Facts & Stats About Poverty in Canada

Canada is a part of the Western world, and often in the Western world we can place ourselves under the illusion that the country in which we live is not affected by poverty. Many of us are used to seeing and hearing single stories from other countries that paint them to be quite poverty-stricken - this might cause us to think we do not have it so bad in comparison. While it may be true that there are countries out there that suffer from poverty at higher rates than Canada, we can not ignore the fact that poverty remains a large issue in our own country. Below, we break down some facts about poverty in Canada ... the statistics may surprise you.

In Canada, those who earn an annual disposable income below the threshold are considered to be living in poverty. See the Statistics Canada: Dimensions of Poverty Hub for more information on Canada's poverty line.

• Nearly 5 million people in Canada currently live in poverty (1 out of every 7 individuals)

• Vulnerable groups that are more susceptible:

  • People living with disabilities

  • Single parents

  • Elderly individuals

  • Youth

  • Racialized communities

• Poverty has various effects that can be expressed in different aspects of a person's' life, including:

  • Food security

  • Health

  • Housing

• Poverty costs Canada billions of dollars annually

• Precarious employment has increased by approximately 50% over the last two decades

• Between 1980 and 2005, the average earnings among the least wealthy Canadians fell by 20%

• Over the past 25 years, Canada's population has increased by 30% and yet annual national investment in housing has decreased by 46%

The following infographic highlights some marginalized communities affected by poverty:

Child Poverty Stats in Canada

• 1 in 5 children live in conditions of poverty in Canada (1.3 million children)

• 1 in 2 Status First Nations children lives in poverty

• 8% of children in BC live in poverty with children under the age of 6 representing a poverty rate of 20.1% (higher than the national average)

• 40% of Indigenous children in Canada live in poverty, and 60% of Indigenous children on reserves live in poverty

• More than one-third of food bank users across Canada were children in 2016

• Approximately 1 in 7 of the people using shelters in Canada are children

Did any of these stats surprise you?

UNICEF rated Canada 17th out of 29 wealthy countries due to the number of children living in poverty in Canada and 26th out of 35 wealthy countries for overall child inequality.

“Child poverty is both hidden and visible and knows no boundaries. Child poverty means not being able to concentrate due to hunger and lack of sleep or not having warm clothes when the weather turns cold. Or it can mean being teased for not having things, or being treated differently. Child poverty means coming to school worried or anxious, making it harder to learn. Child poverty is unfair and unjust.”

(BCTF's Poverty and Education: A Teacher's Perspective, p. 5)