A recent report from the National Advisory Council on Poverty says Canada has met its target for reducing poverty 10 years earlier than scheduled, but more work needs to be done to ensure the reduction isn't temporary, such as expanding programs like St. Albert Further Education.
The nine-member independent advisory council was formed in 2018 as part of the federal government's first poverty reduction strategy. The council provides an annual report that tracks the strategy's progress and makes recommendations. It released its 2022 report, third overall, on Oct. 17.
Many of the council's recommendations in the 2022 report are identical or similar to previous reports.
"Despite progress in a number of areas where the council has made recommendations, areas remain where we recommend the Government of Canada act to meet poverty reduction targets more broadly, but also to create a more equitable society," the report reads.
One repeated recommendation is to strengthen benefit programs for housing, health, food security, employment, and skills training, something that is "badly needed," according to Cheryl Dumont, the executive director of St. Albert Further Education.
“You need learning places for people, and you need accessibility,” Dumont said. She added Further Education's decision to open a location in St. Albert Centre last summer was to make classes more accessible for residents.
Since 1973, St. Albert Further Education has provided low-cost or free adult learning opportunities. The organization currently provides classes and programs such as tutoring, financial literacy, computer skills, and personalized help for individuals trying to obtain General Education Development (GED) certification, which is equivalent to a high school diploma.
Dumont said Further Education's process for developing programming is generally based on demand, as well as provincial and national employment needs. For example, one of the newest programs helps newcomers to Canada with nursing training or experience gain accreditation to continue their careers in Alberta.
Three people are currently signed up for the first offering of the program, which Dumont said is considered a pilot.
Instead of receiving increased funding or support like the advisory council recommends for groups like St. Albert Further Education, the organization might lose a grant it receives from the City of St. Albert, as city council will decide in the upcoming 2023 budget deliberations whether to cancel the community capital transfer, which provided $30,303 to Further Education in 2022.
As the community capital transfer is just one grant that allows Further Education to operate, the organization is "working extra hard to earn income to be able to put on these programs," Dumont said.
The Gazette asked for an interview with Suzan Kreczy, executive director of St. Albert's Food Bank, but she was unavailable. Until recently, Kreczy was also a board member for Food Banks of Alberta, which participated in an engagement session with the advisory council as part of the development of its 2022 report.
Other repeated recommendations include increasing the incidence of automatic tax filing for low income Canadians; automatic enrolment in benefits and income assistance programs for those who qualify but haven't applied; and urgent implementation of the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The Canadian government is not required to act on any of the council's recommendations. All three reports to date can be read on the Government of Canada's website.
The numbers
Using the most up to date (2020) data available from the Canadian Income Survey, the report states Canada's official poverty rate, which stood at 14.5 per cent of the total population in 2015, fell to 6.4 per cent in 2020. The data shows Canada reached its goal of reducing poverty by 50 per cent 10 years earlier than planned, the report says.
However, the advisory council attributes the sharp decline in overall poverty to temporary support and benefit programs which became available during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit.
"Inequities in poverty reduction continue and meeting poverty reduction targets does not mean that poverty reduction will be maintained," the report reads.
"As governments move to phase out emergency supports, some groups will face renewed precarity. New pressures such as the longer-term impacts of the pandemic, growing income and social inequality and issues of affordability may also impact poverty rates in the years to come."
Because of the apparent success of reducing poverty through temporary pandemic supports and benefits, the advisory council wrote "the pandemic provided us with a real world, large-scale pilot project of what a more substantial and inclusive social safety net could look like."
"Effective and equitable poverty reduction will require a whole-of-society commitment to rebuild and maintain systems that leave no one behind."
