Latest count of social assistance recipients across Canada is now available

The Social Assistance Summaries, 2024 report provides you with data on how many people were receiving social assistance in 2023-24 and how those numbers have changed over time. This annual report publishes data from every province and territory to track the number of social assistance cases and beneficiaries across Canada.

For each province and territory, the report 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);
  • Single households by gender or sex for unattached singles and single parents;
  • Adult beneficiaries by age category; and
  • Percentage of cases receiving employment income.

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

What’s new in the 2024 report?

In this year’s report, several changes improve clarity and presentation:

• Category renaming: “Heads of Household by Gender for Single Households” is now “Single Households by Gender or Sex” for clarity.
• Graph format change for disaggregated data: Revised from bar charts to line graphs to track trends over multiple years.
• Removed descriptive analysis: Variables like beneficiaries by gender and others now have data only in the downloadable spreadsheet.

The report includes disability data, especially for areas without specific programs: Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. Note: Data was not available for Newfoundland and Labrador due to different data collection. Disability supplements for Alberta and Manitoba’s programs are also included.

The 13 jurisdictions now report data as a fiscal year average; Quebec adjusted earlier data for consistency.