Canada's Official Poverty Dashboard of Indicators: Trends, May 2023

Release date: May 9, 2023
Infographic: Canada's Official Poverty Dashboard of Indicators: Trends, May 2023
Description: Canada's Official Poverty Dashboard of Indicators: Trends, May 2023


Canada's Official Poverty Rate
Table summary
This table displays the results of Canada's Official Poverty Rate. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Rate (appearing as column headers).
Year Rate
2015 14.5
2016 12.9
2017 11.9
2018 11.2
2019 10.3
2020 6.4
2021 7.4

Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy introduced the Official Poverty Line for Canada and dashboard of 12 Indicators to track progress on poverty reduction for Canadians and their households.


Dashboard of 12 Indicators
Table summary
This table displays the results of Dashboard of 12 Indicators. The information is grouped by Indicator (appearing as row headers), Most recent value, Previous value, Trend, Percentage change and Reference periods (appearing as column headers).
Indicator Most recent value Previous value Trend Percentage change Reference periods
Dignity
Deep income poverty (Persons whose family disposable income is below 75% of Canada's Official Poverty Line) 3.60% 3.00% Up 20.00% 2020 to 2021
Unmet housing needs and chronic homelessness - Unmet housing needs 10.10% 12.70% Down -20.50% 2016 to 2021
Unmet health needs (Persons 16 years and older who reported not receiving health care when they felt they needed it) 7.90% 7.20% Up 9.70% 2020 to 2021
Food insecurity (Persons living in households that reported moderate or severe food insecurity) 12.90% 11.20% Up 15.20% 2020 to 2021
Opportunity and Inclusion
Relative low income (Persons living in households whose median after-tax income falls below half the median after-tax income) 10.60% 9.30% Up 14.00% 2020 to 2021
Bottom 40 percent income share (Share of total after-tax income held by the 40% of the population at the bottom of the income distribution) 21.80% 22.20% Down -1.80% 2020 to 2021
Youth engagement (Persons aged 15 to 24 who were not in employment, education or training) 9.60% 11.30% Down -15.00% 2021 to 2022
Literacy and numeracy - Low literacy (15-year-olds) 13.80% 10.70% Up 29.00% 2015 to 2018
Literacy and numeracy - Low numeracy (15-year-olds) 16.30% 14.40% Up 13.20% 2015 to 2018
Resilience and Security
Median hourly wage - All $27.00 $27.76 Down -2.70% 2021 to 2022
Median hourly wage - Women $25.00 $26.12 Down -4.30% 2021 to 2022
Median hourly wage - Men $29.87 $30.27 Down -1.30% 2021 to 2022
Average poverty gap (Average shortfall below Canada’s Official Poverty Line for those living in poverty, expressed as a percentage of the poverty line) 31.6% 31.70% Down -0.30% 2020 to 2021
Asset resilience (People who are able to cover unexpected expenses, or reduced income, by drawing from assets (e.g., a bank account) for a period of three months) 67.1% 66.60% Up 0.80% 2016 to 2019
Low income entry and exit rates - Entry rates (All persons) 3.1% 3.90% Down -20.50% 2018/2019 to 2019/2020
Low income entry and exit rates - Exit rates (Persons in low income) 42.0% 29.50% Up 42.40% 2018/2019 to 2019/2020

Note:
- Canada’s Official Poverty Dashboard is updated as new data become available. The indicators that are based on the Market Basket Measure (MBM) use the 2018 base.
- The concepts and dimensions of poverty are defined in detail in Opportunity for All – Canada's First Poverty Reduction Strategy.

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