Ontario Government Declares IPV Endemic
Hi everyone,
I am not seeing any press about it, so in case you don’t know, on November 5, 2025 the Ontario government declared IPV endemic. Here are the Hansard notes:
Associate Minister Williams: "Thank you. Thank you, madam speaker. I seek unanimous consent -- of the house, the government of Ontario recognizes the endemic nature of intimate partner violence in Ontario and its significant and continuing impact on individuals, families and communities."
Speaker Skelly: The associate minister of women, social and economic opportunities is seeking unanimous consent that, in the opinion of the house, the government of Ontario recognizes the endemic nature of intimate partner violence in Ontario and its significance and continuing impact on individuals, families and communities. Agreed? Agreed.
I expect there will be conversation - what is the difference in terms?
1. Epidemic vs. Endemic
Epidemic means a rapid increase or widespread outbreak — a crisis demanding immediate attention.Endemic means it is consistently present in the population — embedded, predictable, and persistent over time.
Declaring IPV endemic recognizes that it is not a temporary surge, but a chronic, systemic condition of society — normalized through culture, inequality, and policy gaps.
2. Public Health Framing
In public health terms, endemic diseases still require sustained prevention, treatment, and systems-level responses (e.g., malaria, HIV, tuberculosis). Calling IPV endemic doesn’t reduce urgency; it shifts focus from emergency response to long-term prevention, structural change, and equity investment.
3. Why It Matters for Policy and Practice
Declaring IPV endemic signals that:
It is predictable and preventable — not random or inevitable.It requires ongoing, coordinated, population-level intervention, just like any chronic public health condition.It highlights the need to embed prevention and equity work into everyday systems rather than relying only on crisis response.
In short:
Calling IPV endemic doesn’t downplay its severity — it names the depth of the problem and the need for structural, sustained, public-health–level action.
I am only one person and not speaking for anyone else, but I believe this is a big WIN for us with cause to take a moment and celebrate.
Peace,
Margaret MacPherson
Convenor | Building a Bigger Wave Provincial Network
