Question Period Note: POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY

Update on the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy

• Canada's first-ever Poverty Reduction Strategy is built on the vision that whoever they are, and wherever they originally came from, all Canadians should be able to live in dignity. And the Strategy is working.

• Results from the 2022 Canadian Income Survey show that the overall poverty rate was 9.9 percent in 2022. This means that between 2015 and 2022, close to 1.3 million Canadians have been lifted out of poverty, including 380,000 children.

• The Government will continue to support Canadians currently struggling with higher costs of living. The Government remains committed to meeting its 2030 poverty reduction target.

• The Government of Canada undertook extensive engagement with Canadians to inform the development of the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy. The nation wide engagement process, launched in February 2017, gave Canadians an opportunity to have their say on reducing poverty through a Poverty Reduction Strategy engagement website, including discussion forums and online town halls. The online engagement was complemented by roundtables with stakeholders; Indigenous organizations; businesses; community organizations; academic experts; and Canadians who have experienced poverty.

• Three major themes emerged from the engagement and form the pillars of the Poverty Reduction Strategy: 1) Dignity: Lifting Canadians out of poverty by ensuring basic needs – such as safe and affordable housing, healthy food, and healthcare – are met; 2) Opportunity and Inclusion: Helping Canadians join the middle class by promoting full participation in society and equality of opportunity; and 3) Resilience and Security: Supporting the middle class by protecting Canadians from falling into poverty and by supporting income security and resilience.

• "Opportunity for All" acknowledges that many Canadians struggle to get ahead because of barriers beyond their control, such as discrimination or unacceptable prejudices. For example, Black Canadians and people from other racialized communities can face discrimination that prevents them from getting a good job despite being qualified, or from advancing in their career. Discrimination based on skin colour can also lead to social exclusion, whether in the workplace or in the community.

• Based on understanding the linkages between poverty and discriminatory barriers, Opportunity for All was developed using a Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) lens, in order to take into consideration the variation in experiences and barriers that different groups face related to poverty.

• Understanding the unique risk factors, the impact of intersecting experiences and the needs of diverse groups will help the Government to tailor interventions under the Strategy to more effectively address poverty in Canada.

• "Opportunity for All" includes long-term commitments to guide current and future government’s actions and investments:

• Canada’s Official Poverty Line - For the first time in Canada’s history, the Government set an official measure of income poverty based on Statistics Canada’s Market Basket Measure (MBM). The MBM is calculated based on the costs of a basket of goods and services that individuals and families require to meet their basic needs and achieve a basic, modest standard of living. The Poverty Reduction Act requires the MBM to be reviewed regularly to ensure that basket costs are up-to-date and that basket contents reflect the items required to meet basic needs and achieve a modest standard of living. On June 19, 2024, Statistics Canada released 2022 income, poverty and food insecurity estimates from the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) for Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

• A joint Statistics Canada – ESDC review of the MBM was launched in the fall of 2018. This was the second comprehensive review of the MBM. Statistics Canada was responsible for launching the review, updating the statistical methodology, and leading public consultations. ESDC was responsible for determining the scope of the review and setting the policy direction. The new poverty statistics using the 2018-base were released in September 2020. The third comprehensive review of the MBM was launched in spring 2023 and is expected to conclude in 2025.

• Poverty Reduction Targets - Canada’s Official Poverty Line is being used to measure progress towards two targets for poverty reduction, using a baseline year of 2015: reduce the rate of poverty by 20% by 2020 (target met in 2018); and reduce the rate of poverty by 50% by 2030. The target to reduced poverty by 50% by 2030 relative to 2015 is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

• Data and Measurement Plan - In addition to the introduction of Canada’s Official Poverty Line, the Government is making improvements to the measurement of poverty that will help address data gaps and track progress. Budget 2018 announced an investment of $12.1 million over five years, and $1.5 million per year thereafter, to address key gaps in poverty measurement in Canada.

• Canada's Official Poverty Dashboard has been created to allow Canadians to track progress against the targets and other dimensions of poverty aligned with the three pillars.

