Maytree published the policy brief, Beyond snapshots: The patterns of long-term poverty in Canada. The brief draws on a Statistics Canada analysis that tracked tax filers from 2016 to 2022 and examines who is most likely to experience persistent low income over time, who exits and re-enters low income, and what that means for better-targeted poverty reduction policy in Canada.
Key findings and recommendations:
- Poverty in Canada is not one experience. For many people, poverty is temporary, but for others it is persistent, shaped by long-term structural barriers rather than short-term income shocks. People most likely to face persistent low income are disproportionately women, lone parents, Indigenous people, racialized people, recent immigrants, people with activity limitations, people without a high school diploma, and those in unstable or low-wage work.
- Annual poverty rates only tell part of the story. Policymakers need longitudinal evidence to understand who falls into poverty, who exits, who returns, and which groups remain stuck over time; that is the information needed to design more effective anti-poverty policy.
- Persistent poverty is not random. Year-over-year exit and re-entry patterns help explain why some groups remain overrepresented in long-term poverty, while for racialized people, the problem is more rooted in a larger share starting out in low income in the first place.
- Employment alone is not enough protection. Being employed does not reliably prevent people from returning to low income, reinforcing the reality of precarious and low-wage work in Canada.
- Canada needs better data and more tailored policy responses. Persistent poverty requires interventions that reflect different experiences and barriers, rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
For further insights and to download the report, click here.
