Prince Edward Island

Last updated: March 2025

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:

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.

Prince Edward Island delivers two programs: The Social Assistance Program and AccessAbility Supports (formerly Disability Support Program).

The Social Assistance Program delivers benefits on a case-by-case basis to residents who meet the eligibility requirements. The amount of financial assistance available varies depending on the individual’s circumstances, such as the number of dependents in the household and accommodation type. Assistance may include help with food and shelter costs, personal expenses, medical, optical care, and funeral costs.

Legislation mandates an annual review of social assistance rates. Since 2019, over $40 million has been invested in social assistance and other social programs. The Social Programs Division has a number of policies focused on supporting clients in their transition to employment.

AccessAbility Supports

AccessAbility Supports (AAS) replaced the former Disability Support Program in July 2018 with expanded supports. Under AAS, people with disabilities (physical, intellectual, neurological, sensory, or mental health) can access the supports they need to achieve full citizenship by enabling social inclusion and economic participation.

Supports are identified through individualized case plans. These plans take into account the results of a capability assessment tool that help to better understand how disability affects activities of daily living to ensure appropriate support is provided.

A review of the AAS Program is underway to determine if it is supporting Islanders living with disabilities to access the supports they need to reach their full potential.

There are five areas of support available:

Personal Supports
These supports help with personal daily living. Examples include life skills training, technical aids and assistive devices, in-home supports, or personal care workers.
Housing Supports
Independent living can be supported by providing funding to a caregiver for daily supervision and guidance in a community-based residential setting or financial help for home and vehicle modifications.
Community Supports
These supports help active participation in the community. Examples include assistance with finding or keeping a job, supporting youth transitioning from the education system to the workforce, and enabling active participation in the community.
Caregiver Supports
These supports provide help for family members or caregivers. Examples of supports include respite for caregivers to allow time for breaks to recharge, or support to provide supervision for adults who are unable to stay home alone safely so that caregivers can go to work or school.
Financial Supports
Assured Income is the financial assistance component of AAS for eligible clients. It covers basic needs, such as food, shelter, clothing, household, and personal supplies.

These supports are not meant to duplicate or replicate existing services.

For the purposes of AAS, “person with a disability” means a person who has a substantial physical, intellectual, sensory, neurological, or mental impairment that (i) is continuous or recurrent, (ii) is expected to last for at least one year, and (iii) has a direct and cumulative effect on, and results in a substantial restriction in, the person’s ability to function in his or her home, the community, or a workplace.

On average, there were just over 5,685 cases (family units and unattached single adults) receiving social assistance in Prince Edward Island during the 2023-24 fiscal year. Among the cases, 57 per cent (3,228) received Social Assistance and 43 per cent (2,457) received AccessAbility Supports (AAS).

Social Assistance had just over 5,300 beneficiaries (individual claimants, their partners, and dependent children).

The total number of cases increased, on average, by 371 in 2023-24. This increase came from both programs, with 51 per cent (191) coming from Social Assistance and 49 per cent (180) coming from AAS.

To access data on cases and beneficiaries of social assistance in Prince Edward Island, including disaggregated data, download the spreadsheet here.

On average, there were over 3,200 cases and 5,300 beneficiaries in Prince Edward Island’s Social Assistance Program during 2023-24. Both numbers increased by about 6 per cent from the previous year.

Over the long term, these numbers fell in the late 1990s and early 2000s and have since stabilized, apart from a brief dip during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AccessAbility Supports

In 2023-24, on average, over 2,400 cases received support through AAS.

The number of cases has risen gradually since its introduction in 2001-02, with on average nearly 8 per cent (180) more cases in 2023-24 compared to the previous year.

Figure 2PE: Yearly cases of AAS in Prince Edward Island, 2001-02 to 2023-24

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In 2023-24, on average, 5.7 per cent of people in Prince Edward Island under 65 received the Social Assistance Program or AccessAbility Supports, which is 1 in 18.

The proportion of Social Assistance beneficiaries has decreased over time from a high of 5.8 per cent to a low of 3.6 per cent in 2021-22. Since then, it has increased marginally to 3.9 percent in 2023-24.

The proportion of cases under 65 receiving AAS, on average, has increased slowly over time to 1.8 per cent in 2023-24.

