Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy gives time-bound targets for making progress in reducing poverty linked to one indicator.  This suggests that the federal government can be held accountable for its efforts in achieving these time-bound targets.  The indicator it uses is an official poverty line.  The official poverty line is a uniquely income-based concept.  The targets are as follows:

– By 2020, the poverty rate will be reduced by 20% from its 2015 level, and

– By 2030, the poverty rate will be reduced by 50% from its 2015 level (aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals)

In other words, the official poverty line can be used to calculate the poverty rate: the percentage of the population with an annual income lying below this line at a particular point in time forms the poverty rate.

In an article entitled A Primer on Canada’s Official Poverty Line and Why It Matters to the CVITP, we explore what the official poverty line is and how it is used to determine poverty rates.  In the conclusion, we draw the CVITP’s connection with this official poverty line.  As you will see, the income tax and benefit returns processed by the CVITP play a crucial role in helping to raise clients’ incomes relative to the official poverty line.