The online and newer printed editions of the BAS include this question as part of the baptismal covenant, to which all baptized members of the congregation make assent along with the newly baptized. Some parishes may include the online version in the leaflet given to the congregation. It’s also possible to print stickers containing the sixth baptismal promise that can be affixed to the bottom of page 159 of the BAS (see www.toronto.anglican.ca/creationcare). But there are many parishes in our diocese that haven’t updated their BAS baptismal rite, and others who use the Book of Common Prayer. It would be safe to say that most Anglicans in our diocese were baptized before 2013. So, does it still make sense to describe creation care as rooted in our baptismal covenant?

I would argue that it does.

Christian baptism, whatever the rite, involves a commitment to turn away from sin and to live according to God’s commandments. In the Book of Common Prayer, the person being baptized (or their sponsors) renounces “the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh.” They go on to acknowledge “the duty to keep God’s holy will and commandments, walking steadfastly in the way of Christ.”

The threats to the integrity of God’s creation, including a liveable climate for all of Earth’s inhabitants, are directly tied to the things that we as Christians renounce through our baptism. The temptation of the devil, from Adam and Eve in Eden to Jesus in the wilderness, is always to profess to know better than God, to seek manipulation and misuse of what God has ordained, for the furtherance of one’s own ends. We can see this in human activities that overwhelm the carrying capacity of our Earth and its atmosphere, from overharvesting wildlife, fisheries and forests to exhausting the fertility of the soil to burning fuels that contribute more greenhouse gases than are compatible with a liveable climate. Persisting in such activities despite increasing warnings about the impacts is an example of prideful disdain at the limits God has woven into the created order. Grasping after power and wealth for ourselves at the expense of others shows our covetous and sinful desires. Our continual greed for more – whether it be fast fashion, the latest technology, fruits out of season, AI-generated images or same-day shipping – is a major contributor to climate change, as well as pollution, waste, overconsumption of the Earth’s resources and exploitation of other human beings.

Likewise, when we think about keeping God’s will and commandments, we recall that God’s first commandments to humankind concern our relationship with the Earth. In Genesis 1:26-28, God gives human beings authority to exercise dominion over the Earth as image-bearers of God, an implication that has all too often been lost when we exchange dominion in the image of a loving Creator for rapacious domination. In Genesis 2:15, human beings are set in the garden to “till and keep it,” or as a closer translation of the Hebrew says, “to serve and observe it.” Taken together, these original commandments invite us into a relationship with the land marked by humility – learning God’s ways and the physical laws God has embedded within the created universe – as well as responsibility – being intentional in our use of creation and accountable for our actions. How do our actions toward the Earth mark us as image-bearers of the One who creates, sustains, loves and redeems it?

We might also consider the greatest commandment. Loving God, and loving one’s neighbour as oneself, calls us to treat God’s creation with attention and care, rather than with a rapaciousness and greed that dishonours God’s handiwork and causes others to suffer.

The Apostle Paul says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? … If we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him into a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:3, 5) Baptism makes us dead to sin – the things that corrupt and destroy us and all God’s creatures – and brings us into the new life of Christ, the one who was sent in order that the whole world, all things in heaven and earth, might be saved and reconciled to God. (John 3:17, Colossians 1:20) As Romans 8:19 reminds us, all creation “waits with eager longing for the children of God to be revealed.”

The addition of the fifth Mark of Mission to the baptismal covenant in the BAS thus makes explicit something that was implicit in older rites. Through scripture and through our baptism, we are called ever deeper into following Jesus Christ. We are brought closer to the heart of God, who “hates nothing that he has made,” whose desire is that we, and all creation, be redeemed.

Whether you were baptized using the BCP or the BAS before 2013, or in another Christian denomination altogether, the call “to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth” is part of your calling, too. As we move from Lent to Easter, let us live more deeply into this baptismal covenant, that all creation may praise God’s name.

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In the Diocese of Toronto’s pre-budget submission to the province this January, we reiterated calls for investments and policies to address these crises.

Poverty reduction

A record one million Ontarians relied on food banks last year, 87 per cent more than in 2019-20, while the number of visits is up 13 per cent over the previous year and 165 per cent since 2019-20. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario found that nearly 85,000 Ontarians were homeless in 2025, up nearly 8 per cent since last year, while northern and rural communities saw homelessness increase by 37 per cent and 31 percent, respectively. Homelessness is also lasting longer, with 53 per cent of people experiencing homelessness in 2025 being chronically homeless.

Both Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) rates fall far below the poverty line, trapping recipients in poverty and driving them into homelessness. As of July 2025, more than 30,000 people on OW and ODSP were experiencing homelessness, up 72 per cent since July 2019. The situation is especially desperate for those on OW, whose rates have been frozen since September 2018, while the cost of living has increased by more than 23 per cent. While the minimum wage and other provincial income support programs are indexed to inflation, OW rates and earnings thresholds have remained stagnant, eroding the value of these benefits. A single person on OW cannot afford a bachelor apartment anywhere in Ontario, much less food, clothing and transportation. This causes greater demand on social housing and benefit programs. Moreover, social assistance recipients who become homeless lose the “housing” component of the benefit, making it more difficult for them to exit homelessness. These factors drive recipients into ever-deeper poverty, contributing to rising homelessness, hunger and demand for social and health services. We call for bringing OW and ODSP rates into alignment with the cost of living, indexing OW rates and earnings thresholds to inflation, and combining the basic needs and housing components of social assistance into one flat rate.

