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Media Contacts

Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction

Media Relations
778 974-3851

Backgrounders

Supports for people in need
  • Effective April 2021:
    • a single person on income assistance will receive $935 per month and a single person on disability assistance will receive $1,358.42.
    • a couple on income assistance will receive $1,427.22 per month and a couple on disability assistance will receive $1,947.56 after increases of $350 per month.
    • single parents with one child will receive $1,270.58 if on income assistance and $1,694.08 if on disability assistance, plus up to $697 in federal and provincial child benefits.
    • couples with one child will receive $1,611.06 per month if on income assistance and $2,131.56 per month if on disability assistance, plus up to $697 in federal and provincial child benefits.
  • Income assistance and disability assistance rates were previously increased by $100 per month in September 2017 and $50 per month in April 2019.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, a temporary COVID-19 crisis supplement of $300 per month was provided from April to December 2020, and a $150 per month recovery supplement was provided from January to March 2021.
  • Effective January 2021, the annual earnings exemption for people on disability assistance increased to $15,000 per year and the annual earnings exemption for people on income assistance increased to $6,000 per year.
  • Effective October 2020, nearly 300,000 families began to receive the Child Opportunity Benefit, which will continue until the child turns 18, whereas previous benefits stopped at age six:
    • Families with one child receive up to $1,600 per year
    • Families with two children receive up to $2,600
    • Families with three children receive up to $3,400