News and Events

Let’s get poverty on the agenda! Election updates and resources.

The federal election is just over a week away and it comes amidst a trade war that is hurting low-income individuals and families the most.

In March, Campaign 2000 released a statement calling for the federal government to put people living in poverty at the centre of their response to the trade war. But federal parties have largely remained silent on the issue. National Director of Campaign 2000, Leila Sarangi, spoke to Global News yesterday about the lack of attention to people living in poverty during the 2025 federal election campaign.

Watch the segment on Global News.

Let’s get poverty on the agenda. We’ve compiled a list of open letters, campaigns, and election resources to support your advocacy.

Open Letters & Statements

Campaign 2000 has also signed on to the following open letters and statements:

Campaigns

  • Demand Better. A coalition of feminist organizations, including Campaign 2000, launched the Demand Better campaign to call for strong investments in public systems and policies to create an economy that benefits everyone. https://demandbettertoday.ca/
  • Vote For Rights. Amnesty International Canada, Oxfam Canada, the National Right to Housing Network, among others, launched the Vote for Rights campaign to call on the next federal government to have justice, dignity, and equality as its foundational principles: https://amnesty.ca/vote-for-rights/
  • Stand on Guard for Child Care. Child Care Now launched a campaign for the next federal government to extend and defend $10 a day child care: https://childcarenow.ca/stand-on-guard-for-child-care/
  • No More Scraps. Community Food Centres Canada launched a campaign for the next federal government to address food insecurity and protect the right to food: https://www.foodsecuritynow.ca/

Resources

Please share widely! For information on the election process and how to cast your ballot, visit the Elections Canada website.

People living in poverty must be central to federal response amidst a tariff war

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

People living in poverty must be central to federal response amidst a tariff war

Winnipeg, Manitoba – Anti-poverty advocates convene in Winnipeg, where some of the highest rates of poverty in Canada are found, amid tariff wars and an impending federal election, to discuss the effects of the current political climate on low income individuals and families. 

“We don’t know the full effects of the trade war on the economy or on people in our communities.  But what we do know is that poverty has been on the rise in Canada since the pandemic.  Our current social infrastructure is unable to support those who are already living in poverty,” said Leila Sarangi, National Director of Campaign 2000.  “With mass job losses on the horizon, and tariffs compounding the current affordability crisis, we expect more people to fall into poverty, which will increase demand for community programs and resources such as rent supplements, food banks, Employment Insurance, social assistance and mental health counselling supports.”

Campaign 2000, a pan-Canadian coalition of over 120 organizations working to end child and family poverty, found historic increases in poverty from 2020 to 2022, with more than 1.5 million people falling into poverty in those two years alone.  6.5 million people now live in poverty, according to taxfiler data, including 830,000 families with children.  Poverty in Canada is disproportionately experienced by groups who are marginalized, and it is concerning that the new federal cabinet, intending to signal a renewed focus on the economy, eliminates dedicated ministers responsible for social development, children and youth, women and gender, disabilities, seniors, diversity and inclusion, all of which are essential to a productive and dynamic economy.

“Today’s convening comes at a pivotal time in the movement to end poverty,” added Sarangi. “The coalition is united in the call to strengthen our communities, particularly in a time of crisis.”

You are invited to join the conversation, hosted by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg with anti-poverty advocates, policy experts and community organizers who will provide perspectives on the current political climate and how it will impact on low income individuals and families. 

WHAT: Fireside Chat (50 mins)

WHO: Hosted by Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and Campaign 2000

  • Moderator: Richard Cloutier, Host 680 CJOB
  • Michael Redhead Champagne, Helper, Author, Speaker, Host
  • Marie Christian, National Advisory Council on Poverty
  • Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada

WHEN: Friday March 21, 2025, 6:10pm

WHERE: Alt Hotel, 310 Donald St, Winnipeg, 8th Floor Banquet Hall

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Media contact: Leila Sarangi, National Director of Campaign 2000, [email protected], 647-393-109

Campaign 2000 is a coalition of organizations working to end child and family poverty.  Please visit www.campaign2000.ca for more information.

Download the press release

2024 Disability Report: Canada earns an F on addressing disability poverty

On December 3 – the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Disability Without Poverty and Campaign 2000 released the 2024 Disability Poverty Report Card, a critical evaluation of Canada’s failure to address disability poverty. Read the press release

This year’s report highlights the stark realities faced by over 1.5 million Canadians with disabilities, with poverty rates twice as high as those for the general population. Despite the recent passage of the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), the report finds that the federal government’s efforts fall drastically short.

