ENGLISH
• SUMMARY
SUMMARY
• Short Title
Short Title
• Interpretation
Interpretation
• Purpose of Act
Purpose of Act
• Poverty Reduction Strategy
Poverty Reduction Strategy
• Development of Strategy
Development of Strategy
• Content of Strategy
Content of Strategy
• Measures
Measures
• Research and Consultations
Research and Consultations
• Office of the Poverty Reduction Commissioner
Office of the Poverty Reduction Commissioner
• Poverty Reduction Commissioner
Poverty Reduction Commissioner
• Staff
Staff
• General
General
• Opting out
Opting out
• Reports to Parliament
Reports to Parliament
• General Agreements
General Agreements
• Regulations
Regulations
• Canadian Human Rights Act
Canadian Human Rights Act
• Department of Employment and Social Development Act
Department of Employment and Social Development Act
• Consequential Amendments
Consequential Amendments
• Access to Information Act
Access to Information Act
• Financial Administration Act
Financial Administration Act
• Privacy Act
Privacy Act
• Official Languages Act
Official Languages Act
• Public Sector Compensation Act
Public Sector Compensation Act
• Language Skills Act
Language Skills Act

SUMMARY

Short Title

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Poverty Reduction Act.

Interpretation

Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

Aboriginal community  means a community made up of Métis, Inuit or First Nations peoples, whether or not that community is situated on a reserve. (communauté autochtone)

Commissioner  means the Poverty Reduction Commissioner appointed under subsection 9(1). (commissaire)

Minister  means the Minister of Employment and Social Development. (ministre)

poverty  means the condition of a human being who does not have the resources, means, choices and power necessary to acquire and maintain economic self-reliance and to facilitate their integration into and participation in society. (pauvreté)

Purpose of Act

Purpose

3 The purpose of this Act is to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion by establishing and implementing a poverty reduction strategy and creating the Office of the Poverty Reduction Commissioner.

Poverty Reduction Strategy

Development of Strategy

Development

4 (1) The Minister must, in consultation with the provincial and territorial governments and Aboriginal communities, as well as municipal administrations and civil society organizations, develop and implement a strategy to reduce poverty and promote social inclusion.

Orientation

(2) The strategy must take into account all people living in poverty, the factors that put people at higher-than-average risk of poverty and the consequences of poverty for society at large.

Objectives

(3) The strategy, while respecting human rights, must meet the following objectives:

• (a) to strengthen the social and economic safety net, that is to say, the accumulative protection provided from non-contributory transfer programs targeted to those at risk or those vulnerable to poverty, which are sometimes referred to as social assistance or social welfare programs;

• (b) to promote the participation of Canadians, non-profit organizations and private-sector suppliers in poverty reduction; and

• (c) to reflect the needs of local communities, including Aboriginal communities.

Draft

(4) Within one year of the day on which this Act comes into force, the Minister must develop a draft of the strategy to be used as a consultation document for the development and implementation of the strategy.

Content of Strategy

Content

5 (1) The strategy is designed to reduce, and indeed eliminate, poverty and promote social inclusion through coherent and complementary measures, including:

• (a) measures necessary to prevent people from falling into poverty, reduce the incidence, depth and duration of poverty and improve the situation of all people currently living in poverty, including those living in deep poverty or poverty of long duration and those who have multiple needs;

• (b) measures to provide income security and access to housing;

• (c) measures to promote the involvement of Canadians in developing and implementing poverty reduction solutions;

• (d) measures to create acceptable tools to measure poverty in Canada;

• (e) specific short-, medium- and long-term targets to eliminate poverty;

• (f) measures to be taken by the Government of Canada to address the causes and consequences of poverty and social exclusion, and the departments responsible for their implementation;

• (g) the terms and schedule for the implementation of the measures;

• (h) the federal departments, other bodies or interested persons that are to be involved in the implementation of the strategy; and

• (i) the obligation to conduct an ongoing analysis of all policies and programs — including future legislation — that may have an impact on the income and well-being of Canadians, to ensure that they contribute to poverty elimination goals.