Having a job should keep one out of poverty, yet nearly one in four households using food banks in Ontario this past year cite employment as their main source of income, more than double the percentage in 2019-20. A recent University of Toronto study found that 89 per cent of food-insecure households in Canada have a main income earner in a permanent, full-time job. While the minimum wage is indexed to inflation, it still falls short of a living wage. Low-income workers saw a 14 per cent increase in earnings between 2019 and 2024, yet the cost of household essentials like food, housing and transportation increased by 22 per cent over the same period, leaving them in a widening affordability gap. We urge the government to gradually raise the minimum wage until it approximates the average living wage in Ontario and thereafter index it to inflation.

Ontario’s employment legislation still lacks paid sick leave, which can lead to financial hardship for low-wage and precariously employed workers. Workers must go to work sick or forfeit a day’s pay. Going to work sick has negative public health impacts and can worsen health conditions for employees, leading to potential medical complications, possible job loss and a greater burden on our healthcare system. We call for legislation requiring employers to provide employees with 10 paid sick days per year.

Housing & homelessness

Rent control loopholes, including the exemption on new units, vacancy decontrol and above-guideline rent increases, result in asking rents increasing faster than increases in tenants’ incomes, even above the rate of inflation. They give landlords an incentive to displace tenants and even to demolish existing rental units to build new units not subject to rent control. This results in an overall loss of affordable units, as well as increasing housing precarity among tenant households. Recent legislation exacerbates this precarity, restricting tenants’ ability to preserve their housing and reducing their right to compensation for no-fault evictions. Soaring rents not only require higher housing benefits to bridge the gap between rental costs and tenants’ incomes; they push people into homelessness, which ends up costing us all more. We recommend closing these rent control loopholes, which would stabilize costs not only for tenants but for Ontario taxpayers overall.

As the market cannot provide sufficient affordable housing for low-income tenants and people exiting homelessness, we also need investment in social housing. The waitlist for subsidized housing in Ontario now exceeds 300,000 households, with average wait times of more than five years and as long as 16 years. A proposed “pause” on inclusionary zoning requirements could mean 3,000 fewer affordable units created each year. Without sufficient affordable housing, people are more likely to become homeless and less able to exit homelessness. Emergency shelter cannot keep up – despite shelter bed capacity in Ontario growing by 34 per cent from 2019 to 2024, chronic homelessness grew by 138 per cent in that time.

Unsurprisingly, encampments have proliferated across the province. Yet without available housing, encampments will not disappear. Criminalizing people in encampments overrides their human rights, removes them from supports and does nothing to resolve the underlying issue. Moreover, the cost of jail is approximately three times the cost of supportive housing^.

Without significant intervention, homelessness in Ontario is projected to more than double in the next decade, and more than triple under an economic downturn, which could easily result from the impact of U.S. tariffs. The increase in the number and frequency of Ontarians using food banks is also a predictor of another surge in homelessness. We call for increased investments in homelessness prevention and transitional, supportive and rent-geared-to-income housing, to end chronic and unsheltered homelessness.

Harm reduction

The closure of 10 supervised consumption sites in 2025 has led to increased pressure on remaining sites, drop-ins and other community services, along with an increase in public overdoses and discarded needles. In December 2025, Toronto Public Health reported a sharp spike in overdoses, along with an increasingly contaminated street drug supply. While investments in addictions treatment and supportive housing are welcome, this government’s shift from supervised consumption sites to abstinence-based Homelessness and Addictions Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs is contrary to the advice of healthcare workers and drug policy experts. HART Hubs do not allow supervised consumption, drug-checking or needle exchange – vital services that save lives and promote public health by reducing public needle litter, reducing the transmission of blood-borne diseases and reducing the strain on our emergency services. We recommend reversing the closure of safe consumption sites, ending the ban on new sites and expanding harm reduction services across Ontario.

Climate change

Climate change is leading to more frequent and severe wildfires, floods, droughts and heatwaves. In 2025, wildfires in Ontario destroyed nearly seven times the area burned in 2024, while Toronto saw a record number of heatwaves, putting Ontarians’ health and productivity at risk. Yet this government has abolished the legislative requirement for emissions reduction targets, a climate change plan or reporting on progress to meet those targets. We urge the province to continue to set emissions reduction targets and track progress toward those targets.

Mega-highway projects like Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass will pave over some of Ontario’s best farmland, exacerbate urban sprawl and lead to higher levels of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, costing taxpayers billions without easing traffic congestion long-term. The province is also spending taxpayers’ money to appeal a court decision in favour of bike lanes, while adding new legislative obstacles to municipalities seeking to add this infrastructure. We recommend cancelling the development of the 413 mega-highway and the Bradford Bypass and investing those dollars in expanding and improving public and regional transit. We further recommend reversing plans to remove bike lanes and returning active transportation infrastructure decisions to municipalities.

The province’s energy production policies move us farther from our climate action goals, with gas-fired power projected to account for 25 per cent of Ontario’s electricity supply in 2030, up from 4 per cent in 2017. We call on the province to significantly expand investment in renewable energy sources and storage.

Most recently, this government plans to amalgamate Ontario’s 36 existing conservation authorities, which follow local watershed boundaries and play a vital role in protecting communities from flooding, into seven regional bodies. With climate change already leading to more frequent and severe weather events, consolidation risks disrupting protections for watersheds and downstream communities, reducing local knowledge and representation, and requiring a complex transition process that could cost as much as it saves, without clear evidence of benefit. We urge this government to reconsider the planned amalgamation of Ontario’s Conservation Authorities and instead pursue opportunities to enhance coordination between them.

Ontario needs targeted, coordinated, and sustained action to address these crises and put our province on a path to greater resilience as we face the challenges before us.

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Scientists have long warned that a warming climate exacerbates extreme weather events, contributes to wildfire risk and results in more frequent and intense heat waves. Over 80,000 peer-reviewed studies regarding the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the global climate point to the same conclusion: our addiction to fossil fuels is causing Earth’s climate to heat up at a rate that is increasingly dangerous for human and other created life.

Despite the scientific studies, and even the real-world impacts, we are slow to act. Especially for Canada, the world’s fourth-highest producer of oil and gas, fossil fuel production and export is seen as essential to our economy, with oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipelines promoted as “nation-building projects” in the face of economic threats. Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is not an easy proposition – practically or politically – when so much of our national economy, including people’s livelihoods, is tied up with the oil and gas industry.

Yet Canadians also face existential and economic risks from a changing climate. Warming across Canada has been about twice the global average, and three times higher than the global average in Canada’s Arctic. The climate impacts of worsening wildfires, reduced crop yields, loss of biodiversity, damaged infrastructure from severe weather events, lower labour productivity and negative health outcomes must be considered as well. At the very least, we as a nation must do our part to limit global warming, for the sake not only of people around the world but of those here at home as well.

As Christians, we worship a God who created our world and called it good. We follow a Christ through whom all things were created, in whom all creation is held together and through whom all creation is reconciled. Our General Synod has recognized this in adding to our baptismal vows the call to safeguard the integrity of creation and respect, sustain and renew the life of the earth. Called to love God and our neighbour, we must embody this faith commitment with actions that show our care for God’s creation and all who depend on it, including those who have most to lose from the climate crisis.

There are many ways for us to care for creation and reduce our own carbon footprint, from reducing excess consumption and ensuring that our homes (and parish buildings) are as energy efficient as we can make them, to protecting our local ecosystems and helping to foster biodiversity by planting native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. The global Anglican Communion Forest initiative has seen hundreds of thousands of trees planted worldwide since it was launched at Lambeth in 2022, and our diocese is starting to take part in those efforts.

All these are good and necessary things to do; but they alone are not enough. We must also call on our elected representatives to take leadership and action on a wider scale, to honour the commitments our governments have already made to reduce emissions and limit the rate of climate change. In 2015, 196 countries adopted the landmark Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, relative to pre‑industrial levels. Yet, current global commitments fall far short of this, leading to projections of warming by 3 degrees Celsius by the year 2100.

Canada is the worst performing of the G7 countries in terms of meeting its targets under the Paris Agreement. Although Prime Minister Carney reaffirmed his commitment to meeting Canada’s climate targets, recent actions by the federal government to jettison or delay many of the policy tools meant to achieve those targets have left open the question of how we as a nation will accomplish our goals.

This winter, as part of your annual vestry meeting, the Social Justice & Advocacy Committee, with the support of the College of Bishops, invites you and your parish to recommit to our vow to safeguard God’s creation and to call on the federal government to enact and implement policies that enable us to meet Canada’s climate commitments. Parishes’ support of this motion will be tallied and included in our diocesan advocacy efforts, but parishes and individuals may also wish to contact their local MPs to express their concerns. We also hope that discussing and considering this motion sparks a conversation in your parish about how you can live out your local commitment to respect, sustain and renew the life of God’s earth, especially in the face of a warming climate. This motion, and our response to it, forms part of our diocesan response to Cast the Net Call #8: “Intensify advocacy and action in response to the climate crisis.”

You can find this year’s social justice vestry motion and related materials at www.toronto.anglican.ca/vestry-motion. The Social Justice & Advocacy Committee also invites you to submit questions on this year’s motion to egoulden@toronto.anglican.ca by Jan. 16, which we will do our best to address in our annual video Q&A.

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The service was put together by St. Paul’s incumbent, the Rev. Andrew Kuhl, in consultation with members of the bishop’s committee. The liturgy drew on diverse sources from around the Anglican Communion. There was a litany for the preservation of the environment from the Anglican Church of Kenya, a prayer of confession from The Episcopal Church, an absolution from Alongside Hope’s Season of Creation liturgy, and a Eucharistic prayer from the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil.

Continuing with the Communion-wide theme, Mr. Kuhl’s sermon was organized around the three mission statements of the Communion Forest initiative: “To plant is to hope; to restore is to heal; to protect is to love.” For each statement, he gave examples of forest regeneration, restoration and ecosystem protection in Ontario, some of which were within the parish itself. One of these examples was the work of the local Copeland Forest Friends Association, which helps to manage the largest tract of forest in Ontario south of Algonquin Park, removing invasive species, restoring the natural flow of streams, and clearing debris from this spring’s devastating ice storm. Members of the association were in the congregation

“A forest is not just a collection of trees in a certain geographical space, but a complex web of interdependent relationships for mutual flourishing – a web which includes us,” Mr. Kuhl remarked. He noted that the Bible recognizes the agency of the non-human creation. Not only do we care for forests and other ecosystems, but they also care for us in their turn, providing fresh air, clean water, food, medicine, shelter, and, not least, places of recreation and contemplation.

In Isaiah 32:14-18, this year’s text for the global Season of Creation, the judgement that comes upon Israel is a “re-wilding”: the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted, and the hill and watchtower become dens for wildlife, the joy of wild asses and a pasture for flocks. When God’s spirit is poured out, “the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest” where justice and righteousness dwell.