Key findings include:

  • 16.8% of people with disabilities live in poverty.
  • Poverty rates for people with disabilities are twice as high as for those without disabilities.
  • People with disabilities would need an average of 30% more income to reach the poverty line.

The 2024 Disability Poverty Report card assigns Canada a failing grade for inadequate action and calls on all levels of government to strengthen the Canada Disability Benefit to ensure it can truly help reduce poverty for people with disabilities.

What can you do to make an impact?

  • Read and share the 2024 Disability Poverty Report Card and infographic with your networks.
  • Share key findings on social media – please tag @Disability_WP and @Campaign2000 and use the hashtag #DisabilityPovertyReportCard2024.
  • Write to your federal government representatives to urgently adopt the recommendations in this report.

Visit https://www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca/2024-disability-poverty-report-card/ to read more and take action today!

Ending child poverty: the time is now

It’s been 35 years since the federal government promised to uphold children’s rights by ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and eradicate child poverty by the year 2000 by passing a unanimous resolution in the House of Commons.

Campaign 2000 is commemorating this day with the release of their suite of national, provincial, territorial and Toronto child and family poverty report cards.

The national report card, Ending Child Poverty: The Time is Now found that in the last two years, Canada experienced record increases in the rates of child and family poverty, of nearly 5 percentage points total.  That means an additional 360,000 children fell into poverty – in total, nearly 1.4 million children were living in poverty in 2022 or roughly one in five children.

The jump in poverty rates in 2021 was the first increase in 10 years and the latest increase in 2022 was the largest on record, signaling a failure of the federal poverty reduction strategy to sustain progress made with the Canada Child Benefit and the temporary emergency pandemic benefits.  Across all family types, families were living in deeper poverty than they were in 2015, the year the federal poverty reduction strategy measures progress from.  Custom data shows that the Canada Child Benefit has lost its power to sustain poverty reduction and that income inequality among families with children is widening.

Available data continue to show that children from systemically marginalized groups experience significantly disproportionately high poverty rates resulting from historic and present colonialism, systemic racism, ableism and intersecting systemic inequities. 

Ending Child Poverty: The Time is Now is a call to action.  It includes 58 bold but achievable community-driven recommendations spanning social and economic equity, income security, decent work, housing, childcare, public health and more.  It is the last report card that will be released before the next federal election, and all federal parties have an opportunity to lay out their plan to stem the rise of poverty in our communities and in our families and work towards eradicating it once and for all.  It is possible, and the time is now.

Key Findings from the 2024 National Report Card:

  • Nearly 1.4 million children live in poverty in Canada, or roughly 1 in 5 children.
  • From 2021 to 2022, the child poverty rate rose by 2.5 percentage points, the largest annual increase in child poverty on record (+195,170 children).
  • Families are living in deeper poverty.  On average, family incomes fell $14, 276 below the low income measure, after tax in 2022 compared to $10,050 in 2015.
  • Child poverty increased in every province and territory.  The highest increase for children under 18 was in Nunavut (+6 percentage points) and among the provinces in Ontario (+3.5 percentage points).
  • More than 110,000 families with children fell into poverty in 2022.
  • Nearly all children (99%) under 18 years old who do not live in families live in poverty.
  • Nearly one in two children (45%) growing up in lone-parent families live in poverty.
  • The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) is losing effectiveness.  On average, it reduced child poverty by 8.8 percentage points annually.  In 2022, it reduced child poverty by 7.8 percentage points, the lowest reduction to date.
  • In 2019, the Minister of Disability inclusion was given a mandate to double the amount of the Child Disability Benefit.  To date, there has been no movement in this urgent area.
  • Poverty rates for First Nations, Inuit and Métis children remain significantly higher than rates for non-Indigenous children.  Ending poverty for First Nations, Inuit and Métis children and families depends on realizing their rights to their traditional lands, territories and resources. 
  • Racialized and immigrant children experience disproportionately high rates of child poverty due to systemic racism, discrimination and barriers to services and employment. 
  • There is wide income inequality among families with children.  The after-tax average income for families with children in the top 10% was 18 times higher than the average income of those in the bottom 10%.
  • Addressing intersectional and systemic discrimination with poverty reduction initiatives is essential to reducing the high poverty rates experienced by children from disproportionately marginalized groups.
  • New investments are needed, including broadening access to the CCB, creating a new End Child Poverty Supplement for those in low income, and ensuring adequacy of the CCB children’s disability benefit.
  • Establishment of a standard $0-$10 a day per family sliding scale fee model of childcare to enable access for families in poverty is needed. Canada’s universal childcare plan must include low income children.

