Performance Indicator 22: Low Income Cut-Offs

Performance Indicator Twenty-Two uses data on the number of people with incomes below a level identified by Statistics Canada as relatively low. The province with the lowest proportion earns the best rank.

In 2007, BC ranked second-last in Canada with 15.3 percent of families and unattached individuals with incomes below the after-tax low income cut-off (LICO).

All provinces saw decreases in the proportion of people with low income between 1998 and 2007. British Columbia had the third-smallest decrease at 25 percent and Alberta had the largest decrease at 51 percent.

BC's rate fell by eight percent between 2006 and 2007. This did not result in a rank improvement, however, because most other provinces had even larger decreases. Prince Edward Island, Alberta and Saskatchewan had decreases in low income rates twice as large as BC's.

British Columbia was, however, the only province with decreases in its LICO rate in each of the last five years.

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