• Components of welfare incomes
• Changes to welfare incomes
• Adequacy of welfare incomes
• Changes to adequacy of welfare incomes

Last updated: November 2022

This resource is not intended to help individuals identify what government transfers they could be entitled to. Individuals living in Saskatchewan seeking financial assistance should visit this page.

Components of welfare incomes

In Saskatchewan, households that qualify for basic social assistance payments also qualify for:

• Recurring additional social assistance payments from the province;
• Federal child benefits (for households with children); and
• Federal and provincial tax credits or benefits.

Together, these components combine to form a household’s total welfare income. Households may receive less if they have income from other sources, or more if they have special health- or disability-related needs. In 2021, one example household — the single parent with one child — was also eligible for payments related to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

The table below shows the value of the welfare income components of the four example household types in Saskatchewan in 2021. All four households are assumed to be living in Saskatoon. The child in the single parent household is two years old and the children in the couple household are ten and 15. COVID-19 pandemic-related payments are included where applicable in the table below.

Components of welfare incomes, 2021

Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Total annual welfare incomes in 2021 ranged from $11,471 for the unattached single considered employable to $32,888 for the couple with two children. The unattached single with a disability received $16,313, and the single parent with one child received $25,315.

Basic social assistance: Three of the household types received benefits from the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) program. The unattached single with a disability received benefits from the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) program. These benefits remained unchanged in 2021; however, as SAID pays either flat rate or actual utilities amounts, our calculations include an average actual utilities amount for 2021 for the unattached single with a disability, as provided by the Ministry of Social Services.

Additional social assistance: The unattached single with a disability received $840 ($70 per month) in additional social assistance benefits through the Disability Income Benefit. This amount remained unchanged in 2021.

Federal child benefits: Both households with children received the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), which increased with inflation in July 2021 from $563.75 to $569.42 per month for a child under six years of age and from $475.66 to $480.41 per month for a child aged six to 17. In addition, the single parent of one child aged two received the COVID-19 pandemic-related CCB Young Child Supplement, given to CCB-eligible families with children under the age of six, of $300 per child in January, April, July, and October.

Provincial child benefits: Saskatchewan does not currently have a child benefit program.

Federal tax credits / benefits: All four households received the GST/HST credit, which increased in July 2021 with inflation. The unattached single considered employable and the unattached single with a disability received $297.50 in basic GST/HST credit, while the single parent with one child received $595 and the couple with two children received $907.

Three households also received the GST/HST credit supplement. The unattached single considered employable, who became newly eligible for the supplement in the second half of 2021 due to an increase in their income in 2020, received $6.34, the unattached single with a disability received $108.72 and the single parent with one child received the maximum amount of $156.

All four households also received the federal climate action incentive (CAI) payment. The unattached single considered employable and the unattached single with a disability received the basic CAI payment amount for Saskatchewan of $500. The single parent with one child received the basic amount plus the single parent’s qualified dependant amount of $250, for a total of $750. The couple with two children received the basic amount, a spouse amount of $250, and the qualified dependant amount of $125 for each child, for a total of $1,000. The CAI increased in 2021 over 2020 amounts.

Provincial tax credits / benefits: All four households received the Saskatchewan Low-Income Tax Credit (SLITC), which was increased by inflation in July 2021. The previous annual amounts of $346 for an individual, an additional $346 for a partner or eligible dependant, and $136 per child (for up to two children) were increased to $349 for an individual, an additional $349 for a partner or eligible dependant, and $137 per child (for up to two children). Half of the 2020 amount was delivered in two payments in the January to June period, and half the 2021 amount was delivered in two payments in the July to December period.

COVID-19 pandemic-related payments

The only pandemic-related payment available to the example Saskatchewan households in 2021 was received by the single parent of one child aged two, which came from the federal Canada Child Benefit Young Child Supplement of $300 per child, paid in January, April, July, and October. This amount is included in, and is not in addition to, the benefits described in the Components section above.

COVID-19 pandemic-related payments, 2021

The graphs below show how the total welfare incomes for each of the four example household types in Saskatchewan have changed over time. Note that the values are in 2021 constant dollars, not in nominal dollars. Using constant dollars takes into account the effect of inflation, as measured by the national Consumer Price Index, given that inflation reduces real dollar values over time.

Total incomes fell in 2021 for all four example households.

