Question Period Note: POVERTY AMONG SENIORS IN CANADA

Seniors living in poverty

• We are committed to improving the quality of life for seniors now and for generations to come.
• The Government has made significant investments to reduce poverty among seniors, including increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for the lowest income single seniors, and increasing the Old Age Security (OAS) pension for seniors 75 and older. Retirement benefits are also indexed quarterly to help keep up with the rising cost of living.
• Our poverty reduction efforts are working. The poverty rate among seniors decreased from 7.1% in 2015 to 6.0% in 2022.

The Government has made significant investments and adopted measures to reduce poverty among seniors.

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

To help seniors who are living in poverty or are most at risk of living in poverty, the Government enhanced the GIS in 2016 by increasing the amount received by up to $947 annually for the most vulnerable single seniors and helping improve the financial security of 900,000 seniors who rely almost exclusively on the OAS pension and the GIS and providing up to almost $1,150 in additional benefits 2023, indexed to inflation every quarter.

In July 2022, the Government increased the OAS pension 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.

To ensure that COVID-19 emergency response benefits did not negatively impact GIS or Allowance payment amounts, the Government of Canada provided, as part of the December 2021 Economic and Fiscal Update, $742.4 million in one-time payments to GIS and Allowance recipients who received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) in 2020. These payments were issued automatically in April 2022 without the need for an application. The Government also introduced amendments to the Old Age Security Act to exempt any amount of CERB, CRB, Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit and Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit received in 2021 or later from the calculation of income for the GIS and Allowances in 2021.

According to the 2022 Canadian Income Survey (CIS), 4% of Canadian seniors (or 297,000) had earnings between $100,000 to $150,000 in 2022, while more than 93% (or 6,661,000) had earnings of less than $100,000 that year. The CIS also found regional differences in seniors’ earnings, with income distributions varying between provinces. For instance, the provinces with the highest percentage of seniors making $100,000-$150,000 in 2022 are Prince Edward Island with 5.8% (or 2,000), Ontario with 5.1% (or 140,000), and British Columbia with 5% (or 52,000) respectively. Conversely, the provinces with the lowest percentage of seniors earning $100,000-$150,000 are Quebec with 2.5% (or 45,000), New Brunswick with 2.7% (or 5,000), and Nova Scotia with 2.8% (or 6,000). The CIS has also found income disparities between urban and rural communities, with almost 4.3% (or 269,000) of urban seniors earning income between $100,000-150,000, compared to 3.1% (or 28,000) of seniors living in rural areas.

Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada is a national charitable organization representing the food bank community across Canada, supporting a network of 10 Provincial Associations and over 4,700 hunger relief organizations in Canada.
Food Banks Canada’s annual HungerCount report documents food bank use in Canada, using a cross-sectional census survey of most food bank agencies, organizations and programs within and outside of the Food Banks Canada network.
Food Banks Canada’s annual Poverty Report Card contains a comprehensive assessment of the state of poverty and food insecurity in Canada, analyses of federal, provinicial and terrirotial poverty reduction efforts, and policy recommendations.
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 threholds 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, 2015, 2021 and 2022
Canada’s Official Poverty Line, 2018-MBM base

Canada Overall (Provinces)
2015: 7.1%
2021: 5.6%
2022: 6.0%
Newfoundland and Labrador
2015: 8.8%
2021: 4.7%
2022: 5.5%
Prince Edward Island
2015: 13.2 %
2021: 5.7%
2022:8.6%
Nova Scotia
2015: 10.4%
2021: 9.1%
2022: 10.4%
New Brunswick
2015: 11.2%
2021: 5.6%
2022: 8.2%
Quebec
2015: 6.8%
2021: 4.9%
2022: 2.9%

Ontario
2015: 6.1%
2021: 5.1%
2022:6.7%

Manitoba
2015: 5.9%
2021: 5.8%
2022: 6.3%

Saskatchewan
2015: 6.1%
2021: 5.5%
2022: 4.9%

Alberta
2015: 3.1%
2021: 5.9%
2022: 5.6%
British Columbia
2015: 11.7%
2021:7.0%
2022: 8.7%
Source: Canadian Income Survey
Note: Data is not available for those living in Territories.

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.
• Budget 2024 announced measures to help make life more affordable including giving more power to the Competition Bureau to crack down on unfair practices.

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

• The MBM was adopted as Canada’s Official Poverty Line following extensive consultations with and support from Canadians and experts across the country.

• The MBM is an absolute measure of poverty that measures the ability of an individual or family to purchase a basket of goods and services required to meet a modest, basic standard of living. A major strength of the MBM is that it is sensitive to regional differences in the cost of living.

• In June 2023, the Government launched the third comprehensive review of Canada’s Official Poverty Line to ensure that Canada’s Official Poverty Line continues to reflect a modest, basic living standard over time.