John Stapleton

John Stapleton has dedicated his life’s work trying to improve the lives of others. As a leader working for the Ontario Government in the Ministry of Community and Social Services for 28 years he worked on social assistance policy, Ontario’s Social Assistance Review Committee, the National Child Benefit, and numerous poverty reduction policies and strategies.

He sat on the federal government’s advisory committee on poverty reduction, was Research Director for the Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for Working-Age Adults and is a former Innovation Fellow at the Metcalf Foundation, a position he held for 14 years. He is former Chair of Ontario Soldiers’ Aid Commission, former volunteer with WoodGreen Community Services of Toronto, and is currently a volunteer with West Neighbourhood House. John served on the Board of Directors of the Daily Bread Food Bank and has been a policy advisor on food and poverty, and food security and seniors. He works with a number of grass roots advocacy groups including the Social Assistance Coalition of Scarborough and the ODSP Action Group. He has also published work on challenges facing immigrant seniors, ethno-racial housing displacement, disability policy, and Canada’s retirement income system from a social equity and justice perspective. He has taught courses on public policy to a wide range of students and community members including a long-standing series on low-income retirement planning at the Toronto Public Library.

John has published op-eds and articles in the Globe & Mail, National Post and the Toronto Star. He has written reviews for the Literary Review of Canada and numerous articles and reports for Ideas that Matter, the University of Toronto, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the C.D. Howe Institute, Realize, the Caledon Institute, the Wellesley Institute, The Toronto Dominion Financial Group, the Metcalf Foundation, the Ontario Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, Employment and Social Development Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Civic Action, Policy Options, Toronto.com and many others.

John is currently a member of the Council on Aging of Ottawa’s Expert Panel on Income Security. He has a wealth of experience in social policy, food policy, housing policy, disability policy, and the critical social and economic challenges facing Canada’s ageing populations, particularly marginalized seniors.

Department: Fellows