Ontario Material Deprivation Survey, 2009

The Ontario Material Deprivation Survey (OMDS) was conducted on behalf of the Ontario Government. The OMDS was fielded in March and April 2009 as a supplement to the Labour Force Survey. The aim was to gauge the ability of families to satisfy basic material needs such as food, clothing, housing, as well as social needs of participation and leisure. The survey included questions about ten items deemed to be necessities, due to lack of resources, as well as questions on income. The list of ten items came from a 2008 study by the Daily Bread Food Bank of Toronto. The survey was designed to produce estimates of the incidence of missing two or more items (out of ten) for Ontario and various geographic subgroups. It was also designed to provide contextual data on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Ontario families and individuals.