Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development reports
Federal organizations' actions to reduce poverty achieved limited results
Departmental Progress in Implementing Sustainable Development Strategies—Poverty Reduction
Report metadata
- Tabling date:
- Audited entities:
- Canada Revenue Agency
- Department of Finance Canada
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
- Statistics Canada
- Report type
- Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development reports
At a glance
Overall, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Department of Finance Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, and Statistics Canada took 16 departmental actions that were expected to contribute to meeting the federal government’s poverty reduction target. In the 2022–2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, the government aims to reduce the poverty rate by 50% from its 2015 level by 2030. According to the federal strategy, achieving this target would help support Canadians facing financial challenges and would help build a diverse, prosperous, and inclusive country where everyone benefits from economic growth.
The 5 federal organizations followed the applicable guidance from Environment and Climate Change Canada to develop their departmental sustainable development strategies and prepare their 2023–24 reports on their actions intended to reduce poverty. However, with the exception of Statistics Canada, most of these organizations’ actions either did not yet achieve their expected results or the organizations were unable to assess their progress.
From 2015 to 2020, Canada’s overall poverty rate decreased from 14.5% to 6.4%. However, since 2020, the poverty rate has been increasing; in 2023, it was 10.2%. If the federal government is to meet its commitment to reduce poverty by 50% from its 2015 level, it will need to ensure that its poverty reduction efforts contribute to the overall downward trend in poverty observed since 2015 and mitigate post‑2020 increases in the poverty rate.
Why we did this audit
- Under the 2022–2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, the government committed to reducing poverty, supporting Canadians working hard to join the middle class, and helping to build a diverse, prosperous, and inclusive country.
- Initiatives to support low‑income individuals and families are important ways to reduce poverty so that Canadians can live with dignity, have real and fair access to opportunities to succeed, and be resilient enough to get through difficult times.
Highlights of our recommendations
- Employment and Social Development Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Department of Finance Canada, and Indigenous Services Canada should ensure their sustainable development strategies provide departmental actions that include relevant performance indicators that measure outcomes or outputs and measurable targets. They should also ensure to report the results of their contributions to the achievement of the federal poverty reduction target according to their strategy time frames.
Key facts and findings
- In 2020, the poverty rate was 6.4%, and that year was the only time since 2015 that the government met its target of reducing the poverty rate by 50% from the 2015 level. According to Statistics Canada, the decrease in the poverty rate in 2020 was mainly due to the emergency benefits the government temporarily provided because of the COVID‑19 pandemic.
- The increase in Canada’s overall poverty rate between 2021 and 2023 was partly due to the phasing out of COVID‑19 emergency benefits and to inflation.
- In 2023, the poverty rate of 10.2% meant that approximately 4 million people in Canada were living in poverty.
- All the organizations we audited except the Canada Revenue Agency followed federal guidance regarding linking the actions in their departmental strategies to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal targets.
In 2015, Canada committed to achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 1 (No Poverty) calls for signatories to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere.” The government’s commitment to reducing poverty in Canada in all its forms relates directly to this goal. All federal ministers and organizations are accountable for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals within their areas of responsibility.
Exhibit highlights
Annual poverty rates since 2015 and the 2030 poverty reduction target in the 2022-2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy
Text version
This chart shows the percentage of Canadians who were below Canada’s Official Poverty Line (the overall poverty rate) from 2015 to 2023. It also shows key milestones.
The target for 2030 in the 2022–2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and the 2018 poverty reduction strategy is to reduce the poverty rate by 50% from its 2015 level. The poverty rate in 2015 was 14.5%; therefore, the target of reducing the poverty rate by 50% from its 2015 level for 2030 is 7.25%.
From 2015 to 2020, the poverty rate decreased year to year, from 14.5% in 2015 to 6.4% in 2020, and then increased year to year, to 10.2% in 2023.
The following was Canada’s overall poverty rate by year from 2015 to 2023:
- In 2015, the overall poverty rate was 14.5%. This is the baseline poverty rate.
- In 2016, the overall poverty rate decreased to 12.9%.
- In 2017, the overall poverty rate decreased to 11.9%.
- In 2018, the overall poverty rate decreased to 11.2%. It was in this year that Canada’s poverty reduction strategy was launched. In it, the federal government committed to reducing the poverty rate by 20% from its 2015 level by 2020 and by 50% by 2030.
- In 2019, the overall poverty rate decreased to 10.3%. It was in this year that the Poverty Reduction Act was enacted.
- In 2020, the overall poverty rate decreased to 6.4%. Thus, in this year, the 50% poverty reduction target was temporarily met.
- In 2021, the overall poverty rate increased to 7.4%.
- In 2022, the overall poverty rate increased to 9.9%.
