On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the non-profit group Citizens for Justice released today its report “The burden of poverty”. The latest annual Poverty Trends Scorecard measures the unequal impact of poverty on some groups, such as new immigrants, families led by single mothers, unattached adults, youth and Aboriginal people. Using data from Statistics Canada’s Low Income Measure (After-Tax) 2011 National Household Survey, the report provides a summary of poverty rates for each province and territory as well as 32 communities across Canada. Poverty rates for Ontario communities included in the study ranged between 9.6% (Ingersoll) and 18.3 (Windsor).
Report authors called for a federal plan to deal with the causes of poverty. The organization is one of the major partners in the ongoing non-partisan “Dignity For All” campaign created in 2009 to end poverty in Canada.