“Through the Spirit of God, people learn to live in right relationship with all creation,” observed Mr. Kuhl, recalling that God’s love and salvation in Christ is for the entire cosmos. Challenging us to take up the call of the Communion Forest initiative, he noted that “hope begins here and now with the actions of our lives. What is God calling you and your parish to do, to participate in God’s great love for the world?”

The theme of a “forest web” was illustrated in the service as participants brought leaves, branches, flowers and acorns from forested areas near their homes and hung them on a large fishnet suspended on the wall of the church. The fishnet also evoked the imagery of our diocese’s Cast the Net vision. Just like an ecosystem, our diocese itself is a complex web of relationships for mutual flourishing, and care for creation, along with spiritual renewal and reimagining ministry, is part of that vision for our Church’s flourishing.

The image of a web, rather than a wheel with spokes emanating from a central hub, also reminds us of how churches in the various parts of our diocese have much to offer and learn from each other in many respects, including in terms of creation care.

“Last year we were invited by some clergy to consider celebrating the Season of Creation outside downtown Toronto,” said the Rev. Paige Souter, co-chair of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care. “While we wanted to have our inaugural service at St. James’ Cathedral, we wanted to invite other parishes to host the diocesan celebration going forward. It was a delight to have Fr. Andrew Kuhl welcome us to Midhurst for this year’s celebration.”

The service concluded with announcements about other deanery events and the diocesan outreach conference, which included a workshop on the Communion Forest initiative. Participants also had an opportunity to enjoy refreshments and conversation in the hall after the service.

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In 2022, the congregation embarked on a consultation with other local churches and groups to discern how they could respond to needs in the local community. “We wanted to be mission-minded, but we weren’t sure what direction we should be going in, so we invited our partners in the surrounding community into conversation with us,” says the Rev. Helena-Rose Houldcroft, priest-in-charge.

At the same time, Habitat for Humanity Northumberland was working on plans to create seven net-zero emissions townhomes in the village of Baltimore, north of Cobourg. It would be the largest single development of Habitat for Humanity Northumberland, and the largest net-zero project for Habitat for Humanity in all of Canada. The townhomes, now completed, feature heat pumps for heating and cooling, as well as solar panels that feed electricity back into the grid. The build also incorporates Universal Design, making the units more accessible to people with different abilities.

Inspired by the project and its focus on building not just housing but relationships, parishioners at St. George’s looked for ways to help support the build. “We’re a little church that doesn’t say ‘it can’t happen,’ but rather, ‘how can we make it happen?’” says parishioner Sharon O’Connor-Watters. “We are a congregation of seniors, so we might not be much good on ladders, but we’re known for our food! So, we decided to contribute meals for the volunteers on team-build days.”

St. George’s provided lunches and snacks for the building teams on 14 build days. Deacon Barbara Russell invited other parishes, including St. Peter, Cobourg, St. John the Evangelist, Port Hope and St. Andrew United, Grafton, to participate as well, contributing an additional six days of food.

Cathy Borowec, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Northumberland, estimates that St. George’s saved the teams over $5,000 in meals. “It was great food and a real boost for the volunteer build teams,” she said.

St. George’s also raised funds for the build. The church bought decorated shortbread cookies as part of Habitat’s Thanksgiving cookie drive and handed them out at its Christmas bazaar to help promote the project. In December 2023, Deacon Russell’s husband, Gary Russell, built a scale model of the townhomes in gingerbread, taking first prize at Habitat Northumberland’s Gingerbread Festival fundraiser that year. Part of the prize was a gift certificate for food preparation, which Mr. Russell donated back to Habitat to provide meals for volunteer teams. St. George’s Men’s Breakfast group also ran three pancake brunches. Through these fundraising efforts, the parish raised more than $10,000, in addition to the value of the meals provided. Individual parishioners also made contributions to the project.

While $15,000 is already a significant contribution from a small rural parish, the value of St. George’s contribution went far beyond money. “It wasn’t just about the food or the money, but about building relationships – with volunteers, with Habitat, with other churches, with local representatives, with our neighbourhood,” says Rev. Houldcroft. “When we were serving the food, we were also sitting down with the volunteers and having conversations. We got to meet some of the future residents, and it was such a privilege to hear them talk about what the project meant to them.” The seven families moved into the townhomes this May.

While discussion of Canada’s housing crisis often focuses on urban settings, Deacon Russell stresses that the need is great in rural areas as well. “The price of housing has really gone up. We have family homes being bought up for use as short-term rentals, creating a real shortage of affordable family housing. What’s nice about the Baltimore build is that it’s not some sprawling subdivision taking up arable land, but a compact and family-friendly community.”

Eva Leca, another volunteer from St. George’s, drives by the townhomes regularly. “Each time, it brings me a sense of joy that we helped make it happen,” she says. “Talking about ‘the housing crisis’ or ‘charitable giving’ can be abstract, but this build is local and tangible. For me, and for our parish, it’s important that we direct what we have to needs in our community.”

Rev. Houldcroft says the parish is committed to being involved again, especially if there is another rural build. The project drew together not only those who regularly attend church but the wider community in support of Habitat for Humanity Northumberland, and the parish knows it can build on that wider support.

Asked for advice for other parishes, Deacon Russell says, “Know your strengths, and apply them to your passion.” Rev. Houldcroft agreed, noting that churches can offer gathering places for people to come together and address the needs of the community. “We don’t always use our spaces to their full potential in a way that strengthens communication and interrelatedness. But when you have a space, you can build conversations.”

