WE CAN DO BETTER WITH $200 - JOIN US IN MAKING THAT HAPPEN.

Doug Ford sent out $200 cheques to Ontario taxpayers to support with the rising cost of living—a problem which he helped create. For those of us who have financial stability, now is the time to share our resources, moving money into the hands of the people and organizations that need it the most.

For some, $200 is nowhere near enough

The truth is, Ford and his government have played an essential role in making life less affordable for Ontarians.

  • Cuts to social services

  • Delays in much-needed transit projects

  • Handing out lucrative deals to his rich friends

These cheques will not only be sent to people who are struggling– even millionaires will be receiving them. We know that these cheques are a $3 billion political ploy, meant to buy votes ahead of the upcoming (yet to be confirmed) provincial election.

For those of us with enough

Together, we can turn this shallow political gesture into meaningful support for those who need it most. Read more below to see how you can get involved.

We have compiled a list of mutual aid and grassroots organizing groups across Ontario that are truly helping vulnerable people survive through the austerity measures brought on by Ford’s government.

WHERE TO GIVE

  • ACORN is a multi-issue, membership-based community union of low- and moderate-income people.They are on the front-lines of direct action and policy-level pressure for workers, people on social assistance and tenants. ACORN has fought and won renoviction by-laws in both Hamilton and Toronto, and is supporting tenants’ unions across the province in fighting dirty landlords. These fights have become increasingly difficult under the Ford government’s cuts to social assistance, the elimination of rent control, and the cancellations of planned increases to the minimum wage. You can donate directly to your local chapter in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Peel, London or Waterloo!

  • Assembly of Seven Generations (A7G) is an Indigenous youth-led organization based on unceded Algonquin territory (Ottawa, Canada). A7G is committed to uplifting Indigenous youth through cultural resurgence, mental health advocacy, and community-driven initiatives. Through workshops, events, and advocacy, the organization works to reclaim Indigenous traditions and knowledge while addressing contemporary challenges faced by Indigenous youth.

  • Butterfly is a grassroots organization supporting Asian and migrant sex workers in Ontario. They lack the secure funding that is crucial for their continued support of migrant sex workers: providing community support, building leadership, and fighting for their rights. A “tough on crime” government has meant increased safety risks for the population Butterfly serves, as these laws drive sex work further underground and further endager migrants with precarious status by putting them at risk for arrest or deportation. 

  • Grassy Narrows has been fighting for justice since their community was poisoned by 10 tons of mercury dumped in the English Wabigoon river system in the 1960s. In 2002, the put up what is the longest-running blockade in Canadian history as their forests are being  clear cut. Grassy Narrows is on the frontline of battles that impact all of us. Their victories, such as stopping 15 million trees from being clear-cut, benefit everyone across Turtle Island and set powerful examples of resistance and resilience.

    However, threats to their community have escalated under Doug Ford’s government. There are now over 10,000 mining claims in Grassy Narrows’ area of interest—claims that directly violate Grassy Narrows’ laws. Laws that Doug Ford refuses to respect.

    Grassy Narrows faces many threats that Doug Ford’s pro-industry approach has exacerbated. The Dryden Mill continues to release effluent into the Wabigoon River, exacerbating the mercury crisis and a nuclear waste storage facility is proposed upstream from Grassy Narrows. Doug Ford is allowing poisoning, environmental destruction, and community suffering to persist. Donations go directly to grassroots advocacy and actions led by the community—such as the River Run Rally. By donating, you stand in solidarity with Grassy Narrows’ ongoing fight against Doug Ford’s pro-industry government.

  • DIY Health Timmins: This past year, DIY Community Health has made incredible strides in advancing their mission, including launching the Hummingbird Outreach App, distributing essential supplies, and renovating a mutual aid site that will serve as both a warming centre and community hub. Funds are needed to complete renovations and open the mutual aid site this winter, we urgently need additional support. The site will improve access to community support with services like free laundry, access to washrooms & showers, a free community kitchen, and support from peers and healthcare professionals. This need will grow as the only supervised consumption site in Timmins is set to close its doors this Spring following new legislation by the Ford government. More than ever, drug users will need safe places to go for support.

  • Your Downtown Guelph Friends is a youth led mutual aid organization that has supported the downtown at-risk community since 2019. It has grown to two hot meal services a week, as well as providing clothes, emergency food supports, hygiene products and friendship for the growing in-need population. After Royal City Mission, a drop-in serving many people in downtown Guelph, had their funding cut by the city, there was a large gap to fill. With the province refusing to provide adequate support for housing and food security, mutual aid is again rising to fill these gaps. YDGF is currently looking to raise $20 000 to offer the additional meals that Royal City Mission can no longer afford to serve.

