Introduction
PROJECT
From 2021-2024, Campaign 2000, Citizens for Public Justice and Canada Without Poverty co-led a national community-based research project that engaged communities experiencing poverty to recommend indicators measuring progress towards eradicating poverty and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This project, Localizing Canada’s Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals,builds on Campaign 2000’s ongoing monitoring of government progress towards ending child and family poverty, aiming to address the limitations of the Canadian Indicator Framework for tracking progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 1: No Poverty.
Through the project, the research team held 17 community conversations with 227 people affected by poverty and intersecting forms of marginalization in every province and territory. The project website hosts summaries of each community conversation.
This local framework is based on the knowledge and experiences shared by participants in the Carcross community conversation, co-hosted by Carcross-Tagish First Nation and Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition on October 21, 2022.
FINDINGS
Measurement of progress towards poverty eradication in Canada should reflect the lived realities of people experiencing poverty. The indicators used in the Canadian Indicator Framework for measuring progress towards SDG 1: No Poverty are the Market Basket Measure (MBM) and the prevalence of asset resilience.[i] Campaign 2000 report cards and early research from this project highlighted the limitations of these two indicators to track progress towards SDG 1.[ii] [iii]
The project set out to address these gaps with an emphasis on localizing measures of poverty reduction and centring the knowledge and experience of lived experts. Local visions of communities free from poverty emerged. The frameworks drawn from this research reflect participants’ subjective, multidimensional experience of poverty, which is wide-ranging, affects every aspect of life, and differs place to place and community to community. The frameworks also reflect poverty as a violation of human rights resulting in short- and long- term physical, mental, spiritual, and social harm.
These findings highlight the importance of community-based, culturally relevant, localized measures and indicators for ending poverty and the need to urgently recognize and address the systemic intersecting power structures that create and deepen inequities and experiences of poverty.
In addition to the 17 local frameworks, the findings are illustrated in a National Community-Based Indicator Framework, intended to supplement the Canadian Indicator Framework. It outlines dimensions, measures, indicators, and data sources for poverty eradication (including recommendations and gaps, where no indicators exist) that reflect the knowledge and experiences of lived experts and community organizations across the country.
While the findings depict a broad range of expertise from across the country, they remain a snapshot of 227 people, in 17 places, at one moment in time, and further engagement and community-based research is required to continue to centre lived experts in the work of poverty eradication and achieving the 2030 Agenda.
UNDERSTANDING THE FRAMEWORK
The entire framework falls under Sustainable Development Goal 1: End Poverty in All its Forms Everywhere.
The framework is organized by 12 interdependent dimensions of communities with no poverty. These dimensions are interconnected and non-hierarchical – all connect and contribute to the multifaceted way that people experience poverty in Canada. Many of the indicators could fall under multiple dimensions, but for the sake of length, they are each only shown under one.
Dimensions:
- Social inclusion and community connection
- Equality, justice, and freedom
- Joy, happiness, and hope for the future
- Income and material security
- Decent work
- Education for all
- Right to housing is realized
- Food security and sovereignty
- Health and mental health
- Equitable access to services, programs, and supports
- Connected and supported families and children
- Accountable and engaged governments and institutions
In each dimension, measures refer to qualities of communities with no poverty.
Indicators are statistical definitions of the measures.
As living documents, the local frameworks offer Example Indicators and Data Sources. The local frameworks are intended to complement the National Framework, highlight local priorities, and demonstrate opportunities for continued work in localizing measurement towards ending poverty in Canada. They are accompanied by living action recommendation documents.
