For Immediate Release July 21, 2026

TORONTO – Campaign 2000 welcomes the annual inflation adjustment to the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), announced by the federal government for the 2026–27 benefit year. Beginning this month, eligible families can receive up to $8,157 per child under age six and up to $6,883 per child aged six to 17, an increase of up to $160 and $135 per child, respectively, over last year’s maximum amounts.

Indexing the CCB to inflation is essential. It helps ensure that the benefit does not lose value as families face the rising  costs of groceries, rent, clothing, child care and other necessities. But today’s announcement maintains the status quo; it does not provide the scale of new investment needed to reverse the rise in child poverty or reach children and families living in the deepest poverty.

Campaign 2000’s 2025 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada shows that child poverty rose for the third  consecutive year. Using Canada’s official poverty line, 802,000 children (10.7%) live in poverty. Using a broader income measure with tax filing data, nearly 1.4 million children are living in poverty. Families with children in poverty are, on  average, more than $15,000 below the poverty line.

The report also finds that the CCB remains a critical poverty-reduction tool, and prevented more than 580,000 children  from falling into poverty in 2023. However, its impact has weakened over time as inflation, high housing costs, food insecurity and inadequate income supports push families further behind.

 “The Canada Child Benefit matters, and indexing it to inflation is necessary,” said Leila Sarangi, National Director of  Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty. “But a modest annual adjustment will not reach families who are  thousands of dollars below the poverty line. Child poverty has more than doubled since 2020 on Canada’s official measure, and too many children are being left in deep poverty. The federal government must strengthen the CCB with a  targeted End Child Poverty Supplement so the children facing the greatest barriers get the income support they need now.”

Children and families experiencing the highest rates of poverty include lone-parent families, particularly those led by women; families that include people with disabilities; First Nations, Inuit and Métis children; racialized children; newcomer children; children in care; and families facing barriers to decent work, affordable housing and public services. These inequities are not inevitable; they are the result of policy choices and can be changed through sustained public investment. 

Campaign 2000 is calling on the federal government to restore and strengthen the poverty-reduction power of the CCB by introducing an End Child Poverty Supplement targeted to families in deep poverty. This supplement would build on the existing CCB platform and direct additional income support to the children and families who need it most.

“Canada has the tools to end child poverty,” added Sarangi. “The evidence is clear: income transfers work when they are  adequate, accessible and designed to reach those most excluded. Indexation protects the benefit from erosion, but  ending child poverty requires a bolder commitment.”

Read Press Release & 2025 National Report Card

---

Media contact:
Leila Sarangi, National Director of Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number : 647.393.1097

---

Maytree released a report titled,” Let it be over – It’s time to wind down the collection of pandemic benefits from Canada’s poorest and most marginalized residents” written by John Stapleton and MacGregor Goodman.

What the report shows

The report shows that Canada stands out internationally. Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Canada continues to pursue repayment from the poorest recipients instead of drawing a line under pandemic-era overpayments. It also shows that

the current system is especially harsh for people who were already poor, including social assistance recipients, people in precarious work, and people in the cash economy.

A system that compounds harm

For many people, CERB and CRB were clawed back by provincial social assistance, only for the federal government to come after the same dollars again. Others have faced rigid evidence standards, repeated reassessments, and no meaningful discretion to settle based on hardship or partial repayment. The result is a recovery regime that is costly to administer, difficult to navigate, and deeply unfair.

What should happen next

Canada should stop treating poverty and confusion as if they were fraud.

The report calls for a structured wind-down of CERB and CRB collections. That includes forgiveness for low-income people, proportional settlements where some repayment is possible, reconciliation of provincial clawbacks, and a fixed end date for routine recovery efforts.

Canada acted quickly in an emergency. It should now act with equal clarity to end a recovery process that is prolonging harm for the people least able to bear it.

An overview of the research, community stories, government advocacy, and policy recommendations related to pandemic benefit repayments. This page features external news articles and blogs authored by Campaign 2000 and its community partners on the issue of pandemic benefit repayments. The stories and articles are presented in reverse chronological order, from current work (2026) to earlier work (2020-2023)

| 2026 | 2023 | 2022 | 2020 |

2026 Media Highlights

---

2023 Media Highlights

---

2022 Media Highlights

---

2020 Media Highlights

---

For some people, the CERB lifeline has become an anchor

The Hamilton Spectator & The Hill Times released a new article written by Amanda Therrien, senior staff lawyer at the National Association of Women and the Law, and Leila Sarangi, national director for Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty. The Article titled “For some people, the CERB lifeline has become an anchor” discusses the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) Clawbacks impacting vulnerable Canadians, particularly low-income, racialized, refugee, and young populations. CERB was enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused economic shutdowns, providing financial support during a time of need.

The CERB provided economic relief to low-income Canadians, greatly decreasing poverty rates in Canada during the first year of the pandemic. Despite that, the Canadian Government halted the emergency relief program, resulting in poverty rates returning to previous conditions. The economic implications of the pandemic remain a contemporary issue, as the aftermath, in combination with political instability and tariffs produces economic insecurity.

