On May 7, 2012, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives presented a brief to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. The brief focuses on several key policy changes in 2012 budget, notably to unemployment insurance; to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program; to the pension system.  The full brief can be downloaded HERE.

Key statistics:

• Canada has one of the highest proportions of low-wage workers (20.5%) in the OECD.
• An estimated 851,014 individuals accessed food banks across Canada in March 2011, an increase of 26% over the same month in 2008 before the recession hit.
• The poorest 20% of Canadian families saw their share of the earnings pie drop from 4.5% from the late 1970s, to 2.6% in the early 2000s. The richest 10% of families saw their earnings share grow from 23% to 29.5%.