Item - 2011.HL9.1
Tracking Status
- This item was considered by Board of Health on November 21, 2011 and was adopted with amendments.
HL9.1 - The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto
- Decision Type:
- ACTION
- Status:
- Amended
- Wards:
- All
Board Decision
The Board of Health directed that:
1. The Board of Health and the City-wide Local Immigration Partnership convene a strategic action-focussed forum with leaders of settlement agencies in Toronto, including the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, to build on the findings of "The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto", other Toronto Public Health newcomer pilot projects, and Local Immigration Partnership research by identifying opportunities to advance the health of newcomers; and report back to the Board of Health on a set of strategic actions that can be undertaken in the short, medium and long term.
2. This report be forwarded to the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and urge the Public Health Agency of Canada to take a leadership role in developing national and local strategies that maintain and improve newcomer health.
3. This report be sent to Local Health Integration Networks in Toronto requesting that they address the specific health needs of newcomers in their program, policy, and funding decisions.
4. This report be sent to the Ontario Health Study and urge it to include the surveillance of newcomer health.
5. The Medical Officer of Health continue to collaborate with research partners including the Centre for Research on Inner City Health to explore research opportunities that would inform the design and delivery of services to newcomers in Toronto and identify the pathways and mechanisms through which specific determinants affect newcomer health.
6. This report be sent to the Prime Minister of Canada and strongly urge that:
a. Citizenship and Immigration Canada collect and make available, comprehensive data on the socio-demographic characteristics of immigrants and temporary residents; and
b. Statistics Canada include an oversample of newcomers in the Canadian Community Health Survey so that the data can be used to monitor and assess the health of newcomers at the Toronto neighbourhood level and to further assess the impact of racialization and other related social determinants on the health of newcomers.
7. This report be sent to the Premier of Ontario and strongly urge the government to:
a. develop a provincial newcomer health strategy to ensure that provincial policies, programs and funding address the health needs of newcomers with a special focus on the mental health of adults and children;
b. incorporate strategies that strengthen the monitoring of newcomer health such as adding immigration status to the e-health system, including the diabetes registry, and the Better Outcomes Registry and Network Ontario; and
c. eliminate the three-month wait time for newcomers to access OHIP.
8. This report be sent to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Urban Public Health Network, the Association of Local Public Health Agencies, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Ontario Public Health Association and Public Health Ontario for action.
9. The importance of maintaining public health program and service levels in the areas of reproductive, maternal and infant health, and mental health and well being, to meet the health needs of newcomers to the city be reaffirmed.
10. The Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health be urged to address the social determinants of health in her annual report.
11. A copy of the report "The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto" be forwarded to all City Councillors and the Mayor with an attached letter requesting that they take this report into consideration when voting on the 2012 Budget.
12. This report be sent to the Boards of Education in Toronto with an invitation to work together on curriculum and outreach to both students and parents which will promote a greater understanding of their rights to the services available and the need for greater civic engagement to make the concepts in the report a reality for all our newcomers.
13. The Medical Officer of Health be requested to undertake further research related to the health of undocumented residents, focusing on appropriate intervention that may be helpful to this community.
14. This report be sent to the Chief Executive Officers of all hospitals in the City of Toronto requesting that they address the specific health needs of newcomers in their policies, programming and practices.
15. A copy of the report "The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto" be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the leaders of the opposition parties in Ontario.
Origin
Summary
Toronto Public Health’s mission to improve the health of the whole population and to reduce health inequalities is guided in part by population health assessment activities that add to our understanding of the nature and extent of health inequalities in Toronto. Building on earlier work (“The Unequal City: Income and Health Inequalities in Toronto 2008”[i]) that measured the effect of income on health, “The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto” describes the health status, related health determinants, and health needs of Toronto newcomers (residents born outside Canada who came here within the past ten years, unless otherwise indicated). The report was prepared in partnership with Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services to consolidate knowledge related to newcomer health in Toronto and is one of three Toronto Public Health Newcomer Initiatives funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Two other complementary initiatives focussed on settlement workers and family separation and reunification, are described in a separate report to the Board of Health.
Half a million immigrants and refugees settled in Toronto between 2000 and 2009, and in 2006, more than half of the city’s residents were born outside of Canada. Good health is one of many assets that most newcomers bring with them. After settling in Toronto however, newcomers can encounter many factors that threaten their physical and mental health. This report describes the “health advantage” that newcomers bring to Toronto, the decline in health status experienced by many immigrants after arriving in Canada; the heterogeneity and diversity of newcomer health needs based on factors such as age, gender, ethno-racial identity and immigration status; the multiple barriers faced by newcomers in accessing health services; and major social determinants of newcomer health.
"The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto" underscores the need to work across sectors to influence individual health practices, and more importantly, to address the service barriers and the social and economic exclusion that negatively affects newcomers' health and creates health inequities. The information in this report supports efforts to better understand the health and health needs of newcomers and to identify strategies that address inequities and improve health for all in Toronto.
Background Information
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-42360.pdf
(November 15, 2011) Attachment - The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto - November 2011
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-42361.pdf
Speakers
Dr. Michael C. Stephenson, General Practitioner, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services
Motions
That Recommendation 7a in the report (November 15, 2011) from the Medical Officer of Health be amended by adding "with a special focus on the mental health of adults and children", so that the Recommendation now reads:
"7a. develop a provincial newcomer health strategy to ensure that provincial policies, programs and funding address the health needs of newcomers with a special focus on the mental health of adults and children."
That Recommendation 8 be amended by replacing the words "for information" with "for action", so that the Recommendation now reads:
8. The Board of Health send this report to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Urban Public Health Network, the Association of Local Public Health Agencies, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Ontario Public Health Association and Public Health Ontario for action.
The Board of Health urge the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health to address the social determinants of health in her annual report.
That Recommendation 7 in the report (November 15, 2011) from the Medical Officer of Health be amended by adding:
"c. eliminate the three-month wait time for newcomers to access OHIP."
The Board of Health reaffirm the importance of maintaining public health program and service levels in the areas of reproductive, maternal and infant health, and mental health and well being, to meet the health needs of newcomers to the city.
The Board of Health forward a copy of the report "The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto" to all City Councillors and the Mayor, with an attached letter requesting that they take this report into consideration when voting on the 2012 Budget.
The Board of Health send this report to the Boards of Education in Toronto with an invitation to work together on curriculum and outreach to both students and parents which will promote a greater understanding of their rights to the services available and the need for greater civic engagement to make the concepts in the report a reality for all our newcomers.
That Recommendation 1 be amended to read as follows:
1. The Board of Health and the City-wide Local Immigration Partnership convene a strategic action-focussed forum with leaders of settlement agencies in Toronto, including the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, to build on the findings of "The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto", other Toronto Public Health newcomer pilot projects, and Local Immigration Partnership research; by identifying opportunities to advance the health of newcomers and report back to the Board of Health on a set of strategic actions that can be undertaken in the short, medium and long term.
That the Board of Health request the Medical Officer of Health to undertake further research related to the health of undocumented residents, focusing on appropriate intervention that may be helpful to this community.
The Board of Health send this report to the Chief Executive Officers of all hospitals in the City of Toronto requesting that they address the specific health needs of newcomers in their policies, programming and practices.
That a copy of the report "The Global City: Newcomer Health in Toronto" be forwarded to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the leaders of the opposition parties in Ontario.