  • Hamilton Encampment Support Network has been on the frontlines of encampment advocacy and support since 2020. This work will continue to be essential as Doug Ford’s government further criminalizes homelessness and pushes encampment residents to the margins. Donations help HESN keep their website and phone line running, provide supplies to encampment residents, and continue their advocacy work. E-transfers can be sent to info@hesn.ca

  • Horizon Ottawa is a grassroots organization dedicated to creating a city that genuinely reflects the needs and aspirations of its residents. The organization actively campaigns on issues such as affordable housing, public transit, and equitable budgeting, aiming to amplify the voices of marginalized communities and hold local government accountable to its constituents.

  • Migrant Workers Alliance supports migrants to stand up against bad bosses and fix problems with immigration. They build migrant power by bringing together workers on farms, in factories, on campuses and in communities to create the change they want. We fight for better laws and fairness for all of us. We work with Indigenous, labour, climate, and faith allies to build a better world for everyone. Undocumented migrants pay most provincial taxes (HST, property tax through rent, and often income tax) but will not be receiving this rebate. Every dollar donated will go into an emergency fund for migrants in crisis.

  • Out of the Cold St Luke’s

    (When donating: select 4- Out of the Cold Meal Program) 

    This program started during covid when most organizations across the city shut down because they were not prepared for the pandemic. St Luke’s OOTC program started by doing outreach to encampments when shelters had to empty out to accommodate COVID regulations. They are surviving populations that survive on social assistance and minimum wage, both of which have seen freezes during Ford’s tenure, failing to keep up with inflation and the cost of living in Ontario. Food insecurity has consequently sky-rocketed, making programs like OOTC essential to survival.

  • Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction is a response to the epidemic of ongoing colonization and lack of services for the urban Indigenous population. TIHR aims to reduce harm around stigmatized experiences such as substance use, displacement, and other survival strategies resulting from racism and colonization. TIHR has been on the frontlines of encampment support and the devastating overdose crisis that is currently taking place across Turtle Island. The Ford government’s decision to close safe consumption sites (SCS), made without consulting indigenous communities, and his plan to further criminalize homelessness and substance use, makes this work more important than ever. 

  • Toronto Community Justice Fund:The purpose of the Toronto Community Justice Fund is to raise and distribute resources for community members living in the Greater Toronto Area who are facing legal and other financial repercussions stemming from the criminalization of their Palestinian liberation and solidarity work. Doug Ford’s constant defaming of Palestinian activists and their allies, and his calls for increased policing and criminalization, have further put these activists at risk.

  • Rapid Response List is a project of Resource Movement that started in 2019 with the goal of raising funds to send directly to grassroots movements and to organizers facing urgent survival needs. Over the last 5 years, we have only seen the need for these funds grow. Each month, due to the increased cost of necessities like groceries and rent, combined with the increased risk of organizing and activism, the RRL receives more requests for funds than it can meet. This low-barrier access to urgent funds is more important now than it has ever been, and all donations go directly to supporting folks who face increased barriers to survival.

  • Workers Action Centre is a member-based organization of workers, many of whom work in precarious jobs. They are at the frontlines of fighting bad bosses, pushing back against wage theft and advocating for better policies for workers. They have been at the forefront of the fight for a liveable wage, and have led successful campaigns over the last few years resulting in increases to the minimum wage. This fight was essential given Ford’s decision to freeze the minimum wage when he was elected in 2018– cancelling the planned increases of the former Liberal government.

  • York South Weston Tenants Union is a grassroot tenant organization that has been organizing tenants in the face of major attacks to tenants' rights by the Ford government. Under Ford's government, rent control was taken away for units built after 2018, leading to massive rent hikes for thousands of tenants, and guaranteeing that any new builds will not be affordable just by the fact that they will not be rent control. They've also changed the residential tenancies act to make it easier and faster to evict people, and have stacked the Landlord and Tenant Board with conservative and landlord allies. Altogether this has meant ever rising rents, an exploding number of Above Guideline Rent Increases by landlords, hikes in the numbers of evictions and growing people who are homeless across the province. YSW Tenant Union has been organizing tenants across our community and supporting tenants getting organized across the province. Despite the context, we think there is a good opportunity to expand tenant organizing, get more people on rent strikes and disrupt the alliance between Ford and the landlord cartel.

Join us by signing the pledge and donating your cheque to a group on our list.

Can’t decide?
Inspired to support further?

Donate to this campaign directly and we’ll distribute the pooled funds evenly among the groups above.

Or use this link to be directed to this campaign on the Zeffy website.

We’ll distribute the funds on the first week of March 2025 and let you know about it.