In this section you will find:
What is Social Assistance Summaries?
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.
What is new in the 2023 report?
Social Assistance Summaries now includes data for five disaggregated variables, three of which were introduced in this year’s report: 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.
Two new social assistance programs were introduced in 2022-23: the Manitoba Supports for Persons with Disabilities and the Basic Income Program in Quebec. Data for the former is presented as an average over the first three months of 2023; data for the latter is presented as point-in-time in March 2023.
Furthermore, this year’s report now includes disability data, including disaggregated data, for jurisdictions that do not have disability-specific social assistance programs: Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon. Note that disability data was not available for Newfoundland and Labrador because it is collected by a different department.
Similarly, data for two disability supplements was included for two provinces that also have a disability-specific social assistance programs: Barriers to Full Employment under Income Support in Alberta, and Medical Barriers to Full Employment under Employment and Income Assistance in Manitoba.
Twelve of 13 jurisdictions now provide their data as an average over the fiscal year (April 1 to March 31). This year, Nunavut converted 2020-21 to 2022-23 data from calendar year averages to fiscal averages. Conversely, Quebec provided this year’s data as point-in-time in March 2023, as opposed to fiscal year averages as they have done historically.
Descriptions were updated with definitions of disability where relevant, and definitions of employment income were added for each jurisdiction.
Lastly, downloadable spreadsheets with data for each province and territory have been redesigned. They include total caseload data, relative caseload data, and disaggregated data.
What is social assistance?
Social assistance is the income program of last resort. It is intended for those who have exhausted all other means of financial support. Every province and territory has its own social assistance program(s), and no two are the same. While the basic structure of social assistance is much the same across the country, each program has different administrative rules, eligibility criteria, benefit levels, and provisions concerning special types of assistance.
Who can claim social assistance?
Eligibility for social assistance is determined on the basis of a needs test. This test takes into account the household’s financial resources, which include both assets and income. The needs test assesses whether there is a shortfall between available financial resources and the legislated amounts for basic needs (i.e., food, shelter, clothing, household, and personal needs). Additional amounts may be paid on a discretionary basis for special needs based on each household’s circumstances.
Where does the data come from?
Every year provincial and territorial government officials provide Maytree with an update of the social assistance case and beneficiary numbers (some jurisdictions also publish this information online).
Data from before 2014 comes from two federal government reports: the Social Assistance Statistical Report: 2008 and the Social Assistance Statistical Report: 2009-13. When the federal data did not reconcile with provincial/territorial figures, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy worked with jurisdictional representatives to present data in the format most often used by their governments.
What is the difference between cases and beneficiaries?
Cases are equivalent to a household, whether an individual or family: the person who applied for benefits, their partner, and any dependent children count as a single case.
Beneficiaries or recipients refer to the total number of people who benefit from a single social assistance claim, i.e., the individual claimant plus their partner, and any dependent children within their household.
How does each jurisdiction vary in its reporting?
Each jurisdiction uses its own methodology for tracking and reporting social assistance caseloads. For example, some provinces include households that receive a partial benefit or top-up from social assistance while others do not; some include First Nations living on reserves while others do not. They also vary in the way they calculate the number of social assistance cases and beneficiaries: For this year’s report, 12 of 13 jurisdictions provide their data as a fiscal year monthly average (April 1 to March 31), and one (Quebec) provided it as point-in-time in March 2023 (although all previous Quebec data was fiscal year averages).
Three jurisdictions have historically provided point-in-time data (March 31 of a given year): Alberta (2000 and prior), Nova Scotia (2007 and prior), and Yukon (2018 and prior). Nunavut has historically provided data as calendar year monthly averages (2020 and prior).
Can I compare the data for different jurisdictions?
Comparisons between jurisdictions can be misleading because each jurisdiction has different eligibility criteria for social assistance and different methods for recording social assistance data. For example, the numbers will be lower for jurisdictions that count only households in receipt of full benefits.
The data is also affected by how federal programs interact with provincial/territorial benefits. For example, a higher take-up of related income security programs such as Employment Insurance typically reduces social assistance caseloads.
Why does the number of claims change from year to year?
There are two main reasons why the social assistance caseloads change from year to year. One reason is a change in the social, demographic, and/or economic situation in an area. For example, a rise in unemployment is likely to result in a rise in social assistance claims. The other reason is a change in the way that social assistance programs operate. For example, people are ineligible for social assistance if their savings are above a certain threshold; if a jurisdiction increases this threshold, more people would be eligible, and the number of claimants is likely to increase. Similarly, changes to eligibility for federal benefits can also have a knock-on effect on provincial/territorial caseloads.
Does the data include on-reserve First Nations claiming social assistance?
Not all jurisdictions include First Nations living on reserves in their social assistance data. For details, see the “Data notes” under the statistics section for each province or territory.
Acknowledgements
Social Assistance Summaries builds on 20 years of research and analysis. The publication of this report would not be possible without the continued dedication, hard work, and passion of many contributors.
My colleagues at Maytree, Markus Stadelmann-Elder, Sarah Craig, and Yukon Damov, thank you for your commitment to quality and excellence. Elizabeth McIsaac and Alexi White, thank you for your guidance and support.
To the government officials in all thirteen provinces and territories, thank you for your enduring collaboration. This report would not have been possible without your contributions.
Thank you to Hannah Aldridge and Anne Makhoul, the previous authors of Social Assistance Summaries, as well as other authors and contributors from Maytree, the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, and the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Directors of Income Support whose work this report is built on.
I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to all of you. Thank you.