- In 2023, the overall poverty rate increased to 10.2%. Thus, a gap exists between the 2023 results and the 2030 target of reducing the poverty rate by 50% from its 2015 level.
Note: The overall percentage of Canadians below Canada’s Official Poverty Line did not include the 3 territories. It also excluded people living on reserves and in other Indigenous communities in the provinces, in institutions, and in extremely remote or very low population density areas. The latter populations account for 2.9% of the Canadian population, according to the 2021 Census of Population in Canada.
Source: Based on data from Statistics Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada
The most recent rate of poverty among Canadian seniors was below the target rate of no more than 6.1% by 2030
Text version
This chart shows the percentage of Canadians and the percentage of seniors (that is, people aged 65 years and over) who were below Canada’s Official Poverty Line from 2015 to 2023.
The target poverty rate for seniors is at most 6.1% by 2030. During the 2015‑to‑2023 period, the rate for seniors was always lower than Canada’s overall poverty rate and was below the 6.1% target from 2018 to 2023. Both rates decreased from year to year during the 2015‑to‑2020 period, and then increased in the following years. However, in 2023, the rate for seniors was lower than in 2022.
The following was overall poverty rate and poverty rate for seniors by year from 2015 to 2023:
- In 2015, the overall poverty rate was 14.5%. The poverty rate for seniors was 7.1%.
- In 2016, the overall poverty rate decreased to 12.9%. The poverty rate for seniors remained the same at 7.1%.
- In 2017, the overall poverty rate decreased to 11.9%. The poverty rate for seniors decreased to 6.1%.
- In 2018, the overall poverty rate decreased to 11.2%. The poverty rate for seniors decreased to 6.0%.
- In 2019, the overall poverty rate decreased to 10.3%. The poverty rate for seniors decreased to 5.7%.
- In 2020, the overall poverty rate decreased to 6.4%. The poverty rate for seniors decreased to 3.1%.
- In 2021, the overall poverty rate increased to 7.4%. The poverty rate for seniors increased to 5.6%.
- In 2022, the overall poverty rate increased to 9.9%. The poverty rate for seniors increased to 6.0%.
- In 2023, the overall poverty rate increased to 10.2%. The poverty rate for seniors decreased to 5.0%.
Note: Both poverty rates included in this exhibit did not include the 3 territories. They also excluded people living on reserves and in other Indigenous communities in the provinces, in institutions, and in extremely remote or very low population density areas.
Source: Based on data from Statistics Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada
The rate of poverty among Canadian children and adults 18-64 years of age is higher than the national average and increasing
Text version
This chart shows the percentage of Canadians, the percentage of people aged 18 to 64 years, and the percentage of people under 18 years who were below Canada’s Official Poverty Line from 2015 to 2023.
The target for 2030 in the 2022–2026 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and the 2018 poverty reduction strategy is to reduce the poverty rate by 50% from its 2015 level. The poverty rate in 2015 was 14.5%; therefore, the target of reducing the poverty rate by 50% from its 2015 level for 2030 is 7.25%.
The 3 rates decreased from year to year during the 2015‑to‑2020 period, and then increased from year to year to 2023. In 2015, the rate for people under 18 years had the highest rate, but then from 2016 to 2023, the rate for people 18 to 64 years had the highest rate. In 2020 and 2021, some of the rates were below the target of reducing the poverty rate by 50% from its 2015 by 2030.
The following is the overall poverty rate and the poverty rates for the 2 age groups:
- In 2015, the overall poverty rate was 14.5%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years was 15.7%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 was 16.3%.
- In 2016, the overall poverty rate decreased to 12.9%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years decreased to 14.0%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 decreased to 13.9%.
- In 2017, the overall poverty rate decreased to 11.9%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years decreased to 13.4%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 decreased to 11.7%.
- In 2018, the overall poverty rate decreased to 11.2%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years decreased to 12.8%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 decreased to 10.6%.
- In 2019, the overall poverty rate decreased to 10.3%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years decreased to 11.8%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 decreased to 9.4%.
- In 2020, the overall poverty rate decreased to 6.4%, which was below the 50% poverty reduction target. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years decreased to 7.8%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 decreased to 4.7%, which was below the target.
- In 2021, the overall poverty rate increased to 7.4%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years increased to 8.2%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 increased to 6.4%, which was below the 50% poverty reduction target.
- In 2022, the overall poverty rate increased to 9.9%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years increased to 11.1%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 increased to 9.9%.
- In 2023, the overall poverty rate increased to 10.2%. The poverty rate for people aged 18 to 64 years increased to 11.6%. The poverty rate for people under the age of 18 increased to 10.7%.
Note: All poverty rates included in this exhibit did not include the 3 territories. They also excluded people living on reserves and in other Indigenous communities in the provinces, in institutions, and in extremely remote or very low population density areas.
Source: Based on data from Statistics Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada
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