Social Assistance Summaries is an annual report that compiles and publishes data provided by provincial and territorial government officials to track the number of social assistance recipients across Canada. For each province and territory, it includes:

• A brief description of the social assistance program(s);
• Analysis of the total number of cases and beneficiaries of social assistance over time by program;
• Analysis of social assistance beneficiaries as a proportion of the under-65 population over time by program; and
• Analysis of disaggregated social assistance data (since 2021) by program for:
  • Cases and beneficiaries by household type;
  • Beneficiaries by gender or sex (depending on provincial or territorial nomenclature);
  • Heads of households by gender or sex for unattached singles and single parents;
  • Adult beneficiaries by age category; and
  • Percentage of cases receiving employment income.

This resource was established by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy to maintain data previously published by the federal government in the Social Assistance Statistical Report. In 2018, Maytree assumed responsibility for updating the series.

For the total incomes available to those relying on social assistance, visit the Welfare in Canada report.