The people hardest hit by COVID-19 have been those who are economically insecure — refugees, newcomers, ethnic minorities, and low-income people of colour who work in service industries that put them at risk of being exposed to the virus. Critical information around COVID-19 is posted online, but that does not reach those who are without internet access and who are less likely to access information digitally, such as those seniors who are not digitally savvy.

The pandemic is the great revealer, unmasking problems that have always existed: precarity in food, income, and housing. COVID-19 preys on poverty, starves people, deepens income inequality, and forms a dangerous liaison with domestic- and gender-based violence that has tripled worldwide due to self-isolation; women in these situations may be under surveillance and not allowed to call for help or don’t know how. Government agencies are closed, shelters are closed or operating at a reduced capacity, which exacerbates the problem.

Instead of hearing that the government is feeding more and more money into food banks ($100M), Canadians want to hear that a more solid solution will be put in place that includes a basic guaranteed income for people to meet their basic needs. Statistics show that most Canadians are holding up during this crisis, but in the world of the low-income person it is a different story. This report highlights how the pandemic is impacting low-income people in four distinct areas: food, housing, income, and race.