Skip to content
fst campaign icons economic stability

Income and Material Security

1 no poverty
2 zero hunger
8 decent work and economic growth
10 reduced inequalities
11 sustainable cities and communities

Incomes reflect the cost of living. People have the ability to pay all their bills, meet all their basic needs, avoid living paycheque to paycheque, and are able to thrive.

“Everybody in this room doesn’t even have a savings account. It doesn’t exist for people in poverty. It does not exist. Because we live from month to month, check to check, and we have for all our lives.” -Whitehorse, YK

“I for sure can’t live one month off of that. Not at these prices in the Yukon. And yet though, how is that possible, if you’re on disability that you are less than.” -Whitehorse, YK

“I just find it hard to live. People on social assistance find it hard to live.” -Whitehorse, YK

“The government does not understand why rural communities such as ours are struggling. Well, the prices of our groceries, our necessities, our gasoline, our diesel, our house fuel, our electricity are way more expensive than any others.” -Carcross, YK

“You can’t live off what they give you. You never could. You’re taking from one bill to pay another.” -Halifax, NS

“I am technically not in low income. So I can’t get dental for myself, my son. I can’t access any of the communal supports. But my housing, because they don’t have a rental cap in this province, is eating up 65 percent of my income.” -Calgary, AB

“A community where people from all walks of life have a decent home, food and well-paying jobs to sustain themselves.” -Toronto, ON

MeasureIndicatorData Source
Being able to meet your basic needsCensus Family Low Income Measure After Tax;
Percentage of persons living in households by level of difficulty in meeting their financial needs in terms of transportation, housing, food, clothing, and other necessary expenses; Proportion of individuals who have access to the Internet at home
Statistics Canada, T1 Family File; Canada Quality of Life Framework, Canadian Social Survey Table 45-10-0086-01 and Canadian Housing Survey Table 43-10-0058-01; Canadian Internet Use Survey  Table 22-10-0134-01
Being able to pay all your billsPercentage of Canadians struggling to make bill payments or manage cash flow over the past 12 monthsStatistics Canada, Canadian Financial Capability Survey
Income and benefits reflect the cost of living and increase with inflationCommunity Living Wage; Proxy: Adequacy of welfare incomes (compared to poverty measures);
Consumer Price Index compared to minimum wage, social assistance, pensions, and other benefits
Canadian Living Wage Framework; Maytree Welfare in Canada
Freedom from worry about money and feeling the trauma of povertyPerceived impact of economic conditions on mental healthMental Health Research Canada
Cost of living is equitable across the countryConsumer Price IndexStatistics Canada Consumer Prince Index Portal
Freedom from living paycheque to paychequeProportion of individuals in households who have enough savings to maintain well-being for three months (Asset resilience)Canadian Indicator Framework and Canada Quality of Life Framework, Survey of Financial Security Table 11-10-0082-01, CIF 1.2.1
Freedom from debtPercentage of Canadians who have some type of outstanding debtStatistics Canada, Canadian Financial Capability Survey
Being able to save moneyProxy: Percentage of Canadians who have monthly spending that exceeds their incomeStatistics Canada, Canadian Financial Capability Survey
Having disposable incomeProxy: Percentage of Canadians who have monthly spending that exceeds their incomeStatistics Canada, Canadian Financial Capability Survey
Your survival is not tied to income and neither are tied to workRecommendation: Percentage of people who feel like they don’t have to make money or work to surviveGap
Proxy: existing indicator and data source partially fulfill the measure.
Recommendation: existing indicator and data source partially fulfill the measure.
Gap: gap for data source where it does not exist.
Magenta: existing indicator in Canadian Indicator Framework