The Social Assistance Summaries series tracks the number of recipients of social assistance (welfare payments) in each province and territory.
In this section you will find:
New Brunswick’s social assistance program (description)
Social assistance is the income program of last resort. It is intended for households 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. For modelling of total incomes available to social assistance recipients, visit the Welfare in Canada report.
In New Brunswick, social assistance is delivered under two programs:
- Transitional Assistance Program (TAP); and
- Extended Benefits Program (EBP).
A third program, the Interim Assistance Program, was terminated in 2010.
Transitional Assistance Program (TAP)
Transitional assistance is intended for individuals who are employable as well as those requiring support and intervention to become employable. Within TAP, two rate categories exist:
- Transitional Assistance Program: Multi-person units and single adults with a designation are provided assistance under this category; and
- Transitional Assistance Program – Single Employable: Single adult units who do not have a designation and are not certified as blind, deaf, or having a disability are provided assistance under this category.
Extended Benefits Program (EBP)
EBP benefits are intended for units with an individual who has been certified by the Medical Advisory Board as blind, deaf, or having a disability.
To be eligible for EBP as a person with a disability, the Medical Advisory Board considers for certification an individual who suffers from a major physiological, anatomical, or psychological impairment, which severely limits the individual in normal living activities, and which is likely to continue indefinitely without substantial improvement (i.e., totally and permanently disabled).
How many people claim social assistance?
On average, there were 22,586 cases (family units and unattached single adults) and about 34,417 beneficiaries (individual claimants, their partners, and dependent children) in New Brunswick’s social assistance programs during 2023-24.
Among cases, on average, about 73 per cent (16,578) of cases received the Transitional Assistance Program (TAP), and about 27 per cent (6,008) received the Extended Benefits Program (EBP) in 2023-24. And among beneficiaries, on average, 81 per cent (27,902) received TAP and 19 per cent (6,569) received EBP.
The total number of social assistance cases increased by 1,821 in 2023-24. The increase came from TAP and EBP cases representing 12.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively. Similarly, the total number of beneficiaries increased by 2,819 in 2023-24, and TAP accounted for almost all new beneficiaries (11.4 per cent) while the number of beneficiaries of EBP increased by 0.4 per cent.
To access data on cases and beneficiaries of social assistance in New Brunswick, including disaggregated data, download the spreadsheet here.
Transitional Assistance Program (TAP)
On average, there were 16,578 cases and just over 27,900 beneficiaries receiving TAP in 2023-24.
In the 2000s, TAP operated alongside the Interim Assistance Program (IAP), which had between 1,300 and 1,800 cases until it was terminated in 2010.
Figure 1NB: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of TAP and the IAP in New Brunswick, 2000-01 to 2023-24
Extended Benefits Program (EBP)
In 2023-24, there were an average of 6,008 cases and 6,569 beneficiaries receiving EBP in New Brunswick. These numbers have remained steady over the last 16 years.
Figure 2NB: Yearly cases and beneficiaries of EBP in New Brunswick, 2000-01 to 2023-24
What proportion of the population receives social assistance?
In 2023-24, on average, 5.4 per cent of people in New Brunswick under 65 received TAP or EBP, which is one in 20.
In previous years, the proportion of people under 65 receiving TAP generally declined, from an average of 6.7 per cent in 2000-01 to 3.5 per cent in 2021-22. However, in 2022-23, the proportion rose to 4 per cent, marking the first increase since 2010-11. This upward trend continued in 2023-24, with the proportion increasing further to 4.3 per cent. The proportion of people under 65 receiving the EBP was 1 per cent in 2023-24. It has remained stable at between 1 and 1.1 per cent since 2000-01.
Note: The total population under 65 is estimated on July 1 of the fiscal year (e.g., July 1, 2023, for 2023-24), whereas social assistance beneficiary data is a fiscal year average (April 1 to March 31).
Figure 3NB: Yearly beneficiaries of TAP and EBP as a proportion of the under-65 population of New Brunswick, 2000-01 to 2023-24
Who is receiving social assistance (disaggregated data)?
This section examines disaggregated data on cases and beneficiaries by household type, and cases receiving employment income.
Household type
In 2023-24, on average, unattached singles were the majority of social assistance cases among households for both programs, comprising over 66 per cent of TAP cases and just under 94 per cent of EBP cases. For TAP, single parents had the second highest percentage of cases, representing just under 25 per cent. Couples without children had the second highest percentage of EBP cases, representing just over 3 per cent.
For TAP, on average, single-parent households had the highest proportion of beneficiaries, representing close to 41 per cent, followed by unattached singles, representing over 39 per cent. Unattached singles were the significant majority of EBP beneficiaries representing almost 86 per cent, followed by couples without children, with about 6 per cent.
Figure 4NB: Cases and beneficiaries of TAP by household in New Brunswick, 2020-21 to 2023-24
Cases
Beneficiaries
Figure 5NB: Cases and beneficiaries of EBP by household in New Brunswick, 2020-21 to 2023-24
Cases
Beneficiaries
Employment income
In New Brunswick, employment income is defined as wages earned from part-time and full-time employment and/or self-employment.
In 2023-24, on average, about 20 per cent of TAP cases had employment income. Cases receiving EBP were less likely to have employment income at 11 per cent. Both numbers increased from the previous year.
Figure 6NB: Percentage of TAP and EBP cases with employment income in New Brunswick, 2021-22 and 2023-24
Additional disaggregated data on gender and age is available for download below.
It’s important to note that while the gender distribution of TAP and EBP are typically balanced between males and females, the gender of single households reveals a more pronounced gender pattern. Typically, unattached singles are predominantly male, while single parents are primarily female.
Access to data
The data on social assistance recipients in New Brunswick is available for download, including:
- Total number of cases and beneficiaries;
- Percentage of beneficiaries relative to the total under-65 population;
- Cases and beneficiaries by household type;
- Beneficiaries by gender;
- Single households by gender;
- Adult beneficiaries by age category; and
- Percentage of cases receiving employment income.
Data notes
- The data reflects the average number of cases and beneficiaries over the fiscal year (April 1 to March 31).
- The numbers do not include First Nations living on reserves.
- In the late 1990s, the province’s statistical agency was in the early stages of publishing data and provincial figures for 1997 to 2000 cannot be verified.
- The Transitional Assistance Program operated alongside the Interim Assistance Program through the 2000s until it was terminated in 2010.
- Data on employment income for 2020-21 is not included.
- The subtotals on 2023-24 may not match the total number of cases and beneficiaries due to the timing of the reports. The data may fluctuate over different time periods as the reports are updated.
- Click here for more information about how the data is gathered.
Resources
- Download the all-Canada report as a PDF
- Download the data for New Brunswick
- Download the data for all of Canada
- Further breakdowns on social assistance data in New Brunswick can be found on the province’s website