Social inclusion and community connection
Community members feel valued and connected, have opportunities to participate in society and culture, care for and support each other, and live in harmony.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Communities are connected | Example: Percentage of people who report a strong or very strong sense of belonging to their community | Government of Yukon and Canadian Index of Well-being |
| Freedom from isolation | Example: Percentage of people who report feeling socially isolated | Government of Yukon and Canadian Index of Well-being |
| Community members share with each other | ||
| Having trust in your community | ||
| Having someone to support you | ||
| Feeling like you can ask someone for help | ||
| Feeling like you have a safe place to go when you’re struggling | ||
| Neighbours are friendly and support each other | ||
| Being able to visit family | ||
| Elders are supported and connected | ||
| Elders have designated gathering space and time | ||
| Young people care for elders | ||
| Youth have access to recreation opportunities |
Equality, justice, and freedom
Everyone’s human rights are upheld. Communities are free from systemic inequality and injustice, discrimination, oppression, violence, and trauma, and the harms of colonization.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Freedom from intergenerational trauma | ||
| Freedom from the harms of colonization and residential schools | ||
| Treaties are upheld | ||
| Freedom from lateral violence | ||
| Meaningful action towards truth and reconciliation is implemented | ||
| Freedom from racism | ||
| Freedom from stigma | ||
| Nobody is blamed for experiencing poverty | ||
| Wealth is distributed equally | ||
| Freedom from drug trafficking | ||
| People who have been incarcerated are free from discrimination | ||
| People who have been incarcerated are supported and can reintegrate into communities with ease | ||
| Refugees are treated equitably and welcomed regardless of race | ||
| Freedom from continued cycles of family separation and trauma | ||
| Children in Carcross have equitable opportunities compared to children elsewhere | ||
| Elders are supported and cared for |
Joy, happiness and hope for the future
Everyone is able to be happy, feel ease, and have the time and freedom to enjoy life. People have hope, can imagine the future, and don’t feel trapped in cycles of poverty and isolation.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Having hope for future generations | ||
| Having hope for your own life and future | ||
| Feeling happy | ||
| Freedom from suffering | ||
| Freedom from witnessing the suffering of others | ||
| Freedom from fear | ||
| Feeling connected to the beauty of the land | ||
| Having beautiful scenery and land to live on | ||
| Being able to look at the mountains | ||
| Having access to an escape in nature | ||
| Being able to be mindful |
Income and material security
Incomes reflect the cost of living. People have the ability to pay all their bills, meet all their basic needs, have some flexibility to not live paycheque to paycheque, and are able to thrive.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Everyone can afford their basic needs | ||
| Everyone can pay all their bills | ||
| Being able to buy cleaning products and home supplies | ||
| Being able to afford furniture | ||
| Everyone has access to clothing and laundry | ||
| Freedom from fear of having no money | ||
| Freedom from trauma of living without enough money | ||
| Freedom from living paycheque to paycheque | ||
| Freedom from a scarcity mindset | ||
| Having disposable income regularly | ||
| The cost of living in rural communities is equitable compared to the rest of the country |
Decent work
People can work in jobs with a living wage, safe work conditions, opportunities for growth, and job training. Work is fulfilling and allows people to use their skills.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Employment opportunities are low-barrier and supportive of people experiencing poverty | ||
| Equitable access to job opportunities for people exiting incarceration | ||
| People have access to a shower and clean clothes for a job interview |
Education for all
Everyone has equitable access to affordable, quality education, training, and learning supports.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Children in Carcross have equitable opportunities for good quality education compared to children elsewhere | ||
| First Nations children’s access to education does not reinforce cycles of family separation and trauma | ||
| Children and youth can go to school in their own communities | ||
| Children with different learning styles and abilities are supported in school | ||
| First Nations children and youth have access to First Nations schooling |
Right to housing is realized
Everyone has a home. There is adequate, affordable secure housing for all, free from discrimination, and reflecting the needs of communities and neighbourhoods.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Everyone has a home | ||
| Housing is in good repair, with running water, sanitation, heat, and electricity | Example: Percentage of Yukoners in core housing need | Statistics Canada Census Data |
| Housing is located in convenient areas | ||
| Housing supply reflects needs of existing communities | ||
