Poverty reduction policies and programs in British Columbia : Contemporary and historical perspectives on poverty reduction policies and programs in British Columbia

Commissioned by the Canadian Council on Social Development ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to thank Robyn Newton and Rebecca Siggner of the Social Planning and Research Council of BC (SPARC BC) for their research assistance and advice in the development of this report. [...] The goal of this report is to examine key aspects of poverty and low income in British Columbia and the policy and programs designed to reduce and mitigate the impact of poverty. [...] And unlike other parts of the country, the economy in British Columbia experienced a fairly severe downturn in the early 2000s, linked to the Asian financial crisis and negative impacts of the softwood lumber dispute with the United States. [...] Overview In Canada, the percentage of the population living in poverty was slightly lower in 2006 compared to 1980; in British Columbia, the trend has been in the opposite direction. [...] Total payments received over the year would allow a reference family of two adults and two children (aged seven and three) to meet approximately three- quarters of some measure of low-income – 74.6% of the after-tax LICO and 77.7% of the MBM.5 Metro Vancouver ranks near the bottom for GAR-receiving cities in Canada in terms of the adequacy of its support payments.