Statistics Canada says the percentage of people living in poverty dropped to 11 per cent in 2018 from 14.5 per cent in 2015. Those in deep income poverty were down to 5.4 per cent from 7.4. But some other indicators have not improved. The Average Poverty Gap measures the average shortfall below Canada’s official poverty line for those living in poverty. It has increased from 31.8 per cent in 2015 to 33.4 per cent in 2018. That means, while poverty has become less common, people who remain in poverty have not seen their situation improve.
Statistics Canada says 12.2 per cent of persons in Saskatchewan were in low income, in 2017. That fell to 11.2 per cent in 2018.
The federal government uses something called the Market Basket Measure for determining a poverty line. University of Regina Researcher Miguel Sanchez has said in the past that the measure is misleading; that the formula was developed by Social Services Minsters from across the country to fudge the numbers.
According to the latest Market Basket Measure, The threshold in Saskatoon was $45,652 in 2018. In Regina, it was $44,833.