Major Challenges Facing Toronto - Assignment Example

Major Challenges Facing Toronto For some time, Toronto has been referred to as "the city of the neighborhoods". This is in reference to the diverse yet distinctive neighborhoods that are within the rich of the masers. The city boasts of a population of 2.7 million people. In essence, Neighborhoods refer to a combination of various attributes that have effects on health, literacy and the general well being of a society. Toronto, just like many other cities is fast growing in its population. The increase in the number of immigrants has not made this situation any better. This has resulted in various urban related challenges. These challenges come in place in terms of, housing, transport system, wage disparity, environmental issues, health, security and many other factors (Toronto Community Foundation 7). With increased urbanization in the world over and particularly in Canada, Ontario has been left to grapple with these challenges. Transport System Toronto happens to be one of the biggest cities in the world yet it has a significant challenge on the transport system. The city has poor viaducts with poor connections to other urban centers. This has unquestionably made the transport costs of the city remain high. As the population of the city keeps on rising, it is apparent that the roads are far much strained. The streets of Toronto are not well maintained leaving many to puke while visiting or moving from one place to the other. This is not so in comparison to other cities such as Canberra of Australia. The reduced number of sub ways in the city has resulted in unnecessary traffic jams during rush hours. The city council of Toronto needs to develop policies that would help decongest the city. This can be done through encouraging the use of public transport to private transport (Toronto Community Foundation 114). However, this is only possible if the road network is improved top facilitate accessibility to the estates. Ten years ago, Toronto adopted the Bike Plan. This plan was to help reduce congestion on the roads by taking biking as an alternative. This would have seen increased construction of biking lanes by 540. However, this was not implemented ten years after with only 25% of the lanes constructed. As a result, traffic congestion in Toronto is still high with many opting for vehicles as a means of transport. Most residents do not want to cycle due to the high risks involved in cycling in areas without the cycling lanes. Learning Ontario is one of the outstanding educational hubs not only in Canada but also in the world over. The various educational institutions have attracted both local and international students. The demand for education has seen the rise in the number of Universities and other higher learning institutions. However, learning in Toronto is not just that easy. Students are faced with several challenges that directly or indirectly affect the educational and learning sector. The number and size of population lacking numeracy skills in Canada is high. So many Canadians cannot constructive come up with budget and interpret maps. This is a worrying trend at a time that the world is recovering from an economic slump. In a great way, lack of these skills has resulted in slowed growth of the economy as savings and investments are kept at the minimal (Toronto Community Foundation 54). Learning in Toronto is made difficult by a shortage of housing to immigrants. It is a fact that Toronto has numerous colleges and institutions of higher learning. These institutions have attracted many immigrants. These immigrants face serious challenges in as far as housing is concerned. Because of the large populations and high demand for housing units, immigrants find it difficult getting housing facilities convenient for learning purposes. The cost of learning at Toronto is high prohibiting academic excellence. While many would be willing to get an environment through which they can advance their academics, the fees charged to access satisfactory academic facilities is high. For instance, the revenue generated by secondary schools that are at the top in performance (10%) constitutes the revenues generated by the bottom 5% of the bottom schools (Toronto Community Foundation 57). Those who seek institutions with fewer fees charged have a disadvantage of not benefiting from equipments found in top schools. Work Toronto is credited fort providing job avenues or opportunities to thousands of its dwellers. However, it is pertinent to note that unemployment is still rife in the city. Out of every ten people one is likely to be unemployed putting the unemployment rate at 10%. This trend is worrying especially for an economy that is fast growing and embracing modern technology. The young people and mostly immigrants are the most affected category when it comes to unemployment. This does not actually imply that immigrants are not skilled. This is what the government in Toronto has tried fighting for though the situation persists. Many immigrants arrive in Toronto and enroll in schools (Toronto Community Foundation 49). The high level of skills acquired is put to waste when employers fail to take them up for the jobs. Many employers are skeptical in exploiting the skills in the young and the immigrants leaving them to search for other ways of survival. There are many work place rights violations by low-waged employees. This is a formidable challenge to such employees who are mentally affected by whatever violations they have to go through. For instance, in the year 2010, 22% of low wageworkers reported earning less than the minimum wage, which stood at $ 10. 35 percent of low waged earners reported being owed wages by their employers. Sixty percent of low-waged earners reported working overtime as per the employment contract. Out of these, only one percent was paid for the overtime. Averages of 62% of low-waged employees were forced to work during public holidays with only 50% reporting to have been paid for this (Toronto Community Foundation 53). Getting started Immigrants credit Canada for being one of the best-placed countries when it comes to choice. This has a considerable impact on Toronto, given that a third of Canada’s immigrants live within Toronto. However, these immigrants face many challenges in the course of their stay in Toronto. These challenges have undoubtedly disadvantaged them when it comes to economic development. First is the reluctance in taking immigrants into professional jobs. Statistics indicate that only 24% of degrees holding immigrants are employed in jobs that go in line with their qualification. The rest who make up 74% are employed in jobs that require less than