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After many years of advocacy, we were pleased to see the launch of a national housing strategy in 2017, enshrined in the National Housing Strategy Act of 2019. The act recognizes the importance of housing to the social, economic, health and environmental wellbeing of Canadians, and affirms Canada’s commitment to housing as a human right. At the same time, however, the act follows three decades of lack of public investment in housing, especially in “social” or subsidized housing geared to those living on low and moderate incomes. During that time, the rise of short-term rentals and investment vehicles created to maximize profits from residential housing put additional pressures on the housing market. Meanwhile, public policies that exacerbate housing unaffordability persist at all levels of government.

In fall of 2023, the diocese’s Social Justice and Advocacy Committee presented a motion in support of the human right to housing for parishes to consider at their 2024 vestry meetings. The motion called on the federal government to target subsidies and incentives to projects that met clear conditions on affordability and eviction prevention, as well as to end the favourable tax treatment of real estate investment trusts. It called on the provincial government to extend rent controls and vacancy controls on all rental housing, to restrict above-guideline rent increases, and it urged the province to work with municipalities to enact and enforce restrictions on short-term rentals.

Despite the complexity of this vestry motion, it was widely supported across the diocese. Of the individual calls, the one that attracted the most support was that of closing provincial rent control loopholes, including the exemption on units first occupied as rental housing after 2018, vacancy decontrol, and the lack of restriction on above-guideline rent increases. Seventy per cent of the parishes in the diocese supported the need to close these loopholes.

The strong response to the vestry motion led to further housing advocacy, both by the diocese as a whole and by individual parishes. Several parishes wrote to their local MPPs, outlining their support for stronger rent controls and limitations on short-term rentals. As the Social Justice and Advocacy consultant, I raised these issues in an interfaith conversation between faith group representatives and staff of (then) provincial Housing Minister Paul Calandra, as well as in our response to the 2024 provincial budget. Our diocese joined the non-partisan Fair Rent Ontario campaign (https://fairrentontario.ca/) last fall and was featured as a public endorser of the campaign on its social media on Christmas Eve. We raised housing issues in both of our provincial and federal election resources earlier this year and sent a letter to the Prime Minister and new federal housing minister that outlined our support for greater investment in public and non-profit housing.

Despite sustained advocacy, efforts to shift housing policies have met with limited success. Combined supports from federal and provincial governments have helped create new affordable and supportive housing, and the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit helps tens of thousands of households across the province maintain a roof over their heads. But Ontario tenants continue to face lack of rent controls in newer units, as well as vacancy decontrol and back-to-back rent increases. Housing starts are well below the province’s own targets, and few of the new units are affordable to low or moderate-income residents.

With static social assistance rates and wages failing to keep pace with rising rents, it is hardly surprising that homelessness has skyrocketed in recent years. A report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in January found that homelessness in Ontario had risen 25 per cent from 2022 to 2024 and will get much worse without significant intervention. It is thus discouraging to see the rise of a punitive approach to homelessness, from Barrie City Council’s attempt to criminalize outreach to unhoused people in 2023, to neighbourhood backlash against shelters and supportive housing in Toronto, to the province’s Bill 6, which imposes heavy fines or jail time on people forced to seek shelter out of doors.

Still, Anglicans across the diocese continue to advocate for shelter and housing: speaking out at town halls, sending letters to local council meetings, and contributing funds and volunteer hours to local land trusts that help preserve and maintain affordable housing in their neighbourhoods. Some have created programs to welcome new shelter and supportive housing residents in their communities. Others such as St. George, Grafton (see related article) have partnered with local organizations to support the building of new affordable housing.

Responding to the housing crisis is not a quick fix. It will take every sector of society to contribute to creating communities where no one goes without the dignity and security of a home. But in advocacy efforts from federal to local, in supporting initiatives and organizations that create housing, and in fostering a public conversation supportive of housing for all, each of us can play a part.

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While the Sunday nearest June 20 is often observed as National Indigenous Day of Prayer, for several years our diocese has encouraged parishes to choose another Sunday in the month before World Refugee Day to highlight the important work of refugee resettlement. Our first Refugee Sunday was proclaimed by Bishop Asbil in 2021. Since 2024, Refugee Sunday has gone nation-wide, with the invitation now coming from the Primate’s office. Alongside Hope (formerly PWRDF), which provides support to the 15 Canadian dioceses that are Sponsorship Agreement Holders with the federal government, has compiled resources for parishes that wish to observe a Refugee Sunday at www.alongsidehope.org/refugee-sunday.

For more than three decades, our diocese has partnered with the Anglican United Refugee Alliance (AURA) to resettle refugees. AURA and the diocese are joint signatories of a sponsorship agreement with the federal government, allowing us to sponsor some 80 or so persons per year, providing them with practical and emotional support during their first 12 months in Canada. AURA staff work tirelessly to match parishes with refugee cases and to prepare parishes and volunteers for the work involved in welcoming and supporting refugees in that first year, all while navigating the labyrinth of federal regulations and paperwork on our behalf. AURA staff also represent us in meetings with other Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs) and in the network of Anglican SAHs supported by Alongside Hope.

Even parishes that have limited financial or volunteer capacity can play an important role in refugee sponsorship as “support parishes.” In such cases, AURA staff connect parishes with local community groups and/or family members of the refugees to be sponsored, who contribute all or much of the financial and practical support. The parish holds and disburses the funds for the sponsorship and can get involved in other ways as it’s able. With the current federal government “pause” on all private refugee sponsorships except those done by Sponsorship Agreement Holders, this is an important way our parishes can step up to help welcome people who are fleeing for their lives.

