Question Period Note: RACIALIZED POVERTY

La pauvreté chez les personnes ethnicisées

• The Government of Canada’s overarching goal is to increase economic and social security for all Canadians, especially those who are most vulnerable.

• Opportunity for All: Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy identifies that “some individuals may also face intersecting challenges that make them more at risk of poverty, for example, individuals from Black or other racialized communities, and transgender individuals. In addition to being more likely to experience low income, these groups are also statistically more likely to live in low income for long periods of time. This is troubling because the longer a person is poor, the harder it is for them to get out of poverty.”

• The Government is committed to continuing to implement its Poverty Reduction Strategy.

• Based on the 2017 Canadian Income Survey data, Canada has reached its 2020 target to reduce poverty by 20% based on 2015 levels, a full three years ahead of schedule. This represents approximately 825,000 fewer individuals living in poverty than in 2015.

• 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 acknowledged 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

• 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 is 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. Release of new MBM thresholds is expected in February 2020 with the 2018 Canadian Income Survey release.

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 Fall 2020.

o Poverty Reduction Legislation - To cement the commitment to reducing poverty, 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 2017. Based on Canada’s Official Poverty Line, there were approximately 3.4 million people in poverty in Canada in 2017 (9.5 percent) a decrease of more than 20% from 2015, meaning that approximately 825,000 fewer Canadians were living in poverty.

• There was a decrease in the poverty rate for children under 18 in 2017. According to Canada’s Official Poverty Line, there were approximately 622,000 children in poverty in Canada in 2017 (9 percent), a decrease of more than 30% from 2015, meaning that approximately 278,000 fewer children were living in families in poverty in 2017.

• There was a decrease in the poverty rate for seniors in 2017. A total of 238,000 seniors lived below Canada’s Official Poverty Line in 2017 (3.9 percent), a decrease of more than 20% from 2015, meaning that approximately 51,000 fewer seniors were in poverty in 2017. This decline reverses the trend of increased seniors’ poverty that had been observed between 2014 and 2015.

• Poverty Rates among disadvantaged groups are still higher than the Canadian average.