Poverty-reduction targets are imperative

Government action on poverty reduction is losing its place on the political agenda at the exact moment affordability pressures are seriously threatening the well-being of many more Canadians.

The upcoming federal budget is an opportunity to reverse this trend by investing in concrete measures that ensure everyone can afford the basics.

The newly released 2026 report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty, Too Many Left Behind, warns that Canada is not on track to meet its legislated target of cutting poverty in half by 2030. This confirms modelling in the Canadian Centre on Policy Alternatives’ 2026-2027 Alternative Federal Budget, which indicates that Canada will miss the 2030 target by 4.4 percentage points. A roadmap for action exists, but governments must act.

As the tariff war and cost-of-living squeeze affect more people, fighting poverty is as important as ever. You don’t have to be poor to be affected by poverty. When millions of Canadians can’t find or afford housing, food, child care or other necessities, public services are under greater pressure, communities are more precarious, health outcomes decline and families that are one unexpected expense away from trouble are stressed.

Reducing poverty reflects a core Canadian value: caring for one another. That commitment to collective well-being is an important part of what defines us as a country.

Poverty targets are key. Beyond political announcements, Canadians deserve to know whether more people can afford the basics, whether children in low-income families are better off and whether housing and food costs are consuming less of people’s incomes.

The federal government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy established two targets: a 20 per cent reduction in poverty from its 2015 level by 2020, and a 50 per cent reduction by 2030. The first was achieved, but the second is increasingly out of reach.

The report also warns that the headline poverty rate doesn’t tell the whole story. Between 2023 and 2024, the share of Canadians living in relative low income increased, while chronic homelessness among shelter users rose. Indigenous people, Black communities, people with disabilities and lone-parent families continue to experience disproportionately high poverty rates. For many people, the depth of poverty is increasing even when the overall rate barely changes.

The council recommends that the federal government work with provinces, territories and Indigenous governments to establish regional income floors that ensure everyone has enough income to reach at least Canada’s official poverty line. This should be done by embedding an accountability framework in federal funding transfers so provinces and territories use the funding to improve current benefits and programs, not for other priorities.

The income floor is essential; it would establish a minimum standard of economic security, rather than accepting that some people will remain very poor even while receiving government benefits.

The council also emphasizes that a one-size-fits-all approach is insufficient. Its report calls for targeted poverty-reduction plans for populations experiencing disproportionately high poverty, supported by better data. Governments must address the systemic discrimination, racism and colonialism that create additional barriers to income security, housing and essential services.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Alternative Federal Budget advocates more ambitious poverty-reduction timelines and measures to strengthen income supports, including a livable income for working-age adults without children or disabilities, a more adequate Canada Disability Benefit, additional support for children living in deep poverty and increased benefits for low-income seniors. It also proposes substantial investment in deeply affordable non-market housing.

Manitoba has an important lesson here, too. The province released a new five-year poverty-reduction strategy in January 2026, Pathways Forward. It sets goals and objectives for three groups: children aged zero to five, youth leaving the child-welfare system and seniors. The strategy also establishes eight indicators to measure progress, including the Market Basket Measure, food insecurity, core housing need, employment and high school graduation.

Those indicators are useful. But they are not the same thing as a poverty-reduction target.

Manitoba’s previous poverty strategy included a specific target: reducing child poverty by 25 per cent by 2025 compared with 2015. The province’s new strategy does not establish a comparable province-wide numerical target. Manitobans should be able to look at the government’s poverty strategy and know what success will look like in measurable terms.

Governments should set ambitious, measurable poverty-reduction targets, publish regular progress reports and adjust policies when the evidence shows they are not working. They should assess major budget decisions against their contribution to reducing poverty and work across jurisdictions to ensure income supports, housing and essential services are adequate.

The National Advisory Council has provided a clear warning and a practical set of recommendations. The real test now is whether governments will act on them.

A poverty strategy is measured not by how many programs a government announces. It is whether, year after year, fewer people experience poverty and everyone has a genuine opportunity to live with security and dignity.

Sid Frankel is a senior scholar in the faculty of social work at the University of Manitoba and Molly McCracken is the Manitoba director at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.