The total welfare income of the unattached single considered employable was relatively stable until 2009, with some variability in the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, followed by a gradual decline between 2009 and 2019. A 32 per cent increase followed in 2020, from $9,193 in 2019 to $12,195 in 2020, which was the result of new basic social assistance benefit amounts, as well as the new climate action incentive benefit and COVID-19 pandemic-related payments. The decline to $11,471 in 2021 was primarily due to the loss of pandemic-related payments, as well as to the impact of inflation on unchanged social assistance benefit amounts.

The trend in total welfare incomes for the unattached single with a disability who qualified for the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability program has been tracked since 2013, after the program became available to those living independently. After peaking at $17,228 in 2015, incomes declined until 2019, and increased again in 2020 to $17,218, due primarily to the introduction of the climate action incentive and COVID-19 pandemic-related payments. The decline in 2021 to $16,313 was primarily due to the loss of pandemic-related payments, as well as the impact of inflation.

The welfare income of both households with children has followed a similar trajectory across the time series. Declines through the 1990s and mid-2000s were followed by fluctuations through the late-2000s and general increases thereafter. Increases between 2015 and 2017 were the result of changes to federal child benefits. The sharp increases in 2020 resulted from new basic social assistance benefit amounts, the introduction of the climate action incentive, and COVID-19 pandemic-related payments.

The declines in 2021 are primarily due to the loss of the 2020 pandemic-related payments, as well as to the impact of inflation on unchanged social assistance benefit amounts. The loss is lower for the single parent with one child due to the Canada Child Benefit Young Child Supplement, which is a new COVID-19 pandemic-related payment for 2021.

In 2021, the welfare income of the single parent with one child was $25,315, while that of the couple with two children was $32,888, a decline of $2,557.

Adequacy of welfare incomes

The adequacy of a household’s total welfare income can be assessed by comparing it to established thresholds of poverty and/or low income.

In Canada, there are two commonly used measures of poverty:

• The Market Basket Measure (MBM), Canada’s Official Poverty Line, identifies households whose disposable income is less than the cost of a “basket” of goods and services that represent a basic standard of living.
• Deep Income Poverty (MBM-DIP) identifies households whose disposable income is less than 75 per cent of the MBM.

There are also two commonly used measures of low income:

• The Low Income Measure (LIM) identifies households whose income is substantially below what is typical in society (less than half of the median income).
• The Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) identifies households that are likely to spend a disproportionately large share of their income on the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter.

Note that MBM thresholds vary by province and community size, and LICO thresholds vary by community size, and so those for Saskatoon are used in the analysis below. As well, both the MBM and LIM thresholds for 2021 are estimates based on increasing the 2020 thresholds to account for inflation.

Note also that none of the poverty or low-income measures currently in use in Canada account for the higher cost of living faced by persons with disabilities and thus these additional costs are not reflected in our analysis.

More information about the thresholds is available in the methodology section.

A table containing comparisons of the welfare incomes of the four example household types in Saskatchewan with all four poverty / low-income thresholds is available for download.

Poverty threshold comparisons

The figures below compare welfare incomes for the four example household types to the MBM and MBM-DIP thresholds for Saskatoon.

The welfare incomes of all four example household types in Saskatchewan were below Canada’s Official Poverty Line in 2021, meaning all these households were living in poverty. All four households were also living in deep poverty in 2021, as defined by the MBM-DIP.

The unattached single considered employable had the lowest income relative to the poverty thresholds. Their income was $6,599 below the deep income poverty threshold and $12,623 below the poverty line. This means their income was only 63 per cent of the MBM-DIP and only 48 per cent of the MBM.

The unattached single with a disability had an income that was $1,757 below the deep income poverty threshold and $7,781 below the poverty line. In other words, their income was 90 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 68 per cent of the MBM.

Note that the poverty experienced by persons with disabilities is under-represented, because neither the MBM nor the MBM-DIP account for the additional costs associated with disability.

The welfare income of the single parent with one child was highest relative to the poverty lines among the four example households. Their income was $241 below the deep income poverty threshold and $8,760 below the poverty line. This means their income was 99 per cent of the MBM-DIP but only 74 per cent of the MBM.

The welfare income of the couple with two children was $3,254 below the deep income poverty threshold and $15,301 below the poverty line. In other words, their income was 91 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 68 per cent of the MBM.

Low-income threshold comparisons

The welfare incomes of these households were also below the low-income thresholds, as shown in the table linked above.

The lowest income relative to these thresholds was that of the unattached single considered employable, whose total welfare income was 42 per cent of the LIM and 59 per cent of the LICO. The highest was that of the single parent with one child, who had a welfare income of 65 per cent of the LIM and 108 per cent of the LICO.

The unattached single with a disability had a welfare income of 59 per cent of the LIM and 85 per cent of the LICO. The couple with two children had a welfare income that was 60 per cent of the LIM and 90 per cent of the LICO.

