How one organization in Longueuil, Que., is helping people with schizophrenia make ends meet
Quebec needs to increase welfare payments, says economist
Tyson Bernard-Hutton is cool, calm and collected as he prepares meals for about 20 people during lunch hour at Initium's kitchen in Longueuil, Que.
The non-profit organization offers three free meals per day to its members, most of whom have schizophrenia. It also operates a food bank on Fridays.
"It was born out of a necessity [for] the members," said Bernard-Hutton, who is a member himself. "Everyone should at least be able to eat regardless of how."
He's been working as the chef at Initium for the last three years through a government program called PAAS Action, which supports the reintegration of people with limited capacity for employment into the workforce — also one of Initium's missions.
Bernard-Hutton speaks with pride about the food he serves and the people he helps.
"People … tell me they're happy with my cooking. It makes me feel good," he said.
Out of his kitchen flows pasta dishes, pizza, Mexican-style subs, chicken and rice, lentil curries and more. At home, he sticks to cold cut sandwiches and Kraft Dinner to keep his costs low.
When Initium was first founded in 2000, it was called D'un couvert à l'autre, meaning "Cover to cover," referring to book covers, says Bernard-Hutton.
"You feel like you're being covered, you're being protected by someone. Everyone needs that," he said.
The majority of Initium's members receive social assistance, explains Marco Chan, Initium's on-site kinesiologist and intervention worker.
He says members especially lean on the organization toward the end of the month when their welfare money starts to wither.
"On top of the mental health, on top of the social anxiety, on top of [having] a hard time finding a job and having the welfare last them the entire month, it is a hard thing for them to be able to go and get food, especially in this current climate," said Chan.
Quebec's social assistance programs fall short
Just over 40 per cent of people who accessed food banks in Quebec this year declared welfare as their primary source of income, according to Food Banks of Quebec's Hunger Count.
Economist Geoffroy Boucher says that doesn't surprise him, adding that that percentage is up from 2022 (37.5 per cent.)
That year, 15 per cent of welfare beneficiaries were experiencing severe food insecurity, which is when a person extensively and repeatedly reduces their food intake, says Boucher, who works at the Observatoire québécois des inégalités, a non-profit organization exploring economic inequalities in Quebec.
"Benefits from social assistance programs are not sufficient to allow recipients to cover their basic needs," he said.
A 2023 analysis by Boucher found that single beneficiaries of Quebec's social solidarity program, which supports people with severe employment limitations, receive about 68 per cent of the market basket measure (MBM) threshold.
This is Canada's official measure of household income poverty. The measure calculates the minimum a person or family would have to earn to afford a basic standard of living, and that's calculated by the cost of a basket of goods and services, including food, shelter, clothing and transportation.
Boucher says though Quebec's social assistance programs for childless, single beneficiaries are generous compared to the rest of Canada, they fall short on the international scale.
"If we compare ourselves to other developed countries, countries of the [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], we offer support that is less generous than the OECD average," he said.
He and other experts say the solution lies in increasing income. That's one of his critiques of the recently adopted Bill 71, which seeks to streamline Quebec's various social assistance programs, but, according to Boucher, doesn't significantly increase financial benefits.
"Quebec, Canada, we have all the resources at our disposal to efficiently fight against poverty. It's a matter of choice," he said.
Chantal Rouleau, the minister responsible for social solidarity and community action, says the goal of the new law is to accompany welfare recipients into the workforce "since it's through employment that we can escape precarity," she said in a statement.
She says the law expands the Aim for Employment Program, creates new incentives for people on welfare who wish to complete their high school diploma and increases the income a person on welfare in the workforce can keep.
Chan, the kinesiologist and intervention worker, says he's sure everyone would appreciate more money, but that in the meantime, Initium helps members with budgeting so that what they do get lasts them as long as possible.
Bernard-Hutton, for his part, says he's grateful for the financial assistance he receives and that he's been able to make it work for him.
Beyond helping members re-enter the workforce, Initium is also a one-stop shop where people can exercise, receive help managing their symptoms, learn new things, eat and be together.
"We really offer a place for people to just have a community, to have a sense of familiarity on the day-to-day," said Chan.
"One of the strengths that we have here is that members are very comfortable asking for help."
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