The numbers of people worldwide forcibly displaced due to conflict, violence and persecution have increased rapidly every year since 2012, to a record high of 122.6 million in 2024. This figure includes more than 43 million refugees. More than two-thirds of them are hosted in neighbouring countries, many of which are also low- and middle-income countries. For many of these refugees, resettlement in another country is their only long-term hope to survive and thrive. Sadly, this increase in need has coincided with a rise in xenophobic rhetoric that blames immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers for social issues such as a lack of housing – which owes more to decades of domestic policy decisions than to incoming refugees.

Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people are reminded to treat strangers and foreigners as the native-born among them. As followers of Jesus, who himself was a refugee as a child in Egypt, we are called to welcome the stranger as if welcoming Christ himself. This includes rejecting language that dehumanizes anyone, especially those fleeing from horrors most of us here in Canada can only imagine. Rather, we can recognize the gifts and talents refugees bring to our communities and find ways to support them. As we help them rebuild their lives, they in turn help build up our communities.

Please consider setting aside a Sunday this month to pray for and celebrate refugees. If your parish is not already involved, consider reaching out to our ministry partners at AURA to find out how you can be part of the ministry of refugee resettlement in the Diocese of Toronto.

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The results of the motion are heartening, considering that this year’s motion was somewhat more controversial than many past social justice motions. In the lead-up to the vestry motion campaign, some clergy and lay people expressed concern that the motion might be seen as “enabling” substance abuse. However, as parishes engaged with the motion and the materials provided by the Social Justice and Advocacy Committee, most came to see supporting harm reduction not as opposing treatment, but as offering a full continuum of care – indeed, providing an on-ramp for people who use drugs to access all sorts of health and other supports, including treatment. Several parishes made this connection explicit by adding language urging the province to increase access to addictions treatment along with protecting and expanding harm reduction services.

Another concern expressed early on was that this motion wouldn’t gain traction outside Toronto, since the only sites in the diocese slated to be closed by the province’s new legislation were in Toronto. In fact, over half of the parishes supporting the motion were located outside Toronto, and more parishes voted in favour of the motion in the Oshawa and Peterborough deaneries than in any other deanery. Anglicans clearly recognize that the overdose crisis affects people in communities of all sizes across Ontario, and that the ban on new supervised consumption sites means that people in communities without those life-saving services will continue to go without them.

One of the things that helped many parishes come to grips with the issues behind the motion was inviting a speaker on the topic. I made presentations at St. Martin, Bay Ridges, St. Martin in-the-Fields, Toronto, and St. Peter, Erindale. The Rev. Barbara Russell, a member of the Social Justice and Advocacy Committee, spoke at her home parish of St. George, Grafton and at St. John, Bowmanville. Andrew Neelands, a parishioner and volunteer at St. Stephen in-the-Fields, was invited to speak at Grace Church on-the-Hill, while Keren Elumir, a parishioner of Church of the Resurrection and a nurse at the Moss Park consumption and treatment site, made a presentation at St. James Cathedral. All those parishes ended up passing the motion. Several other parishes, including All Saints, Collingwood, expressed thanks for the video Q&A and other resources provided by the Social Justice and Advocacy Committee.

Not all parishes embraced the motion, of course. Some clergy admitted that they hadn’t presented it this year, as they anticipated enough difficult discussions at vestry without adding the topic of harm reduction. A few parishes indicated that they had opened the topic for discussion but had decided not to put it to a vote.

That doesn’t mean that the conversation stops. On March 6, about 50 people from different church denominations attended a discussion hosted by Little Trinity called “Faith With Substance,” billed as a “theological and practical conversation about drug use and supervised consumption sites.” The Rev. Angie Hocking, one of the event’s organizers and presenters, described it as a success, saying it helped provide a safe space for people with concerns to have a theologically informed conversation about these issues.

“People said they learned a whole lot – new perspectives and things to consider that they had not known about before our evening together,” she said. “There was an optional naloxone training at the end of the event, which most people stayed for and were eager to learn how to help save a life worthy of saving.” Other parishes that have not passed the motion are also looking at ways to learn more about the issues.

On March 28, Justice John Callaghan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted an interim injunction allowing the 10 supervised consumption sites set to be closed by provincial legislation to remain open, pending his review of the Charter challenge to that legislation. In his decision, Justice Callaghan said the harm to users of the sites that could result from closures outweighed the harm to the public on a time-limited basis while he considers the Charter challenge. “It is foreseeable that many more will overdose, and some of those will die,” he wrote.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said the ruling will not change the province’s plans. Nine of the 10 sites had applied for funding to continue some of their operations under the province’s new HART (Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment) hub model, and the province has made it clear that HART hub funding is contingent on the sites not seeking to continue offering supervised consumption services. In practice, those sites may not be able to continue functioning without provincial funding. The Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site (KMOPS) will continue to operate on donations, as it has done since 2018.

The diocese continues to press for the reinstatement of harm reduction services as part of a comprehensive approach to public health. A template letter that can be used to advocate with the premier, the health minister and your local MPP can be found on the diocesan website at www.toronto.anglican.ca/vestry-motion.

While we are grateful for every parish that passed the motion, the success of the social justice vestry motion is not about how many parishes vote for it, but whether we as a diocese can have informed and faithful conversations about difficult issues facing our society. The opioid crisis is not something that happens to “those people over there.” Many of us, our friends and family have been touched by this crisis in one way or another. Knowing that each person has inherent value and dignity in the eyes of God, may we seek together how we can bring life, not harm, for each of our neighbours.