• National Advisory Council on Poverty - To ensure accountability to Canadians, the Government has established a National Advisory Council on Poverty with a mandate to both advise the Government on poverty reduction and to produce a report on the progress in poverty reduction that will be tabled annually in Parliament. The Advisory Council has completed four annual reports, the latest of which was tabled in Parliament in October 2023.

• Poverty Reduction Legislation - To cement the commitment to reducing poverty, the Poverty Reduction Act, which received Royal Assent in June 2019, entrenched into law Canada’s Official Poverty Line, the poverty reduction targets, and the National Advisory Council on Poverty.

• As part of "Opportunity for All," the Government has also committed to working with National Indigenous Organizations to identify and co-develop indicators of poverty and well-being that reflect the multiple dimensions of poverty and well-being experienced by First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

• A number of measures have been taken to help Canada meet its poverty reduction targets. The Canada Child Benefit provides substantial income support to families raising children. The CCB provides support to over 3.7 million families and over 6 million children, putting close to $25 billion, tax free, in the hands of Canadian families each year. Most families receiving the maximum CCB amounts are single-parent families, with roughly 90% of them being single mothers. For Canadian seniors, the Old Age Security (OAS) program plays a significant role in providing income security. OAS recipients who receive little to no income, other than this pension, are eligible for additional assistance through the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

• As the Government of Canada keeps working to make life more affordable for Canadians, important benefits that millions of Canadians count on are indexed to inflation to help keep up with the cost of living.
o This includes the Canada Child Benefit, the Goods and Services Tax Credit, the Canada Pension Plan, OAS, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

• Budget 2023, proposed the following measures to help Canadians face affordability challenges:

o Grocery Rebate for Canadians –$2.5 billion in targeted inflation relief to the Canadians who need it most. The Grocery Rebate will be delivered through a one-time payment from the Canada Revenue Agency following the passage of legislation. Eligible couples with two children would receive up to an extra $467; single Canadians without children would receive up to an extra $234; and seniors would receive an extra $225 on average.
o Canadian Dental Care Plan –$13.0 billion over five years, starting in 2023-24, and $4.4 billion ongoing to Health Canada to implement the Canadian Dental Care Plan. The plan would provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with annual family income of less than $90,000, with no co-pays for those with family incomes under $70,000. The plan would begin providing coverage by the end of 2023 and will be administered by Health Canada, with support from a third-party benefits administrator.
o Automatic Tax Filing –federal government will increase the number of eligible Canadians for File My Return to two million by 2025 – almost triple the current number. The CRA will also pilot a new automatic filing service that will help vulnerable Canadians who currently do not file their taxes receive the benefits to which they are entitled. CRA will also present a plan in 2024 to expand this service even further. These measures support the goal of increasing the uptake of federal benefits that require the filling of income tax returns among vulnerable groups with lower rates of tax filing.
o Making Life More Affordable for Students –$816.6 million in 2023-24 to enhance student financial assistance for the school year starting August 1, 2023.

• Budget 2024 will continue to support Canadians and build an economy that helps every generation get ahead by investing housing, affordable child care, in school food for children and lowering everyday costs.
o The Government announced a series of measures to build more homes, make it easier to rent or own a home and help Canadians who can’t afford a home.
o Measures to build more affordable child care spaces include launching a new Child Care Expansion Loan Program, with $1 billion in low-cost loans and $60 million in non-repayable grants for public and not-for-profit child care providers to build new spaces and renovate their existing child care centres, among other investments.
o The Government of Canada committed $1 billion over five years in federal funding to create a National School Food Program, to provide up to 400,000 more kids healthy meals – helping them learn, grow and reach their full potential.
o The Government launched a new Canada Disability Benefit with $6.1 billion over six years, and $1.4 billion ongoing, to supplement provincial and territorial benefits, increasing the financial well-being of over 600,000 working-age persons with disabilities. This proposed benefit would provide a maximum benefit of $2,400 per year for low-income, working-age persons with disabilities, and indexed to inflation.
o The Government will invest $1.5 billion over five years in the new National Pharmacare Plan. This first phase will ensure the effective roll-out of pharmacare, while providing immediate support for the health care needs of women and covering lifesaving diabetes medication.

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