As part of their 2024 election platform, the government prioritized the creation of a universal school food program to ensure all students have access to healthy meals that support children’s health and development. As a member of the BC Chapter…
With the start of the Spring 2025 BC Legislature session about to begin, we wanted to ensure that all elected and re-elected MLA’s were familiar with the statistics and stories about how worsening poverty is affecting families with children in…
First Call is calling on the Minister of Children and Family Development to amend the regulations under the Social Work Act to require mandatory registration with the BC College of Social Workers for all social workers in BC in order…
First Call appears in this article on the challenges poor single moms face in BC. Vancouver Sun / Dec 26th 2024
For Immediate ReleaseDecember 3, 2024 BC Child Poverty on the Rise, Special Focus on Single Mothers Vancouver, BC — The 2024 BC Child Poverty Report Card, released today by First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society, reveals a continuing sharp…
Opinion: In 2021, over 126,000 children in B.C. lived in poverty. We need comprehensive policies that address the root causes of poverty.
On March 21, 2024, First Call wrote to Chair Senator Brent Cotter and members of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, urging them to pass Bill C-291. Passing this bill would amend the Criminal Code and other…
BC child poverty rates increase after COVID, First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society reports Vancouver, BC: First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society has released its 27th annual BC Child Poverty Report Card that sheds light on the scope…
In 2018 First Call made a submission to the BC Government recommending that they redesign the BC Early Childhood Tax Benefit into a BC Child Benefit that would cover children under age 18, instead of under age 6, increase the…
Unaffordable housing and discrimination stand in the way of BC children’s right to housing Vancouver, BC: A new report released by First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society (First Call), and funded by the Law Foundation, highlights the difficulties faced…
On November 23, 2023 First Call sent a letter to all BC MPs and relevant federal cabinet ministers urging them to support Bill S-210, the Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act. This bill passed the Senate by acclamation…
In November 2023, friends at Corinne’s Quest alerted us to an upcoming vote in Parliament on BC MP Peter Julian’s Bill C-273 calling for the repeal of Section 43. If MPs get enough encouragement from their constituents, we’re hopeful it…
First Call’s submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Budget 2024 includes recommendations that would help to improve the lives of families who are living in poverty. Those recommendations include: Read First Call’s submission here.
August 9, 2023 Making Ends Meet Research Project Finds Vancouver Families Struggling (Vancouver, BC) Today, First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society released Making Ends Meet: Low Wage Work, Poverty and Healthy Communities in Vancouver, a research report that found…
In our 2022 BC Child Poverty Report Card, First Call recommended that the provincial government “Provide free public transit for minors ages 13 to 18 and free or reduced-fee transit access for low-income households.” In June 2023 we wrote to…
