Nunavut's child poverty rate is the highest in Canada, new report says

Half of children under the age of six who live in Nunavut are living in poverty — the highest rate in the country — according to a new report released Tuesday. 

The report, from advocacy group Campaign 2000, looks at child poverty rates across Canada, where it says 1.4 million children are living in poverty. 

In Nunavut, nearly 42 per cent of kids under the age of 18 are living in poverty. That's compared to the national average, which is 18 per cent. 

The report relies on Statistics Canada household income data from 2022. 

From 2021 to 2022, Nunavut also saw the highest increase in its child poverty rates for children under 18 and children under 6 — up by 6.8 and 6 per cent respectively. 

Jasmine Redfern, president of the Amautiit Nunavut Inuit Women's Association, said the data doesn't tell the whole story. 

"It really only focuses on one indicator of poverty, which is people's income," Redfern said. "But what we understand about poverty is that poverty is actually a multi-dimensional issue and there are multi-dimensional experiences of poverty."

"So people not having access to income, but there's also things like social access and inclusion, the ability to access resources and supports, and that's information that's not captured in this data."

Redfern pointed to inflation and a minimum wage that doesn't meet the high cost of living in Nunavut as potential reasons for the high poverty rates.

Terence Hamilton, the deputy director of policy with UNICEF Canada and a member of the Campaign 2000 steering committee, said child poverty rates have gone up in every province and territory in the country in the last two years. 

"So lots of issues for concern, but we're also optimistic that, you know, drawing attention to this issue will put it back on the political agenda and moving into an election year," Hamilton said. 

Hamilton said there are several things driving up child poverty rates, including inflation.

Like Redfern, he also acknowledged that income numbers are only part of the picture when it comes to poverty rates. 

"So that means our poverty measurement is a relative one. It's about the experience of not being able to provide a 'normal or average' upbringing for your children," Hamilton said. 

The report makes nearly 60 recommendations to alleviate child poverty rates. The biggest, Hamilton said, is adding a low income supplement to the federal Canada Child Benefit. 

"It already exists and so supplement to it would be relatively straightforward to implement and with the sufficient investment, we could see a real decline in child poverty rates in a short period of time," he said. 

"It shows us that the government and its policy tools are a bit slow to react to the changes in Canadian society and we need to be doing more for those families that are struggling to make ends meet."

Redfern agreed, saying she also wants to see the federal Inuit Child First Initiative be extended. It's set to expire in March 2025.