Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Welfare rates tumble

SOCIAL assistance rates fell in every province during the 10-year period between 1993 and 2003, but nowhere was the decline more dramatic than in Alberta and Ontario.

In 1993, 7.4% of Alberta’s population was on social assistance, according to a new report. By 2003, this proportion had plunged to only 1.8%, lowest in the country.

Similarly, in Ontario 12.1% of the population was on social assistance in 1993, the highest rate among the provinces. Ten years later, this proportion had declined to 5.5%, which was also the national average.

In total, nearly 3.0 million people nationwide were receiving welfare benefits in 1993. A decade later, this level had plunged 41.3% to just over 1.7 million.

The decline in numbers was more pronounced moving from east to west. Levels fell 36% in the Atlantic region, 40% in central Canada and 48% in the West. The largest changes in relative position were in central Canada.

Quebec second highest

Quebec ended the 10-year period with the second highest social assistance rate in the country behind only Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 1993, 10.4% of Quebec’s population was receiving welfare benefits. By 2003, the proportion had declined to 7.3%. At the same time, Newfoundland and Labrador’s rate fell from 11.7% to 9.9%.

Most of the decline in Newfoundland and Labrador occurred between 1997 and 2002, the province’s best five years for growth in employment in a generation. The Hibernia megaproject boosted employment, and raised energy output sharply to 15% of provincial gross domestic product in 2000.

You can read the article “Social assistance by province, 1993 to 2003” on our website.

For more information, contact Francine Roy (613-951-3627), Current Economic Analysis.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.