The government of Canada has introduced new legislation to take dicisive steps to reduce poverty in the country. Jean-Yves Duclos, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development in Canada, has mooted a legislation as part of Opportunity for All – Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy.
The legislation proposes clear-cut poverty reduction targets, such as a 20 per cent reduction in poverty by 2020 and a 50 per cent reduction in poverty by 2030, relative to 2015 levels. These targets will be the lowest poverty rates in history.
The new bill also intends to introduce an official measure of poverty: Canada’s Official Poverty Line. Finally, the Bill aims to form a National Advisory Council on Poverty which would advise the government on various poverty reduction issues.