Saskatchewan needs a plan to be poverty-free. Currently Saskatchewan remains in the minority of provinces who do not have a poverty-reduction plan.
Why does Saskatchewan need a plan?
Despite experiencing an economic boom over the past decade, poverty still remains a reality for many people and communities in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan’s economic growth has not benefitted everyone equally as it has brought with it rising costs making it more difficult for families on low-incomes to meet their basic necessities.
Currently in Saskatchewan:
- At 15.3% Saskatchewan’s poverty rate is higher than Canada’s overall poverty rate of 14.5%, affecting 140,000 people.
- Saskatchewan’s child poverty rate is the third highest provincial rate in all of Canada.
- In 2007, 16.7% of all children under the age of 18, that’s 35,000 children, were living below the poverty line.
A new network of individuals and organizations has come together from across the province to form Poverty Free Saskatchewan (PFS). PFS is calling on individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments to work together to create an effective and detailed poverty elimination strategy for Saskatchewan.
PFS is working to create a “Made-in Saskatchewan” action plan for eliminating poverty. To learn more read their report Let’s Do Something About Poverty, which outlines the current situation in Saskatchewan regarding poverty and offers proposals and solutions for what we can do to reduce and ultimately eliminate poverty in Saskatchewan.
Take Action
Contact the MLA in your constituency
- Use this link to find your MLA and contact them: do they support a poverty reduction plan with legislated targets and timelines?
Learn more about poverty reduction initiatives in Saskatchewan
Support a National Poverty Reduction Strategy
Resources
Documents
Let’s Do Something about Poverty
Organizations
