Question Period Note: POVERTY AMONG SENIORS IN CANADA

A snapshot of seniors living in poverty based on 2023 data

· This Government is committed to improving the quality of life for seniors now and for generations to come.
· The Government has implemented several measures to improve the financial security of low-income seniors, including a 10% increase in the maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) benefit for single seniors, as well as a 10% increase in the Old Age Security (OAS) pension for seniors aged 75 and older. OAS program benefits are also indexed quarterly to help keep pace with the cost of living.
· Our poverty reduction efforts are working. The poverty rate among seniors stood at 5.5% in 2023 , which represents a 26.2% reduction in poverty among seniors since 2015.

If pressed on food insecurity among seniors

• Our Government recognizes that food insecurity and food prices have been on the rise, putting pressure on household finances, including those of vulnerable seniors, and making it more difficult for many families to consistently afford nutritious food.
• OAS pension and GIS play a significant role in helping seniors meet their basic needs, including food. The Government continues these programs, including through automatic enrollment, so that more seniors get the benefits to which they are entitled.

If pressed on whether the Market Basket Measure accurately measures poverty among seniors

• Canada’s Official Poverty Line, based on the Market Basket Measure (MBM), sets income thresholds for a modest standard of living and is regularly updated to remain relevant. In 2025, Statistics Canada introduced a new MBM base to better reflect current realities. As a result, we now track progress using an index that compares rates to 2015.

The Old Age Security (OAS) program has played an important role in reducing poverty among seniors.

The age of eligibility was restored to 65 from 67 for both the OAS pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which prevented 100,000 seniors aged 65 and 66 from plunging into poverty.

To help seniors who are living in poverty or are most at risk of living in poverty, the maximum GIS benefit was increased for single seniors by 10% in July 2016, an increase that benefits nearly 900,000 vulnerable seniors in Canada who rely almost exclusively on the OAS pension and GIS, and which provided an additional amount of nearly $1,150 in 2023, indexed to inflation each quarter.

In July 2022, the OAS pension increased by 10 percent for seniors 75 years and older, to provide more than $800 in new support to full pensioners over the first year, and increased benefits for more than 3 million seniors.

The Market Basket Measure (MBM)
The MBM is a made-in-Canada measure that received broad support from Canadians, including academic experts, during the public engagement process for Canada’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy. As a result, the Poverty Reduction Act (2019) established the MBM as Canada’s Official Poverty Line and defined poverty reduction targets based on the measure.

The MBM establishes poverty thresholds 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.

According to the MBM methodology, an individual or family is considered to be living in poverty if their disposable income (the income remaining after unavoidable expenses have been removed) is insufficient to purchase the goods and services included in the basket. MBM disposable income is calculated by deducting expenses such as pension plan contributions, medical expenses, spousal support payments, child care expenses, etc. from after-tax income.

As an absolute measure of low income, when the incomes of lower-income individuals rise, poverty rates calculated using the MBM tend to fall, because more people can afford the basket, everything else being equal.

Table 1: Poverty rates in Canada for persons aged 65 years and over by province, 2020, 2022 and 2023
Canada’s Official Poverty Line, 2023-MBM base
2020 2022 2023
Canada overall (provinces) 3.7% 6.3% 5.5%
Newfoundland and Labrador 2.8% 4.3% 4.4%
Prince Edward Island 4.9% 7.3% 4.3%
Nova Scotia 3.6% 7.9% 6.4%
New Brunswick 5.4% 7.3% 6.9%
Quebec 2.8% 3.1% 3.5%
Ontario 4.0% 7.4% 6.2%
Manitoba 4.0% 7.8% 5.7%
Saskatchewan 3.6% 5.4% 5.2%
Alberta 3.0% 5.8% 4.3%
British Columbia 4.2% 9.0% 7.8%
Source: Canadian Income Survey
Note: Data is not available for those living in Territories.

· In 2023, the poverty rate for seniors was 5.5%, compared to 6.3% in 2022, according to the Market Basket Measure (MBM).
· In 2023, seniors poverty in Canada was 26.2% lower than the level observed in 2015 . The number of seniors living in poverty in Canada in 2023 was estimated at 408,000.
· Single seniors are more affected, with a poverty rate of 12.5%, compared to 3.0% for those living in families.
· Seniors aged 75 and older had a lower poverty rate (3.8%) than those aged 65-74 (5.9%). Both rates declined from 2015, when they were 7.6% and 6.8% respectively (MBM 2018-base).
· In 2023, 9.0% of Canadian seniors experienced food insecurity (measured as moderate or severe food insecurity) – up from 8.0% in 2022 and 6.3% in 2021. This rate does not include the population living in the territories or on reserves.