Thank you.
Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am joined by Ellen Lipman by video conference, as you mentioned. I just want to point out that Dr. Lipman is the head of our child and youth mental health program at the hospital, which is one of the largest programs in Canada. She's also one of the lead researchers in this field within Canada. I think you'll find her part of the presentation to be very informing.
I want to start by commending the committee for its work in studying poverty reduction strategies, and particularly its decision to extend the scope of its important work to include mental health issues.
To frame Dr. Lipman's part of the presentation, I want to say a little bit about Hamilton, Ontario. As Ms. Tassi knows, Hamilton is commonly identified with the steel industry, at least historically, but today Hamilton is a diverse city of over 500,000 residents. About one-quarter of our residents were born outside of Canada. While there is income variability across Hamilton, poverty is apparent. The Hamilton urban core is identified as one of the areas in the province of Ontario with the highest percentage of the population living in poverty. Part of Hamilton's vision is to become the best place in Canada to raise a child. However, in Hamilton approximately one in four children lives in poverty. The links between poverty and child and youth mental health are very meaningful for those of us who live and work in Hamilton, particularly for those of us in the health care sector.
Now I would like Dr. Lipman to discuss the very important relationship between child and youth mental health and poverty, and to outline strategies we believe will help with this issue.