There is obviously a moral imperative to end poverty, first and foremost for those living in poverty. There also exists a compelling business case for undertaking effective poverty reduction strategies because very real economic costs of poverty are borne by society as a whole.

For PEI, it is estimated that the total cost of poverty is at minimum between $240 and $320 million per year, which corresponds to about $1,720 and $2,265 per person, per year. In terms of the PEI economy, the cost of poverty is between 5%-7% of GDP, which is consistent with the cost of poverty estimated in other Canadian provinces.