Question Period Note: Toronto Star article on Child Poverty

On November 9, 2023 the Toronto Star published an article on child poverty titled “The Kids Aren’t All Right”/

Ensuring that every child gets the best possible start in life is a priority for the Government of Canada.

We appreciate the insights shared in this article on the many dimensions of child poverty.

The Government of Canada is supporting children’s wellbeing by taking concrete actions on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, involving children and youth in decision-making, and investing in key programs to support families such as the Canada Child Benefit and Early Learning and Child Care.

We will continue to take action to improve the lives of all children in Canada.

Toronto Star article : “The Kids Aren’t All Right”

The article "The Kids Aren't All Right", part of a series in the Toronto Star with the same title, highlights the issue of child poverty in Toronto, the "child poverty capital of Canada" and states that a lack of investment in children is a failure to invest in Canada's future.

The article makes a few precise recommendations for federal and provincial governments that align with ESDC's portfolio, suggesting they could:

Move families toward a thriving income that promotes health and well-being.

Develop housing policies that favour kids.

Leverage planning and zoning laws to ensure access to green space.

Provide a national school food program to ensure that all children have a minimum of one nutritious meal a day.

The article also makes detailed recommendations for systematic changes to the provision of children's mental health services, including a recommendation to "use bilateral agreements for the new federal health transfer to provinces, which names family health, the health workforce, and mental health as top priorities".

Child Wellbeing

UNICEF Canada was founded in 1955 and is one of 34 National Committees located in countries around the world. The organisation’s mission is to mobilize and empower Canadians to invest in the positive transformation of every child’s future.

UNICEF Report Cards measure child and youth well-being in wealthy countries. Report Card 16, published in 2020, shows that just prior to the pandemic Canada ranked among the countries with the best economic, environmental and social conditions for growing up, but the poorest outcomes for children and youth. Specifically, Canada ranked 30th (out of 38 wealthy countries) on overall wellbeing of children and youth.

In order to achieve better outcomes, UNICEF recommends Canada:

put bolder public policies in place to protect the right to childhood, including stronger income benefits, early child care and education, school nutrition and parental leave;

involve children and youth in decision-making through pan-Canadian dialogue, a National Commissioner for Children and Youth, and a lower voting age; and,

increase accountability by setting baselines to measure progress, conduct child impact assessments on policy decisions, and publish a children’s budget to track spending on children and its outcomes.

In May 2022, UNICEF released Report Card 16 which measured the impact of environmental conditions on the wellbeing of children and youth. The report found that Canada ranks 28th of 39 wealthy countries in the overall environmental wellbeing of children and youth.

School Food

The Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food share a commitment to work with provinces, territories, Indigenous partners and stakeholders to develop a National School Food Policy and to work toward a national school nutritious meal program.

ESDC has undertaken engagements with Canadians and diverse stakeholders to inform the development of a National School Food Policy. The findings from the engagement done to date were made public on October 31st in a What We Heard Report.

Poverty Reduction Strategy

The Government of Canada released Opportunity for All – Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2018. The Strategy offers a bold vision for Canada as a world leader in the eradication of poverty and is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending poverty.

The Strategy also sets ambitious and concrete poverty reduction targets based on Canada’s Official Poverty Line: a 20 percent reduction in poverty by 2020 and a 50 percent reduction in poverty by 2030, which, relative to 2015 levels, will lead to the lowest poverty rate in Canada’s history.

The Strategy brings together significant investments that the Government has made since 2015 to support the social and economic well-being of all Canadians. These investments include funding for key poverty reduction initiatives including the Canada Child Benefit. The CCB provides support to over 3.5 million families, including over 6 million children, putting more than $25 billion, tax free, in the hands of Canadian families each year. Most families receiving the maximum CCB amounts are single-parent families, with over 90% of them being single mothers.

The recent rollout of other new initiatives is expected to contribute to long-term reductions in poverty. The Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) System helps parents, especially women, to participate in the labour market, increasing net-income for many families.

In addition to targeted measures to support Canadians, Budget 2023 made significant investments to build a healthier Canada and deliver affordable dental care, including $13 billion over five years, and $4.4 billion ongoing, to implement the Canadian Dental Care Plan. The Plan will provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with an annual family income of less than $90,000 with no co-pays for those with family incomes under $70,000.

As a first step, the interim Canada Dental Benefit was launched on December 1, 2022. The Canada Dental Benefit provides direct payments applicants of up to $650 per child and up to $1,300 over two years to eligible families with children under 12.

Canada Child Benefit

In July 2016, the CCB replaced three different previous benefits – the Canada Child Tax Benefit including the National Child Benefit Supplement, and the Universal Child Care Benefit—with one simplified, fair and tax-free monthly child benefit.

The CCB is having a significant positive impact on families with children. According to the most recent survey data, the 2021 Canadian Income Survey released on May 2, 2023, the poverty rate for children was 6.4 percent in 2021. This is up from 4.7 percent in 2020, but continues to reflect a significant decrease from the poverty rate of 16.3 percent in 2015. The decrease in children’s poverty between 2019 and 2020 is largely attributed to temporary COVID-19 emergency benefits (including additional payments made through the CCB). The increase in poverty rate for children between 2020 and 2021 reflects the phaseout of key temporary COVID-19 income supports, however, the overall poverty rate for children has been decreasing since 2015.

In 2021, approximately 462,000 children were living in poverty, approximately 129,000 more children than in 2020. However, overall, there were 653,000 fewer children living in poverty in 2021 than in 2015. The number of children living in poverty in 2015 was estimated at 1.12 million.

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