Low income cut-offs (LICOs) before and after tax by community size and family size, in current dollars, annual.

In 2022, 9.9 percent of all Canadians were living in low income. Between 2000 and 2022, the percentage of population with low income experienced a decrease, reaching the lowest value in 2020. The highest share of Canadians with low income was recorded in 2015, with 14.5 percent of the total population.

Low Income Measures

The low income measures (LIMs) were developed by Statistics Canada in the 1990s. They, along with the low income cut-offs (LICOs) and the market basket measure (MBM), were created in order to measure and track the low income population of Canada. With low income measures, individuals are classified as being in low income if their income falls below fifty percent of the median adjusted household income. The median income is adjusted in order to reflect the differing financial needs of households based on the number of its members. The low income measures are a useful tool to compare low income populations between countries as they do not rely on an arbitrary standard of what constitutes the threshold for poverty. Statistics Canada insists that the low income measures are not meant to be representative of a poverty rate. The department has no measure which they define as a measurement of poverty in Canada. Latest data and trends In 2022, around 2.1 million people were living in low income families in Canada. This figure has been fluctuating over the years, both in absolute numbers and in proportion over the total population. More women than men were living in low income families in 2022, though the number of men in low income has risen at twice the rate as that of women. One of the more drastic changes has been the rise in the number of single individuals living in low income, increasing by more than 60 percent since 2000.

Number of persons in low income, low income rate and average gap ratio by age, sex and economic family type, annual.

Families of tax filers; Before-tax and after-tax low income status (based on census family low income measures, LIM) by family type and family composition (final T1 Family File; T1FF).

Individuals; After-tax low income status of tax filers and dependants based on Census Family Low Income Measure (CFLIM-AT), by family type and family type composition (final T1 Family File; T1FF).

Persons in low income families by low income lines (number, percentage and gap ratio).

Low income measures by household size and income source, Canada

Individual low-income status for census family characteristics (in couple, with and without children, one-parent families) by low-income measure (before and after tax) and age.

This table contains statistics that describe the duration of low income spells experienced by Canadian taxfilers in an eight-year period. A low income spell refers to a period in which a person stays in low income. It can last one year or several years consecutively. The length of the spell is referred to as its duration and is measured in years. The low income measure (LIM) is used to identify low income taxfilers. The LIM threshold is calculated as half of the median of the adjusted family after-tax income of all taxfilers and their family members. This table uses two different types of LIM: the variable LIM is based on the median total income re-calculated each year, while the fixed LIM is based on the median total income in 2002 adjusted yearly by the all-items Consumer Price Index.

Individual low-income status for economic family characteristics (in couple, with and without children, one-parent families) by low-income measure (before and after tax).

Families of tax filers; After-tax low income status of census families based on Census Family Low Income Measure (CFLIM-AT), by family type and family composition (final T1 Family File; T1FF).

Income data has been used extensively by researchers to better understand the economic well-being of Canadians. To meet the needs of these users, Statistics Canada has produced numerous cross-sectional public use microdata files (PUMFs). PUMFs for the Survey of Consumer Finance (SCF) were released until reference year 1997. With the end of the SCF, PUMFs for the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) were produced for reference years 1996 to 2011. The Canadian Income Survey (CIS) was introduced for the 2012 reference year. The CIS is a crosssectional survey developed to provide information on the income and income sources of Canadians, with their individual and household characteristics. It is a short questionnaire which is asked of a subsample of respondents to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), gathering information on labour market activity, school attendance, support payments, child care expenses, inter-household transfers, personal income, food security and characteristics and costs of housing. The CIS content is supplemented with information from the LFS on individual and household characteristics (e.g. age, educational attainment, main job characteristics, and family type) and with tax data for income and income sources (Statistics Canada, 2019). The CIS PUMF is an anonymized microdata file that contains only a subset of variables that are available on the CIS master file. Various techniques have been employed to protect CIS respondents against the risk of disclosure.

Low income measure (LIM) thresholds by household size for market income, total income and after-tax income, in current and constant dollars, annual.

Individual low-income status for economic family characteristics (in couple, with and without children, one-parent families) by low-income measure (before and after tax).

Characteristics of persons in low income families by low income lines.

Household low-income status using low-income measures (before and after tax) by household type (multigenerational, couple, lone parent, with and without children), age of members, number of earners, and year.

Low income cut-offs (LICOs) before and after tax by community and family size in current dollars

The cross-sectional public-use microdata file for the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID) is a collection of income, labour and family variables on persons in Canada and their families. SLID is an annual household survey covering the population of the 10 Canadian provinces with the exception of Indian reserves, residents of institutions and military barracks. The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics began collecting data for reference year 1993. Initially, SLID was designed to be, first and foremost, a longitudinal survey, with primary focus on labour and income and the relationships between them and family composition. Then, the decision was made to extend the objectives of SLID to be the primary source of cross-sectional household income data. For many years, the Survey of Consumer Finances had provided public-use microdata files (PUMFs) to meet the needs of cross-sectional household income data users. SCF PUMFs were released up to and including reference year 1997. For the purpose of standard publications, Statistics Canada has made the transition from SCF to SLID between 1995 and 1996. Therefore, SLID cross-sectional PUMFs are being made available beginning with reference year 1996. The SLID files have been designed to be analogous to those produced for the SCF. The type of income data collected by SLID was identical to that of the former household income survey SCF (Survey of Consumer Finances), with the distinction that SLID respondents had the choice of a traditional income interview or granting permission to Statistics Canada to use their T1 income tax data.

This table provides information on the number of years in low income over an eight-year period among Canadian taxfilers. The years in low-income may or may not be adjacent to each other. The low income measure (LIM) is used to identify low income taxfilers. The LIM threshold is calculated as half of the median of the adjusted family after-tax income of all taxfilers and their family members. This table uses two different types of LIM: the variable LIM is based on the median total income re-calculated each year, while the fixed LIM is based on the median total income in 2002 adjusted yearly by the all-items Consumer Price Index.

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is conducted annually to obtain work experience and income information from Canadian households. The Survey provides up-to-date information on the distribution and sources of income, before and after taxes, for families and individuals. With this file, users may identify specific family types, such as two-parent and lone-parent families. Information is also provided on earnings, transfers, and total income for the head and the spouse of the census family unit, as well as personal and labour-related characteristics. The reference year for this file is 1979. Commencing with the 1998 microdata files, annual cross-sectional income data will be sourced from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID).