From CTV Winnipeg–A new report found that child poverty in Manitoba continues to be on the rise, ranking number one among Canadian provinces, second only to Nunavut among provinces and territories.
The report, titled “Manitoba: Missed Opportunities,” was released by Campaign 2000, a national coalition that monitors progress and setbacks in ending child poverty by the year 2000, a unanimous motion passed in the House of Commons in 1989.
It pulls from the most recent data from 2019 from the T1 Family File, with poverty status derived from income tax returns.
Kate Koehler, executive director of The Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, and part of the Campaign 2000 Committee, said the report is designed to hold governments accountable.
“We have 88,840 kids who do not have the basic necessities in life, and we know that kids are poor because their families are poor,” Koehler said.
The report shows child poverty in Manitoba is second only to Nunavut, and it found that child poverty disproportionately impacts First Nations children compared to non-Indigenous children.
It found that child poverty sits at 28.4 per cent in Manitoba, up from the previous year’s marker of 28.3 per cent.