Want to read more?

Click on the following links to read and download the 2024 report cards.

English National Report Card and Press Release
French National Report Card and Press Release

English Ontario Report Card and Press Release
French Ontario Report Card and Press Release

British Columbia Report Card

Manitoba Report Card and Press Release

New Brunswick Report Card – in English and in French and Press Release

Nova Scotia Report Card and Press Release

Nunavut Report Card and Press Release

PEI Report Card and Press Release

Toronto Report Card and Press Release

Disability Poverty Report Card and Press Release; French national report, Press Release

Campaign 2000 federal pre-Budget 2025 submission

On August 2nd, Campaign 2000 submitted its priority recommendations for the federal Budget 2025.

There are serious concerns with the increase in poverty numbers and rates across the country.  Recommendations to significantly bolster investments into programs and close gaps for Indigenous and marginalized communities span areas including income security, child care, housing and pharmacare. 

Read the full submission here.

Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association Urges Immediate Action Following Release of Campaign 2000 Poverty Report Card

Amautiit, the Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association (NIWA), released the first Nunavut report card on child and family poverty on April 29, 2024.
Read the Report Card in English and Inuktitut; and Press Release in English and Inuktitut

From Amautiit:

On April 29, 2024, Amautiit, the Nunavut Inuit Women’s Association (NIWA) stands in solidarity with Campaign 2000 as it unveils its first ever annual Poverty Report Card, revealing the harsh realities faced by Nunavut’s most vulnerable populations. NIWA echoes the urgent call for action to address the systemic issues perpetuating poverty and inequality in our communities.

As an organization deeply rooted in advocating for the rights and well-being of Inuit women and families, NIWA recognizes the profound impact of poverty on individuals and communities across Nunavut. The findings of this year’s Poverty Report Card underscore the need for immediate and concerted efforts to combat poverty and its far-reaching consequences.

Key highlights from the report include:

Child Poverty Rates

Alarmingly high child poverty rates persist in Nunavut, with a significant percentage of our children living in conditions of economic hardship. NIWA emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the needs of our youngest community members and investing in their future through targeted interventions and support services.

Food Insecurity

Many households in Nunavut continue to grapple with food insecurity, facing barriers to accessing nutritious and culturally relevant food. NIWA stresses the importance of addressing food sovereignty and ensuring that all residents have access to healthy and affordable food options.

Impact of COVID-19

ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further deepened the vulnerabilities faced by those living in poverty, exacerbating existing inequalities and widening socio-economic disparities. NIWA emphasizes the need for targeted support for those most affected by the pandemic, including Inuit women, children, and elders.

NIWA urges all levels of government, Indigenous leadership, and community stakeholders to heed the findings of the Poverty Report Card and to take decisive action to address poverty in Nunavut.

For more information on NIWA’s advocacy efforts and initiatives, please visit www.amautiit.ca

Food program is welcome

Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty welcomes the federal government’s April 1 announcement of the National School Food Program. Children in Canada will now have access to an important safety net to mitigate hunger at school. 

The federal government’s investment in the National School Food Program demonstrates its commitment to the well-being of Canada’s children and youth.

And while Campaign 2000 commends the federal government for launching this program, the coalition is calling for further investment in income security measures, like the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), to adequately address the crisis that is food insecurity in Canada.

“When it comes to food insecurity, solutions like community food programs can only do a part of the job. To be successful, they must be coupled with strategies to address inadequate or insecure income,” said Chris Brillinger, Executive Director of Family Service Toronto. “The launch of a national school food program is a good policy decision that will take some pressure off household budgets, but without increases to income supports like the CCB, we are not fully addressing childhood food insecurity.”

Read the full C2000 Media Release

Unprecedented Progress on Poverty Reduction Being Undone

Campaign 2000 releases its annual report on child and family poverty, Unprecedented Progress on Poverty Reduction Being Undone. The report finds that in 2021, despite the historic progress achieved in 2020, Canada saw a sharp upswing in national child poverty rates. As pandemic benefits wound down and the cost of living rose, poverty rates rebounded, resulting in over 1 million children living in poverty.

