We are created in the image of God, and scripture reminds us to act justly and to care for those on the margins.

Children at Camp Cosmos in Montreal, PQ
Credit: Camp Cosmos, Montreal City Mission

What We Believe

The United Church believes that as we lead lives of compassion and justice, “the poor must have priority… over the wants of the rich” (“The Church and the Economic Crisis,” 1984).

The United Church has outreach and community ministries and collaborates with a number of Canadian and global ecumenical, interfaith, and civil society partners working on poverty issues.

What You Can Do

 

  • Watch this Online Conversation on Housing & Homelessness in Canada (recorded webinar from February 12, 2020, embedded above)
  • Learn more about Bridges Out of Poverty, a highly successful community program that puts the under-resourced people it seeks to assist in “the driver’s seat” (recorded webinar from February 19, 2020)
  • Browse Stories of Our Faith and find out how United Church ministries and partners are working to address poverty in their own contexts.
  • Participate in the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17.
  • Join the Dignity for All campaign to create a poverty-free Canada.
  • Connect United Action for Justice E-newsletter and Facebook Page.
  • Read The United Church of Canada’s Response to the Federal Government’s 2017 Poverty Reduction Consultation (see downloads below).

The Work of Our Partners

A man wearing a black hoodie and baseball cap stands in a hallway holding his drawing of Indigenous people.

Artist in Residence Gives Back

YGM 2022: November 13. Jon is one of Bissell Centre’s community members and its artist in residence. Inspired by the love and support he has received… continue reading
People stand around a bus shelter at sunset.

Transportation Is Key to Improving Lives

YGM 2022: June 12. Mission & Service partners working on the ground to alleviate poverty regularly help people access transportation so they can… continue reading
An Indian woman and her teenage daughter stand in front of a simple concrete house.

Dreams Are Realized through Education

YGM 2022: January 30. Mission & Service partners help young people complete their education and stay in school.
Two Zambian women walk along a road carrying large metal tubs on their heads.

Women Work for Change in Zambia

M4M 2021: May 2. Every day, your Mission & Service gifts are helping to empower women and girls in rural areas across Zambia.
Moderator Richard Bott holds a sign that says "poverty is wrong, in a world this abundant" and stands to the left of a colleague from the Canadian Council of Churches.

“Seize the Moment” for a Universal Basic Income in Canada

Moderator Richard Bott has written to Canadian government officials to ask them to move forward with developing and implementing a universal basic…

continue reading
Photo of a row of hands making the thumbs-up sign with the words We Support Guaranteed Livable Income above and the words dignity, hope, and health between the thumbs.

Create a Guaranteed Livable Income Program

Poverty can happen very quickly to anyone. A guaranteed livable income would help address the persistent inequities within our country.

An Indigenous women from rural Ecuador holds a bunch of flowers. Behind her are agricultural fiends and mountains.

Ending Poverty in All Its Forms, Everywhere

In the far-flung mountain communities of rural Ecuador, ECLOF’s financial services help Indigenous people lift themselves out of poverty.

Downloads