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Census Data Shows Poverty Rates Rise Post COVID-19

Income Supports, like the Canada Disability Benefit, Help Tackle this Crisis

A 3.8% rise in poverty levels reported since 2020. Source: Dimensions of Poverty Hub
A 3.8% rise in poverty levels reported since 2020. Source: Dimensions of Poverty Hub

"Elbows up, Canada!" can be heard across the country as Canadians brace for economic uncertainty from the South. Census data released in May shows us that poverty is a growing reality in our nation.


In Canada, the Market Basket Measure has been the official way to measure poverty since 2019. This measure uses the cost of a basket of goods (clothing, food, transportation, etc.) at a basic standard of living, to tell us how many Canadians are living in poverty.


Using this measure, we learn there was a 0.3% increase in poverty from 2022 to 2023, from 9.9% to 10.2%. When we zoom into specific demographics, poverty has increased much more.


Youth poverty is increasingly becoming a concern. Poverty levels rose even higher than the general population from 9.9% in 2022 to 10.7% in 2023. Fortunately, poverty in people 65 years and over saw a 1% decrease, from 6% in 2022 to 5% in 2023.


There was also a notable increase (2.4%) in poverty for persons under 18 in female lone-parent families from 26.9% in 2022 to 29.3% in 2023. A previous issue of Community Data Watch on single mother families explored challenges faced by this demographic. This includes single mothers earning 80% of the after-tax income of single father families, and being twice as likely to experience poverty compared to all women in the Halton Region.


Persons under 18 in couple families also saw a 0.7% increase in poverty levels in 2023 to 7.5%. This indicates that there are more families overall struggling with poverty.


It's also important to explore dimensions of poverty when discussing this issue. Deep Income Poverty (DIP) refers to an income that is 75% below the poverty line, and not being able to afford a substantial amount of items in the MBM basket.


BMT (Between Market Threshold) refers to individuals that are living in poverty, but not DIP, and so can afford some items in the MBM basket. The figure to the right shows the breakdown of poverty rates by type of poverty. More than half of Canadians living in poverty were living in deep poverty in 2022.


These numbers highlight the need for more income supports to support vulnerable Canadians.


Some good news? Today, applications for the new Canada Disability Benefit open. This federal benefit means that those who qualify can receive up to $2400 per year, or $200 per month. The federal government has allocated $6.1 billion to this initiative to help support Canadians living with disabilities.


Even better news? Ontario has announced that there will not be clawbacks on this benefit! This means that for those that receive payments through the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), this new benefit will not count as income, leaving the amount of provincial benefits they can receive unaffected. When levels of government work together like this to compliment their supports, it means more money in the pockets of those who need it most.


Each province is setting their own rules on clawbacks, with Alberta notably stating that it will clawback the federal benefit. More information on Canada-wide implementation of this benefit can be found here: CDB Clawback Map of Canada | Disability Without Poverty.


It has been shown time and time again that income supports help pull people out of poverty. With rising poverty numbers, there is hope that the need for comprehensive income supports is being heard.



 
 
 

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