Despite the weakened economic condition, the Canadian government has diverted significant time and resources to obtain overpayments of CERB. The government has provided $123 million to Employment and Social Development Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) with the main goal of obtaining clawbacks. The justifications behind these measures are framed as a needed and justified use of public funds. However, instead of strengthening social safety nets that reduce vulnerability and marginalization, funds are allocated to relentless pursue low-income Canadians.

CERB Clawbacks disadvantage low-income Canadian as acknowledged by the Canadian government. Despite the government highlighting various actions to soften the blow, such as repayment plans, these approaches are sometimes followed by other aggressive approaches like garnished wages.

Unfortunately, although repayments of emergency benefits are limited to a six-year period; there are exemptions to this legislation that can extend for several more years. There is a vital need for policy reform to prevent further debt collection that is deepening an already precarious group.

There is a striking distinction in the treatment of the wealthiest Canadians and the Poor. While the Canadian government squeezes the few resources of the less privileged to obtain back CERB overpayments, which will not make a significant impact on the economy, the rich are exempt from repayment. Affluent asset-owning individuals are absolved of tax obligations under the pretext of hardship. The Canadian government should not impose a financial burden on economically disadvantaged Canadians while waving the debts of the rich. The poorest Canadians should not be required to repay debts that will diminish savings, produce debt, and affect their ability to pay for necessities. Instead, the mandatory repayments of CERB must END, similar to how the luxury tax was abolished for the Upper class.

Read The Full Article Here: For some people, the CERB lifeline has become an anchor

Key Findings

1. Child and family poverty is worsening, rising for the third consecutive year In 2023, one in four (25.7%) children aged 0–17 in Toronto experienced poverty.
2. Toronto continues to hold the troubling distinction of being the child poverty capital among Canada’s largest municipalities
3. Half of all children in one-parent households live in poverty, and almost all children not in census families live in poverty
4. Families are falling further below the poverty line, struggling to make ends meet
5. Child poverty affects families in every ward, while concentrated pockets of poverty persist across the city
6. Child poverty continues to disproportionately affect Indigenous, racialized, immigrant and newcomer children, as well as children living in households without permanent resident status

Next Steps: Take Action!

Addressing child and family poverty will require leadership and coordinated action from each level of government. This report outlines detailed recommendations for the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. With a systems-level and root-cause framing, these recommendations focus on three approaches to addressing child and family poverty:

• ensure livable incomes and inclusive economic development practices;
• implement a rights-based approach to basic needs and affordability; and
• renew the focus on poverty reduction and systemic inequality.

There is also a role for every Torontonian to play. As the municipal election gears up and residents prepare to vote on October 26, they can ask candidates: “What will you do to reduce child and family poverty in our city—and how will you make sure it actually happens?” 

Read The Full Report Here

Hamilton’s first Child and Family Report Card has been released! Using taxfiler data, this new report explores family and child poverty, finding that Hamilton’s child poverty rate of 21.1% in 2023 is higher than both the Canadian(18.3%) and Ontario (19.9%) rates. That means that one in five children in Hamilton are living in poverty. This is over 24,000 children in Hamilton. Read the full report here!

A Community Conversation was held on June 9, 2026 to discuss the Family and Child Poverty in Hamilton Report. Ted Hildebrandt (Senior Social Planner) presented key findings from the report. He was joined by Leila Sarangi (National Director, Campaign 2000: End Child & Family Poverty), who presented on the 2025 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada. This was followed by a discussion on understanding the findings, exploring impacts on children and families, and identifying solutions. Watch Here!

Campaign 2000’s 2026 Pre-Budget Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance calls on the federal government to take immediate action to reduce rising child poverty in Canada. Nearly 1.4 million children are living in poverty, 2.5 million children live in food-insecure households, and families are falling an average of more than $15,000 below the low-income threshold.

The submission outlines clear, evidence-based recommendations to strengthen the Canada Child Benefit through a new End Child Poverty Supplement of up to $8,500 for the first child in low-income families. It also calls for expanded access to the benefit for families facing barriers and stronger income supports for those experiencing the deepest poverty. These investments are essential to ensuring every child and family in Canada has the resources they need to thrive.

Read the full submission here!

Investing in Tomorrow: A Future Without Poverty

Campaign 2000 has released the 2025 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada, drawing on the latest national data to examine the state of child and family poverty across the country. More than two decades after Canada pledged to eliminate child poverty, progress is moving in the wrong direction.

 Child poverty rose for the third consecutive year, with nearly 30,000 additional children falling into poverty. Today, 802,000 children (10.7%) live in poverty using Canada’s official measure, and nearly 1.4 million children live in poverty using a broader income measure. At the current pace, it would take almost 400 years to end child poverty in Canada.

Poverty Is Rising and Deepening

As housing and food costs increase, families are falling further behind. On average, families with children are living more than $15,000 below the poverty line, and 1.2 million adults are working but are still unable to meet basic needs.

