A quarter of Montreal-area adults lived in poverty between 2016 and 2023, study finds

Adults poor for at least one year, 2016-2023

26 %

Some 26 per cent of adults in the Montreal region spent at least one year below the poverty line from 2016 to 2023, a study by the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) for Centraide du Grand Montréal found. In any single year since 2020, the rate was 10 to 12 per cent.

Montreal-area adults who lived in poverty

14 three years or more 12 one or two years

Poverty often lasts: 14 per cent of adults were poor for at least three of those years, and 12 per cent for one or two.

Persistent poverty, by group

• Recent immigrants: 22%
• Immigrants of 10+ years: 20%
• Seniors: 11%, up from 1%

Persistent poverty is more common among recent immigrants and those settled for over a decade, and is rising among seniors, from 1 per cent in 1992-1999 to 11 per cent in 2016-2023.

Monthly social assistance, Quebec adult

845 $

The report says social assistance is not enough to escape poverty and calls for higher benefits. A Quebec adult with no health constraint receives $845 a month.

"We have to make sure our politicians and society at large understand the urgency of the situation, when one person in four has lived in poverty."

— Tasha Lackman, Centraide du Grand Montréal