Poverty is the condition of a human being who does not have sufficient economic and other resources to live with the dignity, choices and power which support full participation in society.

• In Canada, the most widely used measures of poverty are Statistic Canada’s Low IncomeCut-Offs or “LICOs”

• Based on data collected through a survey of family expenditures, Statistics Canada has determined that when families earn a low income they end up spending a larger share of that income on necessities than the average Canadian family

• According to Statistics Canada, if a family has to spend 20% or more than the average family on necessities they are living in “straitened circumstances”

• LICOs are often used as an indicator of poverty, and those who make an income below the LICO are said to be living in poverty