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More than 40 years ago, in the midst of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Irish band U2 opened the song “Sunday Bloody Sunday” with these words. In these opening months of 2025, their lament holds more resonance than ever. The media shows us rising greed, callousness and aggression, while the sufferings of the poor and vulnerable are not merely unheeded but, in many ways, exacerbated by the actions of those with wealth and power. On top of this, institutions and alliances we have long relied on are being called into question. In such a climate, it can be challenging to follow the daily news. It is easy to feel despair and tempting to retreat into any place where we might feel we have some control. Those of us with relative privilege may, to some degree, be able to insulate ourselves from the world. But at what cost?

As followers of Jesus, we are called to love our neighbours as ourselves, to serve the world God loves. We cannot close our eyes to the harms and injustices experienced by our neighbours and the Earth. At the same time, we cannot let ourselves be whipped into a frenzy of anger, fear and outrage. Nor can we let ourselves be crushed by a paralyzing weight of dread. Neither of these reactions can sustain the pursuit of love and justice to which God calls us.

The Rev. Madeleine Urion, a priest in the Diocese of Edmonton, writes: “I’m beginning to recognize how I do not have capacity to sustain the outrage, the fear and the anger I see daily.” Instead, she recalls the words of her then six-year-old son, facing a time of great transition: “When I get to school, I open my heart, and I keep it open no matter what comes at it.” It is that open heart, that courage to be vulnerable, compassionate and loving, that keeps us connected to our own humanity, to each other, and above all, to God.

We cultivate this openness of heart in two ways: prayer and practice.

First, prayer is essential. Jesus sustained his ministry by frequently withdrawing to deserted places to pray. In daily prayer and meditation upon scripture, we come to understand ourselves as deeply loved and sustained by God. We find our identity rooted in God, not in our wealth or status, how influential we are in our workplaces or how many people “like” us on social media. This helps us to cultivate a sense of security, humility and authenticity instead of reactivity and defensiveness when we feel ourselves under threat.

From such a place, we are more able to open ourselves up to those around us. We can meet our neighbours with compassion, offering them dignity and respect. We can come to recognize and honour the diverse gifts of each person, resisting the forces that dehumanize God’s people and isolate us from each other. We can even cultivate love for our enemies, recognizing that our struggle is not against flesh-and-blood human beings but against the spiritual forces of evil, as the Epistle to the Ephesians tells us. While we stand up against hatred and injustice, we can, like Jesus, refuse to wield the weapons of hatred against our adversaries.

This is not easy. Our natural impulses to wall ourselves off from whatever and whoever we perceive as a threat, or to lash out in response, are constantly being stoked, often for gain. We need to return to prayer again and again, to ground us in our connection with God, to ask for that open heart, for the fruit of the Spirit to be grown in us.

We might adopt a habit of praying for divine protection and guidance before we read the news or open up social media, as suggested in a blog by Rabbi Irwin Keller. Rabbi Keller also suggests praying after reading the news, asking for wisdom and discernment on what one “might do for peace, for justice, for the wholeness of our planet, or for the betterment of my community.”

This brings us to the second point: embodying our faith in practical action. This is important in several ways. It gets us out of our heads – and screens! – and into the material world. Cooking and serving meals, making up harm reduction or relief kits, tending a garden, making art, taking someone to an appointment, picking up litter – all these things not only show love in a tangible way, but they are grounding for us who do them, connecting us to each other and the Earth. These acts may seem insignificant in the face of great evil, but God can multiply these small but concrete acts, just as he multiplied the loaves and fishes brought forward by one young boy to feed the multitudes.

“In a world bent on chaos, practicing the fruit of the Spirit becomes an act of defiance and hope,” says African American author Jemar Tisby. In the midst of anger, fear or uncertainty, let us seek God in prayer, and then do the next compassionate thing.

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Today, Ontario is at a crossroads. We face political and economic uncertainty both at home and internationally. Climate-related disasters are increasing in number and severity. Our communities are already facing deepening crises of poverty, precarious housing and homelessness, while the opioid overdose crisis continues to ravage lives, and we are unlikely to meet even our modest climate action targets. All these things leave us increasingly vulnerable to the challenges ahead.

At the time of this writing, we are on the brink of an early provincial election, which will likely be held before you read this. But regardless of who is in power at Queen’s Park, we are still called to love our neighbours as ourselves, to strive for justice and peace, respecting the dignity of every human being, and to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation. Our advocacy continues to reflect these baptismal calls.

Poverty reduction

More than one million Ontarians relied on food banks last year – up 25 per cent from the previous year and 86 per cent since 2019-20. A report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) found that an estimated 81,515 Ontarians experienced “known homelessness” in 2024, a 51 per cent increase since 2016. Chronic homelessness has tripled since 2016, now accounting for more than half of those experiencing homelessness in Ontario. Worse, the emergency services designed to help those who fall through the cracks – whether food banks or municipalities – are themselves struggling to keep up with demand.

Social assistance rates

Social assistance is intended to provide support to people who have no other options. The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) is intended to support people whose disabilities prevent them from working full-time, while Ontario Works (OW) is meant to help those in crisis to rebuild their lives. Yet both ODSP and OW rates fall well beneath the poverty line, trapping recipients in poverty.

