November 15, 2025
Summary: On November 7, Statistics Canada released new poverty data in its Official Poverty Dashboard. Poverty rates for 2020–2023 are now higher than previously reported.
Why the change? Canada’s poverty line is based on the Market Basket Measure (MBM) — the cost of a basket of essentials (shelter, food, clothing, transportation, other necessities). This basket is reviewed every five years to reflect changing needs.
2018‑base MBM: The last major review in 2018 set the poverty thresholds used until now. Families with disposable incomes below these thresholds were considered poor, with adjustments by region and family size.
2023‑base MBM: The latest review added a communications services component (landline, cellphone, internet) and removed one regional threshold, leaving 65 MBM regions. Poverty thresholds are recalculated annually, and disposable incomes are compared against them to determine poverty rates.
Applying the 2023‑base MBM to data from 2020–2023 produces slightly higher poverty rates than under the 2018‑base. The overall trend remains the same: poverty has risen steadily since 2020.
What’s the relevance to the CVITP? The CVITP helps low‑income Canadians file returns and access benefits which count as part of a household’s disposable income. For some households, CVITP support is the difference between being classified as poor or simply low‑income.
On November 7, Statistics Canada released its latest Official Poverty Dashboard of Indicators. The update included revised poverty rates for 2020–2023, all higher than previously published.
What changed?
The answer lies in the Market Basket Measure (MBM) methodology which is used to establish Canada’s official poverty line.
If you are not familiar with the MBM methodology, please refer to my primer on Canada’s official poverty line.
The MBM defines a basket of goods and services a typical family needs for a modest standard of living. It covers five components: shelter, clothing, food, transportation, and other necessities.
Because needs evolve, Statistics Canada reviews the basket every five years. Items are added or removed to reflect social change — for example, cell phones, which did not exist when I was growing up, are now considered essential.
2018‑base MBM
In 2018, Statistics Canada completed a major review and established the “2018‑base MBM.” It calculated the cost of the reference basket for a family of four (two adults, two children). This cost became the poverty threshold. Families with disposable incomes below the threshold are considered to be in poverty.
Thresholds vary by region and family size, reflecting differences in local costs. In practice, this means Canada has multiple poverty lines, each tailored to geography and household composition.
Using these poverty thresholds, Statistics Canada looked at disposable income data starting in 2015 and established poverty rates for each year going forward. It has continued to use these poverty thresholds up until 2023.
2023‑base MBM
In 2023, Statistics Canada launched its latest review of the Market Basket Measure. The most significant change is the addition of a communications services component — landline, cellphone, and internet — costed using minimum standards set by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Another adjustment is the removal of one poverty threshold: no geography now fits the definition for Newfoundland and Labrador communities with populations between 30,000 and 99,999. This reduces the total MBM regions to 65, including 13 in the territories.[i]
The cost of this updated basket defines the 2023‑base MBM poverty line for a reference family of four. Thresholds are calculated annually for each region and adjusted for different family sizes using the same square‑root equivalence scale applied in 2018.[ii]
Statistics Canada compares household disposable incomes in each region against the new thresholds to determine the share of individuals living below the line — the poverty rate. Applying the 2023‑base MBM to data from 2020–2023 produces slightly higher poverty rates than under the 2018‑base, though the trend is unchanged: poverty has risen steadily since 2020.
Relevance to the CVITP
The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) helps low‑income residents file returns and access benefits, which form part of disposable income. Without these benefits, many households would fall further below the poverty line. For some, CVITP support is the difference between being counted as poor and being classified as low‑income.[iii]
Note: Until now, I have used 2018‑base MBM data in my articles, most recently in Providing CVITP Service in 2024 to People in Poverty. Going forward, I will use 2023‑base MBM data. I will not revise past articles but will clearly indicate which base is being used in future work.
[i] For further details, see the Statistics Canada note entitled The proposed methodology for the 2023-base Market Basket Measure of poverty, (May 2025).
[ii] For further details on the 2023-base MBM poverty thresholds by family size and region, consult this page on the Statistics Canada website.
[iii] While the CVITP makes use of income ceilings to establish households’ eligibility to receive the free CVITP service, these income ceilings are not the same as the poverty line. For more on the difference between the two, see Should The CRA Change Its Income Criteria For Eligible Clients?