POVERTY VULNERABILITY MAP
Information is power
Poverty is a major challenge that impacts millions of Canadians and drives the need for food banks. However, poverty can sometimes be hard to see, which makes it harder to address.
About The Map
This map facilitates an understanding of geographic differences in poverty and the factors associated with it. By knowing where people are the most vulnerable to poverty, we can allocate resources to better serve those in need. And by understanding the factors that are correlated with poverty, we can devise and implement more effective solutions.
How YOU can use this map
How to navigate this map
- Select which type of geographic region you’d like to view (electoral districts, ADAs or CMAs). Definitions of these terms and others relevant to this map are found below.
- Select an indicator — median household income or unemployment rate, for example — and see the map’s colours change to show your chosen indicator’s levels in each geographic region. With the exception of “Population,” each of the available indicators has been shown to correlate with poverty in some way.
- Use the pull-down menu on the right-hand side of the map to select the “Search” tool. Type in an address, postal code or location name to centre the map on a place that interests you. You can also scroll around on the map to gain perspective on a particular area or the country as a whole.
- Click on a geographic region to display all the indicators that are available for it. Note that “Food insecurity” is available only for CMAs.
- Access additional layers of information by using the pull-down menu to select “Layers.” Here you can toggle the map to show Food Banks Canada affiliates (food banks and other organizations serving people experiencing food insecurity). This could give you a rough sense of the food-bank network’s geographic coverage.
You can also reveal Northern Food Basket Costs, which are estimates of how much it costs to feed a family of four in various Northern communities where groceries can be particularly expensive.
Term Definitions
The summaries below are intended for a general audience. For full explanations of terms, please consult this map’s research notes.
Geographic categories
This map allows you to pull up data for:
- Federal electoral districts: Each of these 338 voting districts is represented by a member of Canada’s Parliament.
- Aggregated dissemination areas (ADAs): Statistics Canada delineates these geographic regions for the purposes of the census. They cover the entire country, and wherever possible, they each have a population of roughly 5,000 to 15,000 people.
- Census metropolitan areas (CMAs): These are locations that meet certain population-density criteria. They usually overlap with the same places that we would call “cities,” “large towns” or “metropolitan areas.”
Indicators
With the exception of “Population,” each of these indicators has been shown to correlate with poverty in some way.
Population: Number of people living in a geographic region.
Median household income: If the income of every household in a geographic region was ordered on a list from lowest to highest or vice versa, the median would be the middle number on that list.
Housing affordability: Percentage of renting households spending 30 per cent or more of their pre-tax income on shelter costs. This indicator might be better described the rate of households living in unaffordable housing, but for the sake of consistency, we are using Statistics Canada’s name for it.
Low-income measure: Percentage of households with an income that falls below a specified low-income line that varies according to the size of the family/household and where they live.
Unemployment rate: Percentage of the labour force that was unemployed in 2021. For Census Metropolitan Areas, more recent unemployment data from 2024 is now available at Statistics Canada.
Indigenous identity: Percentage of the population who are First Nations, Métis or Inuit and/or Registered or Treaty Indians and/or have membership in a First Nation or Indian band.
Visible minority: Percentage of the population that belongs to a racialized group as defined by the Employment Equity Act. It consists mainly of the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese. It does not include Indigenous identity.
Recent immigration: Percentage of the population that had immigrated to Canada during the previous five years at the time of the latest census (2021).
Food insecurity: Percentage of the population that has inadequate or uncertain access to food due to financial constraints.
Additional layers of information
FBC affiliates: These points represent food banks and other organizations that are affiliated with Food Banks Canada. Some are “hubs” that distribute food to local agencies such as food pantries, shelters and after-school programs. Others are food banks that serve people directly, and some do both. In many cases, only the “hubs” are shown on this map, even though their membership includes many food banks and other programs in their areas.
We approximated these points based on postal codes, so they’re not intended to help you find your way to a food bank in person. If you intend to visit a food bank, please consult our Find a Food Bank map instead.
Northern food basket costs 2021: These amounts are estimates of how much it costs to feed a family of four a healthy diet for one week. They came from the federal government’s Nutrition North Canada program and are shown for communities that are eligible for that program. Food Banks Canada calculated the monthly estimates. As a southern point of comparison, we’ve included the monthly cost of a food basket in Ottawa, also for a family of four. Unsurprisingly, locations with higher food-basket prices tend to be more vulnerable to food insecurity.
This map was created by Esri Canada and funded by the Walmart Foundation.
POVERTY IN CANADA AFFECTS US ALL: HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP