November 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the House of Commons’ unanimous resolution “to seek to achieve the goal of eliminating poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000,”2 and five years since the entire House of Commons voted to “develop an immediate plan to end poverty for all in Canada.”3 Neither the promised poverty eradication nor any comprehensive Canada-wide plan for its eradication has materialized. Only minimal progress on reducing child poverty has been achieved.

However, there are signs of hope for progress. In September 2014, the Government of Ontario released its second five-year poverty reduction strategy (its first strategy helped to stem the rise in child poverty in the province and lift 47,000 children out of poverty between 2008 and 2011).4