The Newfoundland government has also been proactive in pushing for a poverty reduction strategy. In its 2005 Speech from the Throne, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced its intent to address poverty.
A year later, after extensive community consultation, Poverty Reduction - An Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador was announced. On December 6 2006, the government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy was passed unanimously, making Newfoundland and Labrador the second province in Canada to adopt a poverty reduction strategy.
The province’s strategy is an integrated approach based on the principles of social inclusion and collaboration. This comprehensive approach makes the connections between poverty and gender, education, housing, employment, health, social and financial supports, and tax measures, as well as the link between women’s poverty and their increased vulnerability to violence.
The Plan
Goal
The central goal of the Newfoundland Poverty Strategy is simple: to transform Newfoundland and Labrador from the Canadian province with the most poverty to the one with the least by 2014.
Strategy
Five specific goals were outlined in the 2006 Action Plan:
1. Improve access to services for people with low income
2. Develop a stronger social safety net
3. Improve earned incomes
4. Increase emphasis on the need for early childhood development
5. Work toward having a better educated population
Progress towards a stronger social safety net included increased support for persons with disabilities, enhanced accessibility to the justice system, further development of social housing, and increased and indexed Income Support rates. The province also recognized that one of the best ways out of poverty is through meaningful paid employment, and used it as a central goal in the Newfoundland Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Budget & Accountability
The province has demonstrated its commitment to reducing poverty by making significant investments in its poverty reduction strategy. Budget 2006 committed over $30.5 million for the year to reduce poverty, and $64 million annually thereafter. Budget 2007 promised an additional $28.9 million for the poverty reduction strategy, for a total annual investment of over $91 million. Altogether, over 100 million was invested between 2006 and 2008.
Progress Report
By all available measures of low-income, the province is seeing significant improvement in reducing the overall level of poverty since 2003.
- The incidence of low-income in the province decreased from 12.2 % in 2003 to 6.5 % in 2007, the latest date for which data are available.
- The depth of poverty, or average low-income gap, decreased from $5,500 in 2003 to $4,900 in 2007 and is now the lowest in the country.
The 2006 Poverty Reduction Strategy has put Newfoundland at the forefront for poverty reduction progress in Canada. Since implementing the poverty reduction strategy in 2006, Newfoundland went from being one of the provinces with the highest levels of poverty to one with the least.
Take Action
Newfoundland and Labrador is doing its part to address poverty but the provinces and territories need federal support to significantly reduce and ultimately eliminate poverty in Canada. That’s why we’re calling on Canada to adopt a national poverty-reduction strategy.
Support a National Poverty Reduction Strategy
Resources
Documents
Poverty Reduction - An Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador
Government Site
Poverty Reduction in Newfoundland and Labrador