| First Nations families have access to affordable housing that supports their family size | ||
| Elders have culturally appropriate seniors’ residences | ||
| Elders have access to culturally appropriate home care | ||
| Nobody lives in hotels | ||
| Families have access to emergency shelters | ||
| People who are in recovery have access to substance-free shelters | ||
| Men have access to emergency shelters | ||
| People exiting incarceration have access to transitional housing |
Food sovereignty and security
Everyone has access to nutritious, affordable, culturally appropriate food; the ability to hunt, harvest, grow, and share food according to cultural values; and the freedom to choose what they want to eat.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Being able to live off the land | ||
| Everyone has enough to eat | ||
| Everyone can afford food | ||
| The cost of food is equitable compared to other regions in the country | ||
| Freedom from fear of having nothing to eat | ||
| Elders have a designated space and time to gather for meals together |
Health and mental health
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Everyone is healthy | ||
| Everyone is mentally healthy | ||
| Ambulances come right away when you call | ||
| Everyone has access to mental health care | ||
| Everyone has access to a bathroom and shower | ||
| Elders have access to culturally appropriate and supportive health care | ||
| Access to education about prescription drugs | ||
| Freedom from overdose and toxic drug deaths | ||
| Everyone has access to harm reduction and safe injection sites | ||
| Access to substance-free services for people who are in recovery | ||
| Having access to follow-up mental health support in your community after treatment | ||
| Freedom from addiction |
Equitable access to services, programs, and supports
Services and supports are accessible and coordinated, with no arbitrary bureaucratic barriers or discrimination. Community organizations are resourced and are by communities, for communities.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Knowing where to reach out when you need help | ||
| Services and programs are well-communicated in communities | ||
| Services and supports are accessible to all | ||
| First Nations-led services and programs are resourced and supported | ||
| Service providers and community leaders offer safe and supportive spaces for community members | ||
| Everyone has access to transportation |
Connected and supported families and children
Families are supported to stay together and spend time together. The child welfare system is equitable, trauma-informed, and reflects needs of children and families. Everyone has access to affordable childcare.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Family members care for each other | ||
| Children grow up with their families | ||
| First Nations children are connected to their families and communities | ||
| Youth and elders are connected and value each other | ||
| Adults see youth thriving | ||
| Children go to school in their own community while living at home | ||
| Children are free from separation anxiety | ||
| Everyone has access to affordable childcare | ||
| First Nations families have access to childcare by and for local First Nations | ||
| Childcare options are well-staffed and resourced | ||
| Freedom from discrimination against First Nations families in the child welfare system | ||
| Feeling supported to keep your child | ||
| Freedom from worry about neighbours reporting you to child welfare | ||
| Seeing meaningful action to address the lasting harms of historic child apprehension from First Nations families | ||
| First Nations children remain with family or community members if they must be apprehended from parents |
Accountable and engaged governments and institutions
Governments are accountable to communities. Policy-making is community-engaged, trauma-informed, responsive, and based on local needs and values.
| Measure | Indicator | Data Source |
| Treaties are upheld | ||
| Governments are taking meaningful, First Nations-led action towards truth and reconciliation | ||
| Having trust in governments | ||
| Freedom from frustration and anger at governments | ||
| Governments are accountable to their people | ||
| Government promises are backed up by action and investment | ||
| First Nations governments are accountable to their community members and not replicating colonial power structures | ||
| Politicians and government leaders are paid equitably compared to the average person | ||
| Community members have an impact on policy decisions |
[i] Statistics Canada. (2021). The Canadian Indicator Framework for the Sustainable Development Goals. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-26-0004/112600042021001-eng.htm
[ii] Campaign 2000. Pandemic Lessons: Ending Child and Family Poverty is Possible. February 14, 2023. https://campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/English-Pandemic-Lessons_Ending-Child-and-Family-Poverty-is-Possible_2022-National-Report-Card-on-Child-and-Family-Poverty.pdf
[iii] Barrie, H., & Sarangi, L. (2022). Literature Review: Localizing Canada’s Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty. https://sdg.campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/Campaign-2000-Localizing-SDGs-Project-Literature-Review-May-2022.pdf