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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 Ottawa community conversation, co-hosted by Inuuqatigiit Centre for Inuit Children, Youth, and Families on November 2, 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:

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.

fst campaign icons harmony and connection

fst campaign icons harmony and connectionSocial 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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Having a sense of community togetherness  
Having love for your community  
Having a connection to your neighbourhood  
Community members share with each other  
Community members care about each other  
Community members share country food  
Living in harmony with others  
Having a sense of identity  
Being connected to Inuit cultureExample proxy indicator: Involvement in community and activity in (First Nations/Métis/Inuit/Aboriginal) organizations, social events or cultural activitiesStatistics Canada Indigenous Peoples Survey
Having Inuit traditional knowledge and values  
Ability to pass down knowledge and values to the next generation  
Youth are connected to elders  
Being able to speak your languageExample: Percentage of Inuit adults in Ottawa who speak InuktitutOur Health Counts: Urban Indigenous Health Database Project
Communities have gatherings, dances, and feasts  
Having a connection to spirituality  
Having a sense of humour  
Sharing stories with your community  
Communities use traditional Inuit approaches to community challenges  
Having the time to grieve  

fst campaign icons social justice

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Inuit human rights are supported and upheld  
Experiencing meaningful reparation for the harms and violence of colonization  
Inuit resistance to colonization is celebrated  
Inuit strength and resilience is valued  
Culturally appropriate healing practices are valued and supported  
Freedom from intergenerational trauma  
Freedom from the harms of residential schools  
Freedom from racist stereotypes of Indigenous people  
Freedom from systemic racism  
Being able to shop in a store without being followed  
Freedom from violence  
Freedom from gender-based violence, domestic violence, and abusive relationships  
Freedom from sexual assault and rape  
Freedom from lateral violence  
People who abuse or harm others are held accountable  
Men and women share household labour  
Freedom from judgment about where you live  
Freedom from wealth and income inequality  
fst campaign icons hope for the future

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Being able to laugh  
People play games  
Having love for yourself  
Having confidence in yourself  
Feeling like you can continue  
Looking forward to getting up in the morning  
Feeling emotionally and spiritually well  
Freedom from struggling  
Ability to be positive  
Having ease in your days  
Being able to plan for the future  
fst campaign icons economic stability

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Everyone’s basic needs are met  
Everyone has enough money to thrive  
Being able to envision and plan long-term  
Ability to pay all your bills at once  
Freedom from just trying to survive  
Income is not affected by racism  
Freedom from discrimination in the social assistance system  
Parents, including single mothers, have enough money to support children without sacrifice  
Freedom from debt  
Having the resources to provide for future generations  
Having disposable income  
Children can have birthday gifts  
fst campaign icons work fulfillment

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Equitable access to job opportunities  
Access to low-barrier job opportunities without arbitrary eligibility requirements  
Jobs offer accommodations and flexibility as needed  
Not having to choose between work and parenting  
fst campaign icons equal education

Education for all

Everyone has equitable access to affordable, quality education, training, and learning supports.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Everyone has access to good quality education  
Access to adult high school and post-secondary education with childcare  
Schools have before and after school programs for children  
Being able and supported to finish high school  
Families have support with school drop-off and pick-up  
Having the opportunity to go to post-secondary school  
fst campaign icons community housing

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Everyone has a home  
Children have stable and secure housing with family members  
New housing meets the needs of existing community members  
Single mothers with children have immediate access to housing  
Ability to stay in the neighbourhood you grew up in  
Inuit are free from housing discrimination  
Rent is affordable relative to income  
Everyone has access to affordable housing  
Freedom from gentrification  
Access to an Inuit family shelter with supports and resources  
Northern communities have family shelters  
Single mothers with children have access to emergency shelters  
fst campaign icons secure nutrition

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Inuit have food sovereignty  
Every child has enough to eat  
Communities share food, especially country food  
Having confidence that you will have your next meal  
Being able to eat three meals per day  
Single mothers have access to nutritious food  
fst campaign icons healthcare access

Health and mental health

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Feeling physically, emotionally, and spiritually wellExample: Forthcoming indicators and data from The Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey 
Everyone is mentally healthy  
Everyone has access to health care  
Everyone has access to pharmacare  
Access to free, trauma-informed, culturally relevant counselling and mental health care by Inuit, for Inuit  
Access to treatment for addiction and substance use  
Freedom from suicide  
Freedom from the negative mental and physical health impacts of suicide in your community  
Freedom from addiction  
Freedom from systemic racism in the health care system  
Freedom from discrimination and misdiagnosis in the health care system  
Being able to go to the hospital without mental preparation for self-advocacy  
Northern communities have equitable access to health care  
Being able to sleep well  
Having enough nutritious food to stay healthy  
fst campaign icons service accessibility

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Inuit do not need to leave their home community to access services, programs, or supports  
Feeling like you know where to go for help  
Inuit-led organizations and service providers are well-funded and supported  
Services and supports are well-coordinated  
Services and programs are well-communicated  
No wait time for services and supports  
Having accessible opportunities to get or replace identification  
Inuit required to leave their community to access services are supported with all other aspects of life, such as housing  
Freedom from racism in service provision  
fst campaign icons family time

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. 

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Parents and children are connected and spend time together  
Being able to learn how to parent well  
Everyone has access to affordable childcare  
Having access to childcare by Inuit, for Inuit  
Schools offer before and after school childcare  
Freedom from domestic and family violence  
Families are supported to stay together  
Freedom from discrimination against Inuit families from the child welfare system  
Seeing meaningful action to address the lasting harms of child apprehension and family separation via residential schools  
Being able to stay in your home community with your children  
Parents not living with children pay child support  
Parents struggling with housing are supported with housing, rather than their children being apprehended  
Parents are not separated from their children due to financial difficulty  
Child welfare workers support a family’s healing rather than apprehending children  
fst campaign icons government accountability

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.

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Governments are anti-racist and address discrimination against Inuit  
Governments are accountable to communities  
Feeling like the government will listen to your perspective  
Inuit are in positions of leadership  
Meaningful reparation for the harms and violence of colonization  

[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