Study find Filipinos suffer the least poverty in Canada, Arabs, Indigenous the most

A Department of Social Development briefing note reveals that Filipinos have the lowest poverty rates in Canada, while Arab Canadians and First Nations experience the highest levels of poverty. Blacklock's Reporter says this analysis comes in response to criticisms from an Alberta think tank regarding misleading portrayals of poverty.“We recognize poverty does not affect everyone equally and many Canadians struggle to get ahead because of individual, structural and systemic barriers including but not limited to racism and discrimination,” stated the June 7 note titled Poverty And Food Insecurity.This briefing followed a May 30 report by the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy, a Calgary think tank. Their report, "Poverty And Race In Canada: Facts About Race, Discrimination And The Poor," claimed that most poor Canadians are white.“Authors contend that drawing a link between poverty and discrimination is erroneous and they provide selective data to support their assertion,” said the briefing note. “The authors provide statistics on the number of people who are experiencing poverty by racialized groups.”“They show that of people experiencing poverty in Canada, 58% are white,” the note continued. “A more representative statistic would be the proportion of a racialized group experiencing poverty compared to the proportion of that group among the population.”The department’s figures indicated a 6.2% poverty rate for Filipinos compared to 8.7% for whites, 11.3% for Latinos, 11.5% for South Asians, 11.9% for Métis, 13.9% for blacks, 15.6% for Chinese Canadians, 18.7% for Arab Canadians, and 22.1% for First Nations.These findings align with similar statistics in a Statistics Canada report issued last August 23, which noted, “Poverty rates are higher for most racialized groups than for the white population.” The report, Poverty Among Racialized Groups Across Generations, confirmed that Filipinos overall had the lowest poverty rate, followed by Japanese and Caucasians, with South Asians, Latinos, Blacks, Chinese, Koreans, and Arab Canadians experiencing higher rates.Additionally, a separate 2023 StatsCan report found that Filipino and Chinese Canadians are more likely to be homeowners than blacks or Arab Canadians. “Some of the observed differences in ownership rates may be attributable to variation in sociodemographic characteristics,” stated the report.Overall, about four million Canadians, or 9.9% of the population, live in poverty, according to a departmental Briefing Binder dated last December 11. “Future increases in the rate of poverty could stall progress towards reaching the 2030 poverty reduction target of a 50% reduction in poverty versus 2015 levels,” it warned.