Welfare in Canada
Explore the report
Welfare Incomes
Choose your Province / Territory
Resources and downloads
- Download spreadsheets of the Welfare in Canada data
- Social assistance eligibility criteria in each province
- Jurisdictions’ legislation and policies relating to social assistance
- Measures of welfare adequacy
- Earlier editions of Welfare in Canada
- How many people receive social assistance in each jurisdiction
Download spreadsheets of the Welfare in Canada data
Download information about social assistance eligibility criteria in each province
Links to jurisdictions’ legislation and policies relating to social assistance
Alberta
- Income and Employment Supports Act
- Income Supports, Health and Training Benefits regulations
- Alberta Works policy manual (see Income Support Program)
- Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped Act
- Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped regulations
- Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped policy manual
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Ontario
- Ontario Works Act
- Ontario Works Regulation
- Ontario Works policy directives
- Ontario Disability Support Program Act
- Ontario Disability Support Program regulations
- Ontario Disability Support Program policy directives (scroll to bottom of the page for ODSP Income Support manual)
- Social assistance rate tables (note, this is not a government website)
Prince Edward Island
- Social Assistance Act
- Social Assistance regulations (note that this may not be up to date)
- Social Assistance policy manual (note that this is not up to date)
- AccessAbility Supports policies
Quebec
Saskatchewan
- Saskatchewan Assistance Act
- Saskatchewan Assistance regulations
- Saskatchewan Assistance Program policy manual
- Saskatchewan Assistance Program rates
- Transitional Employment Allowance regulations
- Transitional Employment Allowance policy manual
- Transitional Employment Allowance rates
- Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability policy manual
- Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability rates
- Saskatchewan Income Support (effective July 2019)
- Saskatchewan Income Support rates(effective July 2019)
Yukon
More information on measures of welfare adequacy
- Backgrounder on measures of low income (published May 2017)
- What poverty reduction advocates should know about the updated poverty measure (published September 2020)
- Low income thresholds in 2018 dollars (Note: to compare 2019 welfare incomes to the 2018 low income thresholds, the low income thresholds are uprated in line with the Consumer Price Index)
- Low income cut-offs
- Market basket measure
- Low income measure