Question Period Note: POVERTY AMONG VULNERABLE GROUPS

Higher rates of poverty among vulnerable groups

• In a country as prosperous as Canada, all Canadians should have a real and fair chance to succeed. That is why, on August 21, 2018, the Government of Canada released Opportunity for All: Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy.

• Results from the recently released 2018 Canadian Income Survey show that between 2015 and 2018, over 1 million of Canadians have been lifted out of poverty. This is the largest 3-year reduction in Canadian history.

• Even as the poverty rate in Canada continues its downward trend, we know that there are populations that are more vulnerable to living in poverty than others, including individuals living alone and indigenous on-reserve.

• The Government is committed to ensuring that these groups receive the support they need to have a real and fair chance to succeed.

If pressed on why Canada’s Offiical Poverty Line does not include First Nations On-Reserve:

• As part of Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Government of Canada has committed to working with National Indigenous Organizations and others 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.

• This is consistent with a distinctions-based approach and based on the principles of reconciliation.

• A news article released on February 26, 2020 in iPolitics cited Statistics Canada data released on February 24, 2020 from the 2018 Canadian Income Survey (CIS). The article, entitled “What the latest poverty figures show about who is poor in Canada,” noted that, while there has been a decline in poverty, some demographic groups in Canada are still struggling and that rates remain high particularly for Canadians living alone. The article also noted that the Market Basket Measure does not assess the territories or First Nations communities on reserve.

• Statistics Canada is working with the three territorial governments, including Nunavut, to develop a Northern-specific Market Basket Measure which will reflect the unique costs of living in each territory. This will ensure that Canada’s Official Poverty Line is available in all regions of Canada.

• In addition, as committed to in Opportunity for All, the Government of Canada is working with National Indigenous Organizations and others to identify and co-develop indicators of poverty and well-being, including non-income-based measures of poverty, that reflect the multiple dimensions of poverty and well-being experienced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

• 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 on February 13, 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 three pillars of the Poverty Reduction Strategy:

o Dignity: Lifting Canadians out of poverty by ensuring basic needs – such as safe and affordable housing, healthy food, and healthcare – are met;

o Opportunity and Inclusion: Helping Canadians join the middle class by promoting full participation in society and equality of opportunity; and,

o Resilience and Security: Supporting the middle class by protecting Canadians from falling into poverty and by supporting income security and resilience.

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

o Canada’s Official Poverty Line - For the first time in Canada’s history, the Government sets an official measure of income poverty. The Poverty Reduction Act requires COPL 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.

o A joint Statistics Canada – ESDC review of the MBM was launched in the fall of 2018 and is still underway. Statistics Canada is responsible for launching the review, updating the statistical methodology, and leading public consultations. ESDC is responsible for determining the scope of the review and setting the policy direction. On February 24, 2020, Statistics Canada released the final discussion paper of the MBM series entitled The Second Comprehensive Review report alongside the release of the 2018 Canadian Income Survey. The report describes the proposed changes to be made to how the MBM is calculated and includes provisional poverty estimates using the new 2018 base.

o Poverty Reduction Targets - Canada’s Official Poverty Line will be used to measure progress toward two targets for poverty reduction, using a baseline year of 2015:
o Reduce the rate of poverty by 20% by 2020 (target met in 2017); and
o Reduce the rate of poverty by 50% by 2030.

The targets are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

o 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 help track progress.

A Dashboard of poverty indicators has been created to allow Canadians to track progress against the targets and other dimensions of poverty aligned with the three pillars.

o 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 Council’s first in-person meeting took place on November 14-15, 2019 and its first annual report is expected in October 2020.

o Poverty Reduction Legislation - To cement the commitment to reducing poverty, the the Poverty Reduction Act entrenches into law Canada’s Official Poverty Line, the poverty reduction targets, and the National Advisory Council on Poverty.

• There was a decrease in the overall poverty rate in 2018. According to Canada’s Official Poverty Line, there were approximately 3.2 million people in poverty in Canada in 2018 (8.7 percent), meaning that 1,065,000 fewer Canadians were living in poverty relative to 2015.
• There was a decrease in the poverty rate for children under 18 in 2018. According to Canada’s Official Poverty Line, there were approximately 566,000 children in poverty in Canada in 2018 (8.2 percent), meaning that 334,000 fewer children were living in families in poverty in 2018 relative to 2015.

• There was a decrease in the poverty rate for seniors in 2018. A total of 216,000 seniors lived below Canada’s Official Poverty Line in 2018 (3.5 percent, meaning that 73,000 fewer seniors were in poverty in 2018 relative to 2015. This decline reverses the trend of increased seniors’ poverty that had been observed between 2014 and 2015.

• The poverty rate for persons living alone (not in an economic family) was 24.6% in 2018, representing a total of 1.4 million individuals. The poverty rate for this group decreased from 29.5% in 2015 to 27.6% in 2016, and settled at 24.6% in both 2017 and 2018. Persons living alone represent approximately 45% of the population living in poverty in 2018.

• Canada’s Official Poverty Line does not include First Nations On-reserve. The poverty rate for the Indigenous population living off-reserve was estimated at 29.2% in 2015. Between 2016 and 2018, this rate remained under 23%: 19.3% in 2016, 22.2% in 2017 and 19.2% in 2018. The 19.2% estimate for 2018 represents approximately 157,000 individuals.