Poverty reduction policies and programs in Canada : Politiques et programmes sur la réduction de la pauvreté au Canada

The analysis, views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of the Canadian Council on Social Development. [...] It is worth reviewing Canada’s characteristic approach to social welfare policy and its implications for poverty policy – the key people, organizations and sectors involved, the governance and decision- making systems, the demographics of poverty and poverty policy, and the important influences of gender and geography – all of these issues bear review to uncover important similarities, differences [...] It discusses the context for understanding federal poverty policy, including an overview of poverty measurement and trends, and a discussion of social policy goals and perspectives, and it reviews the current system of anti- poverty and income security policies at the national level. [...] Esping-Andersen and other users of the welfare state typology maintain that the type of welfare regime is important in understanding the mix of policies and approaches that a country employs to address poverty and contribute to the income security of its citizens. [...] Given Brady’s findings and the complexity of the mix of policies and programs within the welfare state, a practical and informative approach to understanding policy development in Canada is found in Boychuk’s description of the Canadian Social Model (2004).