Note: The total population under 65 is estimated on July 1 of the fiscal year (e.g., July 1, 2023, for 2023-24), whereas beneficiary (for the Social Assistance Program) and case (for AAS) data is a fiscal year average (April 1 to March 31).

This section examines disaggregated data on cases and beneficiaries by household type, and cases receiving employment income.

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Household type

In 2023-24, on average, the majority of cases of social assistance among households were unattached singles for both the Social Assistance Program and AccessAbility Supports, representing nearly 2,280 for the Social Assistance Program and over 2,220 for AccessAbility Supports, respectively. On average, single parents had the second largest number of Social Assistance cases, representing just under 650 cases, and couples without children had the second largest number of AccessAbility Supports cases, representing 136 cases.

Unattached singles also had, on average, the largest percentage of Social Assistance beneficiaries in 2023-24 (nearly 2,280 beneficiaries), followed by single parent households, representing 1,880 beneficiaries.

Cases

Beneficiaries

Employment income

In the context of Prince Edward Island, employment income means income from employment and self-employment, including wages, commission, tips, training allowances, and employment bonuses.

Between 2022-23, approximately 11% of Social Assistance cases reported employment income. This percentage decreased to 8% in 2023-24. The methodology for reporting employment income within the AAS Program has been revised (see Data Notes section) to focus solely on clients receiving Assured Income (AI) supports, rather than including all AAS clients. The 2022-23 figure was revised to account for the new methodology. For AAS Program clients receiving AI supports, the percentage reporting employment income decreased to 17% in 2023-24 from a comparable 18% in 2022-23. Employment income data is unavailable for the 2020-21 and 2021-22.

Additional disaggregated data on gender and age is available for download below.

It’s important to note that while the gender distribution of Social Assistance and AAS beneficiaries and cases is 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.

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Access to data

The data on social assistance recipients in Prince Edward Island is available for download, including:

Total cases and beneficiaries;
Percentage of beneficiaries relative to the total under-65 population;
Cases and beneficiaries by household type;
Beneficiaries (Social Assistance) and cases (AAS) by gender;
Single households by gender;
Heads of households by age category; and
Percentage of cases receiving employment income.

Download the data in a spreadsheet

Data notes

The yearly social assistance data reflects the average number of cases and beneficiaries over the fiscal year (April 1 to March 31).
The Disability Support Program was introduced in 2001-02. In July 2018, it was expanded and became AccessAbility Supports.
Social Assistance Program beneficiary figures for the years 1996-97 to 2003-04 are not available.
The disaggregated Social Assistance Program and AccessAbility Supports data (by household and gender) for 2020-21 reflects the number of cases and beneficiaries on March 31, 2021. Data from 2021-22 onwards are fiscal year averages.
For 2019-20, the number of Social Assistance Program beneficiaries is for March 2020 and is not a yearly fiscal average as previously reported.
The unattached singles cases of AccessAbility Supports include the following child cases (0-17 year-olds): 402 in 2020-21, 436 in 2021-22, and 484 in 2022-23.
The gender of two Social Assistance Program cases and beneficiaries in 2021 was unknown as well as one case and beneficiary in 2021-22.
The variable “adult by age category” does not include child cases due to age range as it does not include those who are 17 or younger.
The methodology for reporting employment income within the AccessAbility Supports Program has been revised. In previous years, the percentage of clients with employment income was calculated by dividing the number of clients reporting employment income by the total number of clients on the program. For the 2023-24 period, however, the calculation will now focus solely on clients receiving Assured Income (AI) supports, rather than including all AAS clients. The 2022-23 figure was revised to account for the updated calculation methodology. The AAS program includes child files and files for clients receiving only disability-related supports, where eligibility is determined using line 236. Employment income is recorded exclusively for clients receiving Assured Income.
The numbers do not include First Nations living on reserves.
Click here for more information about how the data is gathered.

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Resources

Download the all-Canada report as a PDF
Download the data for Prince Edward Island
Download the data for all of Canada
Further breakdowns on social assistance caseload data in Prince Edward Island can be found on the province’s website for the Social Assistance Program and AccessAbility Supports

Prince Edward Island

Location

Total welfare incomes by location

Edition

Prince Edward Island