BCPB Home > Benchmarks > Rankings > Performance Indicator 25: Income Assistance

Performance Indicator 25: Income Assistance

Where BC Ranks, Provincial Comparison

Year

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Rank

4

4

5

6

6

2

2

2

2

2

Performance Indicator Twenty-Five is based on the number of people receiving income assistance. Provinces with lower ratios earn better ranks.

In 2007, BC ranked second in Canada with 3.1 percent of the population in receipt of IA. This was well below the Canadian average of 5.0 but higher than Alberta’s 2.5 percent.

Between 1998 and 2007, BC saw a 58 percent decrease in the ratio of people on IA, the largest decrease in the country. Manitoba (24 percent) had the smallest decrease. The ratio of Canadians in receipt of IA fell by 41 percent between 1998 and 2007.

Why It's Important
The proportion of the population collecting income assistance benefits (commonly referred to as welfare) is an important indicator of the economic health of a jurisdiction and may also indicate problems in the incentive structure of the income assistance programs available within a jurisdiction.
Note
Data for 1993-2005 come from an HRSDC report. Data for 2006 and 2007 are from provincial publications or from the Ministry responsible and may be revised slightly when HRSDC updates its public report.

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