Welfare in Canada, 2025: A crisis of inadequacy

The 2025 edition of Welfare in Canada is now available, providing the only national assessment of the total welfare incomes available to households receiving social assistance across all 13 provinces and territories.

2025 key findings: Nominal gains, real losses

This year’s data shows a concerning trend where modest policy improvements were often negated by the loss of government transfers and rising costs:

• The inadequacy trap: A staggering 98 per cent of example households were living in poverty in 2025, with fully 72 per cent of those in “deep poverty,” trying to survive on incomes below 75 per cent of Canada’s Official Poverty Line.
• Inflation eroding support: While many jurisdictions provided nominal increases, nearly half (41 per cent) of households saw their real income decline because increases failed to keep pace with the 2.1 per cent national inflation rate.
• The Carbon Rebate impact: A major driver of income stagnation was the elimination of the federal carbon tax, which also ended the Canada Carbon Rebate and related provincial/territorial payments after April 2025, leading to significant losses for the most vulnerable. On average, these households received substantially more from the rebate than they paid in carbon taxes.
• A “hidden penalty” for the unhoused: The report reveals a severe support gap for unhoused individuals, who are often ineligible for shelter benefits.

What you get in the full report

This year’s report provides a comprehensive toolkit for advocacy and policy analysis:

• Detailed jurisdictional profiles: A deep dive into all 13 provinces and territories, detailing benefit components, policy changes, and total welfare income levels.
• Long-term adequacy data: Access to longitudinal data tracking the adequacy of total welfare incomes relative to Canada’s Official Poverty Line since 2002 for provinces and 2018 for territories.
• Program feature analysis: Comparisons of “needs tests” for eligibility, the structure of cost-of-living vs. shelter benefits, the impact of homelessness on benefit levels, and current indexation policies across Canada.
• Downloadable data sets: Access to complete spreadsheets containing welfare income components in both constant and current dollars as well as poverty line and low income threshold comparisons, allowing for independent research and modelling.

This report is crucial for policymakers, advocates, service providers, and anyone committed to ensuring that social assistance supports dignity and well-being.