Child poverty in Canada

Child poverty in Canada declined since 2015, with the number of children who were living in poverty decreasing 71% by 2020.^[1]

In 1989, with a million children living in poverty in Canada, members of parliament voted unanimously to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000.^[2] By 2013, the rate child poverty in Canada was higher than it was in 1989, and was approaching the poverty rates of the mid-1970s in spite of the growth of Canada's economy between 1981 and 2010.^[2]

As of 2018, the rate of child poverty in Canada was close to the average of other OECD member nations.^[3]: 8

Child poverty has a disproportionately high effect on Indigenous households in Canada.^[4] According to a 2019 study by researchers at the Assembly of First Nations and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), nearly 50% of Indigenous children in Canada—both on and off reserve—were living in poverty.^[4] In 2020, 4.7% of children under 18 were living in poverty, which was a significant decrease from the 9.7% child poverty rate in 2019.^[5] Other groups that are at a higher risk of experiencing poverty include children living in single-parent households and recent immigrants.