Government supports remain critical but are no longer keeping pace with the cost of living. The Canada Child Benefit prevented more than 580,000 children from falling into poverty in 2023, yet its impact has weakened over time. Food insecurity is also worsening, with 2.5 million children living in food-insecure households across the provinces and severe food insecurity doubling since 2019.

Key Findings

• Nearly 1.4 million children in Canada are living in poverty using a broader income measure.
  
• Inflation and high costs of housing and food further eroded the purchasing power for families in low income
  
• 45.2% of children in lone-parent families live in poverty, compared to 10.1% in couple families
  
  
• More than half of children living on reserve were in poverty in 2023
  
  
• Almost all children not living in families experience poverty
  
  
• Poverty rates are highest in Nunavut, followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba
  
  
• Income inequality continues to widen, with the top 10% of families earning nearly 19 times more than the bottom 10%

• Nearly all children under 18 years of age who do not live in families live in poverty (99%)

• 2.5 million children in provinces lived in food-insecure households. The number of children in severely food-insecure households doubled between 2019-2023

The Path Forward

The report reinforces that poverty is not inevitable. Evidence shows poverty can be reduced when governments invest in income supports and public services such as child care, housing, and health care.

The 2025 Report Card calls for strengthening Canada’s poverty reduction plan, restoring the effectiveness of the Canada Child Benefit through a CCB End Poverty Supplement, expanding affordable child care and housing, ensuring wages and benefits lift families above the poverty line, and addressing systemic inequities faced by marginalized families.

Resources to Share

• National Report Card in English
• Accessible Report English
• Press Release English
• Infographic English

• National Report Card in French
• Accessible Report French (Forthcoming)
• Press Release French
• Infographic French

Provincial and Territorial partners also contributed their own report cards, highlighting how child and family poverty is experienced across different regions of the country. The full provincial and territorial reports are available below:

• Yukon – Press Release, Infographic
• British Columbia
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba– Press Release, Brief
• Ontario (Forthcoming)
• New Brunswick, French
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• Newfoundland and Labrador (Forthcoming)
• Toronto (Forthcoming)
• Hamilton (Forthcoming)
  
  Sign the Campaign 2000 call to action and share it with your networks.

Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers most responsible for child care are meeting this week in Ottawa to discuss the future of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care ($10-a-Day) system.

Ahead of the meeting, a pan-Canadian coalition coordinated by Child Care Now has delivered a joint letter to ministers calling on every level of government to commit to expanding and strengthening the $10-a-Day program.

The letter recognizes the real and measurable progress made since the system’s launch in 2021. Investments have expanded licensed child care spaces, lowered parent fees during a period of high inflation, and contributed to a significant increase in women’s participation in the labour force. Families across the country have described access to affordable child care as life-changing, and initial steps have been taken to improve wages and working conditions in the largely female child care workforce.

At the same time, the letter makes clear that much more is required to meet the program’s long-term social and economic goals. Governments are urged to build on current momentum by increasing public funding to reflect the true cost of delivering high-quality care and to expand the supply of licensed, inclusive spaces.

Signatories call for:

• a primarily public and non-profit system so public dollars support quality and equity, not profit-making
• a maximum parent fee of $10 a day, with further reductions for low-income families
• sustained investments to recruit and retain qualified early childhood educators
• concrete, proactive expansion plans to ensure equitable access in all communities
• transparent, publicly available child care agreements, action plans and results
• full funding and implementation of Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Frameworks

As a signatory to the letter, Campaign 2000 joins partners across the country in urging governments to “keep the child care promise” and treat universal child care as essential social and economic infrastructure.

A strong, universal child care system will enhance economic security for families, advance gender equity, and support the wellbeing of children and communities for generations to come.

Read the Full Letter Here (English) (French)

Find your MPP’s Contact Information

Find your MP’s Contact Information

Watch the News Conference Here

The third annual Disability Poverty Report Card was released today, offering a national snapshot
of the ongoing and deeply entrenched poverty experienced by people with disabilities in
Canada. Drawing on the newest data from the Canadian Income Survey and the Canadian
Survey on Disability, the report confirms what many have long known: poverty for people with
disabilities remains widespread, persistent, and shaped by systems that continue to fall short
of fairness, accessibility and economic security.

This year’s report shows only marginal progress. Canada’s federal grade has shifted from last
year’s failing grade to a D, reflecting limited and uneven action. While the rollout of the
Canada Disability Benefit began in July 2025, the current $200 monthly amount is far from
adequate. One and a half million people with disabilities remain below the poverty line and many continue to face barriers to accessing the support they need.

The findings illustrate a worsening reality. People with disabilities are still nearly twice as likely
to live in poverty as non-disabled Canadians, and the depth of poverty is increasing. On
average, individuals with disabilities lived 30% below the poverty line in 2023, a widening gap
that underscores the urgent need for coordinated policy action. Working-age adults and
people living alone experience the highest rates of poverty, highlighting the profound
inequities that continue to shape daily life for so many.

Behind every statistic is a person navigating high costs and barriers that
should not exist in a country committed to inclusion. The report serves as a critical reminder
that action is not only needed but long overdue.

Read The Full Report Below!

English

Infographic

Press Release