In particular, OW rates have been frozen since September 2018, while the cost of living in Ontario has gone up more than 20 per cent in that time. Though the minimum wage and other provincial income supports have been indexed to inflation, OW rates and earnings thresholds have remained stagnant, eroding the value of these benefits. A single individual on OW cannot afford to rent a bachelor apartment anywhere in Ontario, much less secure food, clothing and transportation. Moreover, the division between “basic needs” and “housing” benefits means that a person on social assistance who becomes homeless loses the “housing” component of the benefit, making it more difficult to escape from homelessness. Instead of being helped to get on their feet, social assistance recipients are pushed into ever deeper poverty, contributing to rising homelessness, hunger and demand for social and health services. We urge the provincial government to bring both OW and ODSP rates into alignment with the poverty line, to index OW rates and earnings thresholds to inflation, and to combine the basic needs and housing components of social assistance into one flat rate.

Decent work

Having a job should keep people out of poverty, yet a quarter of households accessing food banks in Ontario this past year had employment as their primary source of income, double the percentage before the pandemic. While the minimum wage is indexed yearly, it is still $2.30 to $8.80 per hour lower than a living wage, depending on the community. Moreover, to afford the average rent for a currently listed apartment in Ontario, a minimum wage worker would have to work 106 hours a week. We urge the government to gradually raise the minimum wage to the median living wage in Ontario, and thereafter index it to inflation.

Ontario also continues to lack paid sick leave. For low-wage and precariously employed workers, this can all too often lead to financial hardship, as they must go to work sick or forfeit a day’s pay. Going to work sick has negative public health impacts and can also worsen health conditions for the employee, leading to potential medical complications, possible job loss and a greater burden on our healthcare system. We urge the government to require employers to provide employees with 10 paid sick days annually.

These recommendations would cost the government little but would save public funds in terms of health care costs, while reducing the housing benefits required to bridge the gap between high rents and the low incomes of many workers.

Rent control

Another policy intervention that could save public funds and prevent homelessness is to close rent control loopholes, such as the exemption on units built or converted after Nov. 15, 2018, vacancy decontrol, and above-guideline rent increases. Taken together, these loopholes result in asking rents increasing at a rate far higher than inflation, not to mention tenants’ incomes. This causes Ontario to lose affordable housing units faster than we can create them and increases housing precarity among tenant households. Already, more than 260,000 households in Ontario spend 50 per cent or more of their income on shelter costs. In Toronto, 1 in 5 food bank users spends 100 per cent of their income on housing.

In 2024, 70 per cent of parishes in our diocese supported a motion calling for the closing of rent control loopholes in Ontario. Our diocese has endorsed the Fair Rent Ontario campaign, along with Feed Ontario, the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario and many other organizations. We urge the province to extend rent controls to units built or converted since 2018; end vacancy decontrol; and limit above-guideline increases.

Social housing

Along with stronger rent controls, we also need robust investments in social housing. The market cannot provide sufficient housing for low-income tenants and people exiting homelessness, nor is it sufficient to create more emergency shelter. While shelter capacity in Ontario increased by 34 per cent from 2019 to 2024, chronic homelessness has grown by 138 per cent as people become trapped in the system without housing to go to. Unsurprisingly, unsheltered homelessness has exploded in communities across the province, creating friction between encampment dwellers, municipalities and residents who want to use public spaces for recreation. However, without housing options available, unsheltered homelessness will not go away. Indeed, the AMO report warns that without significant intervention, homelessness in Ontario could more than triple in the next decade, particularly under an economic downturn.

Criminalizing people in encampments tramples on human rights and dignity while failing to resolve the underlying issue. Moreover, incarceration is much more expensive than housing. Making robust and sustained investments to create transitional, supportive and rent-geared-to-income housing is ultimately more cost-effective, while making our communities safer, boosting economic productivity and treating people with dignity.

Overdose prevention

The overdose crisis claims the lives of seven Ontarians every day. The death toll would be even higher but for the heroic work of staff at supervised consumption sites, who reversed more than 21,000 overdoses between March 2020 and January 2024. These sites save lives and promote public health, not only by reversing overdoses but also by reducing public drug use and needle litter, and reducing the transmission of HIV, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases and infections. They also take the strain off our already burdened emergency services. We urge the province to maintain supervised consumption sites and indeed to expand them where needed, together with enhanced access to addictions treatment, as part of a continuum of care for those who use drugs and the public health and safety of all Ontarians.

Climate change

Climate change is already being felt in the increased number and severity of wildfires, flooding, droughts and heatwaves. The 2023 Provincial Climate Change Impact Assessment warns of elevated risks to Ontario’s food production, infrastructure, businesses, communities and ecosystems. Yet Ontario’s carbon emissions rose from 148.5 megatons in 2020 to 157 in 2022, making it increasingly unlikely that the province will achieve its target of 144 megatons by 2030.

Road transportation already accounted for the largest contribution (40.9 per cent) to Ontario’s carbon emissions in 2022. If the province moves ahead with the addition of Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass, the removal of bike lanes and restrictions on municipalities seeking to create new bike lane infrastructure, Ontario’s carbon emissions will grow even higher. The mega-highway projects will also pave over some of Ontario’s best farmland, exacerbate urban sprawl and lead to higher levels of air pollution, without easing traffic congestion long term. The cost of these projects could be better spent on improving public transportation for the benefit of all Ontarians.

The province’s energy production is also moving us father from our climate action goals, with gas-fired power projected to account for 25 per cent of Ontario’s electricity supply in 2030, up from 4 per cent in 2017. Investing in renewable energy sources and storage would reduce carbon emissions, while being cheaper and safer than nuclear energy.

The choice is before us. Trusting in God, empowered by the Spirit, may we keep working and advocating for the building up of our people and communities so that we may be strong, cohesive and resilient to face the challenges ahead.

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