a degree. This has received a lot of criticism from economists who argue that Toronto looses to the tune of $3.4 billon by not having this category in their rightful positions (Toronto Community Foundation 83). Immigrants with credentials find it exceedingly hard in getting professional jobs in Toronto. Many immigrants with foreign credentials are disillusioned by the failure of employers and employment institutions to recogni9se their credentials (Toronto Community Foundation 78). This is well supported by statistics that show that only 28% of immigrants with foreign credentials had their papers recognized in Toronto. This has left many locked out of jobs, which they feel they are qualified to handle. Health and wellness The health status of population in Toronto is wanting. The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines call for citizens to be physically active at least in a day for one hour. This initiative has not been adhered to leaving many to become obese. Statistics indicate that only 9% of boys and 4% of girls adhere to these guidelines. As a result, cost of medication in dealing with heart related ailments has been on the increase. There has been a constant increase in obesity levels since 2003 with the levels rising to 14% of the total population in the city of those above 18 years. The aging population is seriously straining the health system in Toronto. Only 8.7% of Torontonians aged seventy-five and above have access to long-term social and health care system. This has resulted in increased risk, in illnesses amongst this population. As a result, the cost of taking care of these populations at this age has gone high. This can be supported by increased long term health care costs by 66% in 2010m as compared to 2009 (Toronto Community Foundation 121). Tuberculosis has become a serious threat to the populations in Toronto. Statistics have it that 20% of the homeless residents of Toronto diagnosed with TB die in a period or less than a year. Majority of these reported cases had reached the advanced stage of the disease. It is necessary to note that most of these were born out of Canada and is likely to indicate increased vulnerability due to change environmental conditions. Just like many other urban centers, waste and air population characterizes the physical environment in Ontario. This has put the lives of thousands of dwellers at risk of contracting respiratory diseases. In Toronto, neighborhoods that are for low income earners are located less than 2oo meters from highways and principal industries (Toronto Community Foundation 74). This puts most of these residents at higher risk as compared to neighborhoods with high-income earners. The cost of hospitalization is high in areas located near dumpsites and sources of pollution. Housing One of the greatest challenges facing Toronto is housing. Since time immemorial, Toronto has been a business and economic hub attracting thousands and thousands of immigrants. In fact, Toronto has only thirteen percent of the total Canadian population. The city attracts a third of the total number of immigrants coming to Canada. This has resulted in population pressure as the rental vacancies continue to shrink further and further. The rising number of immigrants has either not worked well for the housing sector in Toronto. For most of immigrants wanting to stay in Canada, Toronto has always remained to be a preferred destination. This has resulted in two thirds of total immigrants residing in Toronto. This has caused the price of housing to skyrocket in the city. The real estate developers have also not done enough to change this trend. Given that most of the developers are money oriented, they have resorted to constructing houses for the middle class, pushing the lower class to rear exterior zones of the city (Toronto Community Foundation 79). The City Council of Toronto has also been partly blamed for the housing mess in the city. As a land policy maker in the city, the council ought to have put in place policies that ensure that all populations are supported by the city (Toronto Community Foundation 82). However, the council has allowed for more liberalization of the housing sector leaving the poor to face a housing problem. Toronto currently administers more than 93,000 units of houses under the social housing program. The high cost of housing has left many to depend seriously on this program in order to get better houses. However, the challenge remains on the inability of funds and resources allocated to social housing project to meet the demand for housing units. This has hampered growth, as some families have to wait for as long as 5-7 years to get access to these affordable housing units. Wide Gap between the rich and the poor Toronto is rated as one of the fastest growing economies. However, the growth of the economy has not worked well for the poor in the city. Whilst growth is recorded the gap between the rich and the poor has always been on the rising end. The rich are expanding their territories through investments at the expense of the poor who have limited financial muscle to boost their lives (Toronto Community Foundation 122). The continued rise in the gap between the rich and the poor is attributed to many factors. One of the main factors is the faster growth of the population, which is not proportional to the rate at which the economy of the city provides new jobs. This has left many jobless and has to depend on support from relatives and friends. Others have to start small businesses that only provide for subsistence living. Poor development policies have also been cited as one of the factors behind the increase in the gap between the rich and the poor in Toronto. Development partners and government agencies are concerned with economic growth in terms of per capita income at the expense of income distribution (Toronto Community Foundation 119). As a result, much of the development and economic growth policies do not provide for creation of job opportunities. Toronto boats of a population of 2.7 million people. Out of this, one million live in poverty conditions while others struggling to make ends meet. In a pan of one year, the poverty levels rose by 22% with the levels of childhood poverty rising by 43%. This is a worrying trend given that the population keeps on rising. The cost of leaving in Toronto is so high that most of those in the one million categories have to live on debts of up to $133 per month. This is attributed to the high cost of rent (about 69% of total salary) and 37% of salary on social assistance. Works Cited (Toronto Community Foundation, Toronto Vital Signs 2011, Toronto, ON: Toronto Community Foundation, 2011, illustrated Read More