Changes to adequacy of welfare incomes

The graphs below show the total welfare incomes of each of the four example household types in Saskatchewan as a percentage of the Market Basket Measure (MBM), starting in 2002.

The MBM has been updated twice since its creation in 2000, first in 2008 and again in 2018. This “rebasing” updates the measure, including the items and costs included in the basket, to better reflect contemporary circumstances.

Three trendlines for each household are shown, which correspond to the relationship between welfare incomes and the original and rebased MBMs. Rebasing typically creates a higher poverty threshold than that of a previous base.

The 100 per cent threshold at the top of the vertical axis represents Canada’s Official Poverty Line. As such, the graphs essentially show how far below the poverty line the households have been in terms of their total welfare income over the past 20 years. The trendlines indicate changes in the level of poverty of the households within the years in which the bases are applied. A rise in the trendline within those periods indicates an improvement in their level of poverty while a decline indicates a worsening of the depth of their poverty.

A grey line has also been included that indicates the deep income poverty threshold, which is 75 per cent of the MBM. As such, the graphs also show the relationship between total welfare incomes over time and deep poverty.

Note that MBM thresholds vary by province and community size, and so Saskatoon is used. Also note that the 2021 MBM thresholds are estimates based on increasing the 2020 thresholds to account for inflation. More information is in the methodology section.

The welfare income of the unattached single considered employable began the time series at 48 per cent of the poverty line, increasing to 62 per cent in 2006, then falling to 56 per cent in 2008. After rebasing, their income was 52 per cent of the poverty line in 2008, followed by a declining trend over the next ten years that ended at 47 per cent in 2018. After 2018’s rebasing, their income was 39 per cent of the poverty line. The subsequent three years saw an increase to 50 per cent of the poverty line in 2020 and a decrease to 48 per cent in 2021.

Overall, the welfare income of the unattached single considered employable ended the time series in 2021 at the same level — 48 per cent of the poverty line — as it started in 2002. This means no progress was made on alleviating their poverty across the time series. As well, their income was below the deep income poverty threshold across the entire time series, meaning they would have been living in deep poverty over the last 20 years.

The welfare income of the unattached single with a disability receiving Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability benefits started in 2013 (when the program became available to those living independently) at 77 per cent of the poverty line, increasing to 83 per cent in 2018. After 2018’s rebasing, their income was 69 per cent of the poverty line. An increase to 71 per cent of the poverty line in 2020 was followed by a decrease to 68 per cent in 2021.

Overall, the welfare income of the unattached single with a disability was nine percentage points lower in 2021, at 68 per cent of the poverty line, than it was in 2013, at 77 per cent. This means a worsening of the depth of their poverty across the time series. As well, it is important to note that their income started the time series above the deep income poverty threshold but fell below in the last four years, and, as such, they would have been living in deep poverty in that period.

The welfare income of the single parent with one child started the time series at 71 per cent of the poverty line, increasing with some fluctuations to 80 per cent in 2008. After rebasing, their income was 74 per cent of the poverty line, thereafter decreasing slightly to a low of 72 per cent in 2012, and increasing to 79 per cent in 2018. After the 2018 rebasing, their income was 65 per cent of the poverty line, increasing to 75 per cent in 2020 and ending the time series at 74 per cent in 2021.

Overall, the welfare income of the single parent with one child was only slightly higher in 2021, at 74 per cent of the poverty line, than it was at the beginning, at 71 per cent in 2002. This indicates virtually no progress on the depth of their poverty across the time series. In addition, their income was below the deep income poverty threshold for 13 of the last 20 years, meaning they would have been living in deep poverty for the majority of the time period.

The welfare income of the couple with two children started the time series at 74 per cent of the poverty line, increasing with fluctuations to 78 per cent in 2008. After rebasing, their income was 72 per cent of the poverty line and, after a decrease to 68 per cent in 2011, increased to 78 per cent in 2017 and 79 per cent in 2018. After the 2018 rebasing, their income was 66 per cent of the poverty line, increasing to 73 per cent in 2020 and ending the time series at 68 per cent.

Overall, the welfare income of the couple with two children followed a very similar trendline to that of the single parent with one child, starting and ending the 20-year time series lower, at 68 per cent of the poverty line in 2021, than it began, at 74 per cent of the poverty line in 2002. This indicates a worsening of the depth of their poverty across the time series. In addition, their income was only above the deep income poverty threshold in two of the last 20 years, meaning that they would have been living in deep poverty for almost the entire period.