April 16, 2010 - Glebe Report

NEWS
The Glebe: A healthy
neighbourhood for most
BY JOHN JULIAN
The Glebe is one of Ottawa’s most
desirable neighbourhoods. It is distinctly
hip and urban, yet it is also a
family friendly place, full of beautiful,
single family homes. No doubt,
most residents also see it as a healthy
place to live. But is it? A representative
of the Centretown Community
Health Centre will come to our
neighbourhood to give a presentation
on Thursday, April 29.
Researchers from the Institute of
Population Health at the University
of Ottawa have recently completed a
study which does a lot to answer that
question. The Ottawa Neighbourhood
Study is a multi-disciplinary project
funded by the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research in partnership with
the City of Ottawa and community
groups, including Centretown Community
Health Centre (CCHC) which
serves the Glebe. The researchers
looked at a wide range of factors
that can affect our health – income,
social cohesion, housing, food, and
access to health care – in more than
90 neighbourhoods. The results are
fascinating.
For the most part, the findings for
the Glebe are encouraging. On average,
the 10,600 people who live in
the Glebe are a well educated, affluent
lot. In 2006, the average household
income was nearly $115,000,
almost $35,000 more than the city
average, and 68 per cent of adults
have a university education, compared
to just 37 per cent for the city
as a whole. Based on these and other
factors, the Glebe falls into the most
advantaged category of five used in
the study. The neighbourhood has
a good balance of age groups, with
young adults and middle aged people
in the majority. It is not a particularly
diverse neighbourhood – only 8 per
cent of the residents self-identify as
visible minorities compared to 20 per
cent for the city as a whole.
Where health is concerned, the news
is mostly good. More than 78 per cent
of the people surveyed rated their
health as good or excellent. That is not
the best in the city, but certainly well
above the Ottawa average of just 64.5
per cent. Location plays a role in that.
More than 30 per cent of the population
walks or bikes to work, although
the neighbourhood is slightly below
average when it comes to available
recreational facilities. People from the
neighbourhood are significantly less
likely to be hospitalized for conditions
such as asthma, diabetes and angina
than the average person in the city,
and the frequency with which Glebe
residents visit emergency rooms is
also significantly lower. For neighbourhood
babies, there are fewer low
birth-weights or preterm births than
the average for the city.
In spite of the number of people
walking and biking, residents are no
more or less likely to be physically
active than the average Ottawa citizen.
And while 34 per cent of residents
18 and older consider themselves
to be overweight or obese, this
compares favourably with the city
average of 48 per cent.
There are a few less positive facts
lurking in this mound of statistics.
Not everyone in the neighbourhood
is affluent. In fact, the percentage
of people that fall below the low income
cut off, a measurement that at
one time might have been called the
poverty line, is very close to the city
average at 13 per cent and has been
increasing in recent years. For those
people, high rents and expensive real
estate create serious challenges. In
fact, 23 per cent of Glebe residents
pay more than 30 per cent of their
income for shelter, about average for
Ottawa. That represents a significant
number of people whose housing
costs make it difficult to pay for other
necessities. As well, 10 per cent of
the housing is in need of major repair,
which is above the city average.
That may not be a huge surprise in an
area where the majority of the homes
are more than 70 years old, but housing
issues – mould, poor ventilation,
badly tuned furnaces – can have
subtle health effects without people
being aware.
Food is probably the most important
of the other necessities, and Glebe
residents are quite well served in that
respect with easy access to healthy,
reasonably priced food. There are
two grocery stores and eight specialty
food stores in the neighbourhood.
On average people can walk to
a grocery store in just seven minutes.
In comparison, in some other neighbourhoods,
residents are much more
dependent on convenience stores for
food.
There are two pharmacies in the
Glebe, about average for the city, and
87 per cent of Glebe residents have
a regular family doctor – again, very
close to the city average.
Simone Thibault, Centretown
Community Health Centre’s executive
director and a member of the
study steering committee, says the
study points to a healthy neighbourhood
with all of the conditions necessary
for people to live healthy
lives. At the same time, she says,
there is poverty hidden below the
affluent surface of the neighbourhood.
Affluence and poverty are key
determinants of health, and people
living below the low income cut
off have much greater challenges in
maintaining good health. The Glebe
is part of CCHC’s catchment area,
and residents are welcome to access
the services of physicians and nurse
practitioners at the centre. However,
she cautions that there is an unmet
demand for physicians throughout
the catchment area, and people can
expect to spend some time on a waiting
list before they are assigned to a
doctor or nurse practitioner.
Glebe Neighbourhood Profile Presentation
Thursday, April 29, 7:15-9:30 p.m.
Multi-Purpose Room
Glebe Community Centre
175 Third Avenue
Glebe Report April 16, 2010 19
Minimum wage changed
March 31
Minimum wage is the lowest wage rate an employer can pay an employee.
Most employees are eligible for minimum wage, whether they are full-time,
part-time, casual employees, or are paid an hourly rate, commission, piece
rate, flat rate or salary. Some employees have jobs that are exempt from the
minimum wage provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA).
(See “Industries and Jobs with ESA Exemptions and/or Special Rules” for
information on these job categories.)
Minimum Wage Rates
MINIMUM WAGE RATE MARCH 31, 2009 MARCH 31, 2010
General minimum wage $9.50/hr $10.25/hr
Students minimum wage $8.90/hr $9.60/hr
Liquor servers
minimum wage
Homeworkers wage
(110% of general minimum wage)
$8.25/hr
$10.45/hr
$8.90/hr
$11.28/hr
General minimum wage: This rate applies to most employees.
Students: This rate applies to students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours
a week or less when school is in session or work during a school break or summer
holidays.
Liquor servers: This hourly rate applies to employees who serve liquor directly
to customers or guests in licensed premises as a regular part of their
work. “Licensed premises” are businesses for which a license or permit has
been issued under the Liquor Licence Act.
Homeworkers: Homeworkers are employees who do paid work in their own
homes. For example, they may sew clothes for a clothing manufacturer, answer
telephone calls for a call centre, or write software for a high-tech company.
Note that students of any age (including students under the age of 18 years)
who are employed as homeworkers must be paid the homeworker’s minimum
wage.
Example for calculating general minimum wage: One week in April of 2010,
Julia works 37.5 hours. She is paid on a weekly basis. The minimum wage applicable
to Julia is $10.25 per hour. Since compliance with the minimum wage
requirements is based on pay periods, Julia must earn at least $384.38 (37.5
hours × $10.25 per hour = $384.38) in this work week (prior to deductions).
(Note that eating periods are not included when counting how many hours an
employee works in a week).
three-hour rule
When an employee is required to report to work for a shift of 3 hours or
longer but works less than three hours, he or she must be paid whichever of
the following amounts is higher: three hours at the minimum wage, 
or the
employee’s regular wage for the time worked.
Example: If an employee who is a liquor server is paid $10.00 an hour and
works only two hours, he or she is entitled to three hours at minimum wage
(e.g., $8.90, the liquor servers minimum wage as of March 31, 2010 x 3 =
$26.70) instead of two hours at his or her regular wage ($10.00 x 2 = $20.00).
The rule does not apply to:
1. students (including students over 18 years of age);
2. employees whose regular shift is three hours or less;
3. where the cause of the employee not being able to work at least three
hours was beyond the employer’s control.
Sourced from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, the information does not
included rates for hunting and fishing guides who are admittedly few and
far between in downtown Ottawa. For more details, go to www.ontario.ca/
minimum wage, www.labour.on.ca/english/es or telephone Employment Standards
Inquiries at 1-800-531-5551.
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Expiry Date: May 30, 2010