Using tax filer data from 2021, the latest available, this update finds that the child poverty rate rose to 15.6%, up from 13.5% in 2020 (using the Census Family Low Income Measure, After Tax). That represents 163,550 more children living with the short – and long-term physical, mental, emotional, economic and social harms of poverty.

This year’s national report finds that rates of child poverty increased in every province and territory from 2020 to 2021. Disproportionately higher rates were seen for people marginalized by colonization, racism and systemic discrimination, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis children and racialized and migrant children.

The progress achieved in 2020 revealed that there is room for more ambitious targets for poverty reduction in Canada. Campaign 2000 was founded after the unanimous 1989 federal motion to eradicate child poverty by the year 2000. The federal government’s 2015 commitment to the United Nations 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, the first of which is No Poverty, signaled an important re-prioritization of poverty eradication. But the latest data presented in this year’s report show troubling signs that progress towards ending child and family poverty is reversing.

Accelerated efforts are required for Canada to meet its human rights obligations to end poverty. This report offers more than 30 recommendations that cover inequality, income security, housing, child care, decent work and healthcare, and calls for bold action to eradicate child and family poverty in Canada.

Key Findings from the 2023 National Report Update:

  • Over 1 million children lived in poverty (1,162,460 or 15.6%) in 2021.
  • The national child poverty rate increased by 2.1 percentage points between 2020-2021, following a historic reduction of 4.2 percentage points between 2019-2020. This increase represents an additional 163,550 children living in poverty.
  • The child poverty rate is higher (16.1%) for children under six than all children.  
  • Rates of child poverty increased in every province and territory, with highest increases in Saskatchewan amongst the provinces (child poverty rate of 24.2%) and Nunavut amongst the territories (child poverty rate of 35.8%).
  • The gap between wealthy and low-income families widened, as families in the bottom decile of income distribution had only 1.6% of the total share of income compared to families in the top decile, who had 25.4%.
  • Government transfers, such as the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), are powerful poverty reduction tools.  The CCB reduced child poverty by 9.2 percentage points in 2021.
  • Child and family poverty disproportionately affects marginalized communities due to the historic and current violence of colonialism, racism and systemic discrimination.
  • Canada’s universal child care plan must include low-income children with a sliding scale fee model of $0 to $10 maximum.  All child care expansion must be within the public and non-profit sectors.

Want to read more? 

Click on the following links to read and download the 2023 report cards.

English National Update and Press Release

French National Update and Press Release

Check out the provincial and territorial report cards as they become available:

British Columbia Report Card
BC Child Poverty Report Card 2023 – First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society (firstcallbc.org)
2023 CPRC Media Materials – First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society (firstcallbc.org)
2023 BC Child Poverty Maps – First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society (firstcallbc.org)

Alberta Report Card and Press Release

Manitoba Report Card and Press Release

English Ontario Report Card and Press Release

French Ontario Report Card and Press Release

New Brunswick Report Card English and French; Press Release English and French

Nova Scotia Report Card and Press Release

Prince Edward Island Report Card

Newfoundland and Labrador Report Card and Press Release

Nunavut Report Card in English and Inuktitut; and Press Release in English and Inuktitut

Campaign 2000 Celebrates the Life of Ed Broadbent

For Immediate Release – It is with the heaviest of hearts that Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty mourns the passing of Ed Broadbent. We wholeheartedly feel the loss of a champion who was committed to fighting for justice and equality in Canada and around the world.

On November 24th, 1989, as Ed stepped down as the leader of the New Democratic Party, he introduced the House of Commons motion to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000, a motion that was unanimously passed.

The birth of Campaign 2000 in 1991 was sparked by Ed’s commitment to eliminating child and family poverty.  Activists Marvyn Novick and Rosemarie Popham, co-founders of Campaign 2000, took hold of the resolution introduced by Ed and, building on the work of the Child Poverty Action Group and others, set out to make child poverty a public policy issue in Canada.

“Ed was an accomplished humanitarian who continued his pursuit of equity and justice for all until these final days. He was also a man of ideas who could talk easily with people about his thoughts and strategies. And his humour always livened up the conversation,” said Laurel Rothman, former National Coordinator, Campaign 2000: End Child Poverty (1998-2015). “When Campaign 2000 sought support and wise counsel, he always made himself available.”

