Poverty statistics in Canada are usually based on the low-income lines published by Statistics Canada. People with incomes below these poverty lines have to spend at least 20 percent more of their income than most families pay for food, clothing, and shelter. The poverty rate is another commonly used term that refers to the percentage of people who live under these poverty lines. Many live far below these lines. The most recent statistics on poverty were released in April 1999 for the year 1997.
Poverty is much more widespread in Canada than most people realize.
The poverty rate varies widely from province to province. We all face some risk of poverty. Poverty is often brought on unexpectedly because of loss of employment, the death or disability of a family breadwinner, family breakup, or increased costs because of a major illness or mishap in the lives of people. Changes in the economy and problems in the labour market can mean not enough jobs, not enough hours of work, declining real value of minimum wages or very low wages so that people cannot earn enough to live on. Some kinds of families are more likely to be poor.