food costing reports from seven health units, including Grey Bruce Public Health. Many households with low and modest incomes face the same squeeze, the units say, with little left after rent and other essential costs.
The statement puts forward three measures: increasing social assistance rates, including Ontario Works; improving income supports for low- and modest-income households; and policies that reduce the cost of housing and essential living expenses.
It points to a resolution passed in June 2026 by the Association of Local Public Health Agencies, which recommends the province enhance the Ontario Works benefit — for example, by raising the amount of employment earnings an Ontario Works recipient may keep before benefits are reduced, to match the higher exemption available under the Ontario Disability Support Program.
“In Grey-Bruce and beyond, some households are forced to choose between food costs and meeting their other basic needs. This can negatively impact health,” Dr. Brittany Graham, acting medical officer of health for Grey Bruce Public Health, said in the statement. “Income-based solutions that address household food insecurity also support health and well-being.”
The units link food insecurity to poorer physical and mental health, higher chronic disease risk and added pressure on the health-care system. Among children and youth, they say it affects concentration, memory, mood and motor skills, making school harder.
Dr. Mehdi Aloosh, medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, put the framing more bluntly. “Food insecurity is not about budgeting or food skills, it’s about income,” he said in the statement. “When people don’t have enough money, they cannot meet their basic needs, which directly impacts their health and well-being.”
The statement asks residents to raise income-based solutions with local elected officials and to support community organizations through volunteering or donations — while stating that food programs alone cannot solve the problem. That is a pointed line in a region where food bank demand is the most visible measure of the issue and the most common local response to it.
The units say addressing household food insecurity requires coordinated action at the municipal, provincial and federal levels.
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