Ed leaves behind a legacy of tirelessly fighting for equal rights and a just society that has inspired many to strive for a nation free of poverty. In 1992, the first report card on child and family poverty was released. Today, Campaign 2000 continues to release report cards annually that track the federal government’s progress towards the 1989 commitment.

“With his passing, we not only celebrate his life achievements but remind ourselves of the commitment made by the Federal government to eradicate family and child poverty so long ago,” said Chris Brillinger, Executive Director of Family Service Toronto. “To honour his life and work, we must remain steadfast in our resolve to eradicate child and family poverty in our lifetime. Mr. Broadbent always knew the vision was possible, it is our responsibility to keep that vision front and centre for policymakers until the job is done.”

To the Campaign 2000 network, he was a close friend and ally. We will continue to honour and celebrate his steadfast commitment to justice and equality and strive toward bettering the lives of all Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

To download this statement as a PDF, please click here.

Contact Information

Mithilen Mathipalan, Coordinator, Social Action, [email protected]

Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, pan-Canadian network of 120 national, provincial and community partner organizations committed to working to end child and family poverty, hosted by Family Service Toronto. To learn more about Campaign 2000 visit https://www.campaign2000.ca

Accelerated efforts to eliminate poverty required for Canada to meet its human rights obligation to end poverty

For Immediate Release – Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty is calling on the federal government to accelerate efforts to eliminate poverty and fulfill its human rights obligations as rising costs of living affect communities from coast to coast to coast. The call comes as Canada and other UN member states convene in New York for the 2nd SDGs Summit and Action Weekend to mark the halfway point to the deadline set for achieving Agenda 2030.

“Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is grounded in a human rights framework, requires urgency and political will from all levels of government,” said Leila Sarangi, National Director of Campaign 2000. “Poverty is a human rights violation that is disproportionately experienced by those facing systemic marginalization including Indigenous Peoples, racialized and immigrant communities, those with disabilities, lone mothers and youth in the child welfare system, among others. Canada is moving in the wrong direction; any progress we’ve had in the past is being undone. The SDG Summit is the right place for Canada to reflect on where it is falling behind and plan for new actions to end poverty once and for all. We are a wealthy nation, we have the means, we now need the political will.”

“Canada has made real progress in the last decade, especially when it comes to reducing child poverty.” said Terence Hamilton, Policy Specialist at UNICEF Canada. “But the UN Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved by 2030 by leaving some children behind. Every child has the right to be free from poverty.”

Campaign 2000, Citizens for Public Justice and Canada Without Poverty co-lead a national research project that engages communities experiencing poverty in policy development to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The project recently completed an eleven-month tour to host 17 conversations with 227 people affected by poverty and systemic marginalization in every province and territory. Participants across the country shared how low wages, precarious work and stagnant government assistance rates, which were dramatically insufficient prior to the pandemic, do not allow them to cover the costs of basic needs today, including food, rent, medications, energy and transportation, which in turn leads to worse health, education and social outcomes for these families.

“Governments must do more to accurately capture experiences of poverty in Canada,” says Natalie Appleyard, Socio-Economic Policy Analyst at Citizens for Public Justice and a co-lead of the project. “Collecting disaggregated data and firsthand accounts of unmet needs is necessary for developing policy solutions that are effective in addressing the structural causes of poverty.”

Canada’s latest Voluntary National Review for the SDGs reports gains in poverty reduction made in 2020 were so significant that poverty reduction targets were achieved a decade early. But the report also shows that progress was a result of temporary pandemic income transfers from the federal government to individuals and families.

“Those benefits are no longer available, and data is showing poverty rates climbing back up,” said Sarangi. “We need to fix the major holes in our income and social security systems. Our communities are in crisis. We are at the halfway mark for meeting our obligations under the SDGs but we do not know what the federal plan is as it relates to ending poverty.”

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Download Press Release
Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, pan-Canadian network of 120 national, provincial and community partner organizations committed to working to end child and family poverty, hosted by Family Service Toronto. To learn more about Campaign 2000 and the Localizing Canada’s Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal’s project, visit https://sdg.campaign2000.ca

Contact Information
Athavarn Srikantharajah, Project Coordinator, Campaign 2000

647-894-8737

[email protected]