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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Toba Bryant's profile photo

Toba Bryant
PhD

Associate Professor

Faculty of Health Sciences

Contact information

Shawenjigewining Hall - Room 455
North Oshawa
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5

905.721.8668 ext. 2697

toba.bryant@ontariotechu.ca

Research topics

  • social determinants of health
  • public policy
  • welfare state
  • social and health inequalities
  • intersectionality
  • political economy
  • health policy
  • neoliberalism
  • employment and economic restructuring

Research and expertise

  • Background and interests

    Dr. Toba Bryant earned her Master of Social Work (specializing in health and social policy) and PhD at the University of Toronto. She is the author of An Introduction to Health Policy, and co-editor of Staying Alive: Critical Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Health Care. She has published book chapters and articles on policy change, housing and health, women’s health, social determinants of health and health equity. Dr. Bryant is general editor of the journal Women's Health and Urban Life.

    Research area of specialty:

    • social determinants of health
    • income
    • housing
    • welfare state analysis
    • health and social policy change
    • women’s health

    Research background and interests:

    • community quality of life
    • critical assessment of living and working conditions of vulnerable populations
    • income-related health inequalities
    • globalization and the health of Canadians
    • income and housing as social determinants of women’s health
    • impact of social class, gender and race on health outcomes

    Dr. Bryant is particularly interested in the health of urban populations.

  • Publications
    For a comprehensive list of publications, visit ResearchGate.
    • Raphael, D., Komakech, M., Bryant, T., and Torrence, R. (2019). Governmental illegitimacy and incompetency in Canada and other liberal nations: Implications for health. International Journal of Health Services, 49(1), 17-36.
    • Raphael, D., Chaufan, C., Bryant, T., Bakhsh, M., Mindra, J., Puran, A. & Saliba, D. (2018). The cultural hegemony of chronic disease association discourse in Canada. Social Theory and Health. 
    • Raphael, D., Bryant, T. & Mendly-Zambo. (2018). Canada considers a basic income guarantee: Can it achieve health for all? Health Promotion International.
    • Bryant, T. & Raphael, D. (2018). Welfare states, public health and health inequalities. Oxford Bibliographies. 
    • Bryant, T. (2015). Implications of public policy change models for addressing income-related health inequalities. Canadian Public Policy 42(2), S10-S16. 
    • Bryant, T. (2015). Housing. In Pike, I., Richmond, S., Rothman, L., and Macpherson, A. (Eds.), Canadian injury prevention resource: An evidence-informed guide to injury prevention in Canada. Toronto: Parachute.
    • Bryant, T (2013). Policy change and the social determinants of health. In C. Clavier and E. De Leeuw (Eds.), Health promotion and the policy process: Practical and Critical Theories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    • Dinca-Panaitescua, S, Dinca-Panaitescu, M, Raphael, D, Bryant, T, Daiski, I and Pilkington, B (2012). The Dynamics of the relationship between the experience of low income and type 2 diabetes: Longitudinal results. Maturitas, 72(3), 229-235.
  • Research collaborations
    • Ontario Tech Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
    • Durham Region United Way
    • Unifor Local 222
    • Unifor Retirees Local 222
  • Courses taught
    • Current Issues in Health
    • Health Policy and Process
    • Research Applications I 
    • Research Applications II
    • Social Determinants of Health
  • Graduate student research

    Dr. Bryant will supervise graduate student research concerned with the social sciences in health. This includes examination of health issues for particular populations (e.g. women, racialized populations, low-income households), especially the social determinants of health, income-related health inequalities, and health equity.

  • Grants
    • 2018 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: Restructuring Work: Labour and the Organization of Global Capitalism. Co-Investigator.
    • 2015 Atkinson Charitable Foundation Decent Work Grant: Job-Related Community Quality of Life in Oshawa. Principal Investigator
    • CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health, Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement Team Grant. Co-Investigator on: Globalization and the health of Canadians: A transdisciplinary research network.
      • 2006 to 2012, $820,000
    • SSHRC Standard Research Grant. Co-investigator on: A study on the incidence and management of diabetes.
      • 2005 to 2009, $123,500
  • Education
    • Master of Social Work, University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario
    • PhD, University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario