Poverty measures commonly used in Canada set a dollar amount – a poverty line – below which a household is said to be in poverty. In Europe, ‘material deprivation’ is used to complement the dollar yardstick as another way of measuring poverty.  A material deprivation indicator focuses on the outcomes of not having enough financial resources – namely, being unable to afford typical necessities.  This paper explains why Ottawa should develop a material deprivation index as a complementary indicator with which to monitor progress on poverty reduction.