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Inflation forcing more welfare recipients to rely on mutual aid, say advocates

Individuals line up outside the Booth Centre, in Hamilton, ON, an emergency shelter also offering outreach services. (Audra Jander)

Over the past five years, Jennifer Evans has transformed her X platform into a hub of mutual aid organizing across Canada. Initially designed to address minor emergency expenses, the escalating cost of living and inflation have compelled individuals to depend on her program for their very survival.

According to Evans, the initiative began as a way to assist people in covering small emergency costs, but quickly became a way to afford essential needs, including groceries, medications, and rent assistance. The pandemic has significantly exacerbated the situation, with a surge in requests for aid reported by Evans.

"Before the pandemic, people were short about $300 to $400 a month,” she says. “Now it's more like $900 to $1,000 a month."

Evans notes that individuals on social assistance, many of whom already struggle to cope with rising inflation rates, are increasingly turning to community and mutual aid programs for support.

An increasing demand for mutual aid has meant Jen spends most of her time on X compiling and sharing outstanding debts/needs. (Jennifer Evans/X)

According to Martin Dooley, a retired economics professor at McMaster University, the rise of mutual aid requests is linked to the failure of social assistance to keep up with inflation.

"The monthly rates for things like Ontario Works and ODSP simply haven't gone up,” said Dooley. “So that just pushes people more onto other types of often not-for-profit programs.”

While income rates for both Ontario Works and ODSP saw increases in 2022, they failed to reflect current inflation rates and overall cost of living, leaving many recipients in financial instability.

Maytree’s 2022 edition of its Welfare in Canada report found that despite a 6.8 per cent inflation increase, over half of Canadians relying on social assistance had their annual income payments decrease. (Maytree)

One individual, an ODSP recipient of over a decade, has never felt this level of financial pressure before. “Usually, I am lucky if I have more than 20 bucks left for the whole month”, they said. “Before, I usually had a hundred.”

In June 2023, the federal government announced the enactment of the Canada Disability Benefit, which would provide recipients with both federal and provincial financial assistance.

Individuals like Evans are optimistic about its impact. "If that's in the neighborhood that we're talking about, then it's going to make an absolutely material difference to people's lives," she said.

Though inflation has decreased from the rates seen in 2022, many who work in and rely on mutual aid are concerned the needs of their communities will still be left unaddressed. The lasting impact of inflation continues to drive reliance on mutual aid, both in terms of the increasing number of people seeking assistance and the escalating levels of aid required.