Factors

(2) The strategy must take the following factors into account:

• (a) the different realities of men and women, determined in particular through gender-based analysis;

• (b) the specific needs of urban, rural and remote communities; and

• (c) the factors that put some individuals at higher-than-average risk of poverty, including:

  • (i) Aboriginal status and history,

  • (ii) discrimination and racism,

  • (iii) child-rearing and single parenthood,

  • (iv) low-wage, precarious employment,

  • (v) immigration or refugee status,

  • (vi) lack of education or lack of recognition of skills and credentials,

  • (vii) occupational injury,

  • (viii) inadequate or limited access to supports and services that allow individuals to meet their own and their family’s needs and to develop their potential, and

  • (ix) prolonged illness and disability.

Measures

Poverty measures

6 The Minister must use all relevant poverty measures to develop, monitor the administration of and report on the strategy, including measures of low income and indicators of poverty, such as the Low Income Measure, the Market Basket Measures and Statistics Canada’s low-income cutoff, and measures of social exclusion or privation such as the Canadian Index of Wellbeing and any other measure of privation.

Research and Consultations

Research

7 (1) The research necessary to develop and implement the strategy, including research that is not yet compiled or cannot be used quickly and easily, particularly on social assistance, must involve the academic sector, those engaged in policy research and groups working with individuals who are experiencing poverty or social exclusion.

Purpose of research

(2) The purpose of the research is to compile, integrate and analyze objective information on poverty and social exclusion, as well as on successful and promising practices in poverty reduction and elimination, to disseminate such information to various stakeholders engaged in the campaign against poverty and social exclusion, and to promote social inclusion.

Consultations

8 The Minister may consult any poverty research body if he or she considers it necessary to the development of the strategy and hold public consultations on the strategy with people who are living or have lived in poverty.

Office of the Poverty Reduction Commissioner

Poverty Reduction Commissioner

Appointment

9 (1) The Poverty Reduction Commissioner is appointed by the Governor in Council after approval of the appointment by resolution of the Senate and House of Commons.

Tenure of office

(2) The Commissioner holds office during good behaviour for a term of six years, but may be removed for cause by the Governor in Council at any time on address of the Senate and House of Commons.

Further terms

(3) The Commissioner, on the expiration of a first term of office, is eligible to be reappointed for one further term.

Interim appointment

(4) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Commissioner, or if that office is vacant, the Governor in Council may appoint any qualified person to hold that office in the interim for a term not exceeding six months, and that person, while holding office, is to be paid the salary or other remuneration and expenses that may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

Salary and expenses

(5) The Commissioner is to be paid a salary equal to the salary of a judge of the Federal Court, other than the Chief Justice of that Court, and is entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred in the per-formance of his or her duties.

Pension benefits

(6) The provisions of the Public Service Superannuation Act, other than those relating to tenure of office, apply to the Commissioner, except that a person appointed as Commissioner from outside the public service, as defined in the Public Service Superannuation Act, may, by notice in writing given to the President of the Treasury Board not more than 60 days after the date of appointment, elect to participate in the pension plan provided in the Diplomatic Service (Special) Superannuation Act, in which case the provisions of that Act, other than those relating to tenure of office, apply to the Commissioner from the date of appointment and the provisions of the Public Service Superannuation Act do not apply.

Federal public administration

(7) The Commissioner is deemed to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

Duties and responsibilities

10 The Commissioner must, in the performance of his or her duties,

• (a) review and provide recommendations on the draft of the strategy;

• (b) develop a monitoring system to assess the progress in implementing the strategy;

• (c) identify factors that, because of evolving economic and social conditions, may create new risks of falling into poverty;

• (d) monitor progress toward and provide advice on reaching the goal to eliminate poverty in Canada;

• (e) prepare a report on the progress made in the reduction of poverty in Canada;

• (f) forward his or her report to the Parliamentary Budget Officer and Auditor General and work with them to better monitor the implementation of the strategy;

• (g) meet with the Minister at least twice a year and advise him or her with respect to the administration of this Act;

• (h) work with the Minister on the development of a monitoring and reporting system and on the gathering and release of poverty data;

• (i) help educate the public and make it aware of the strategy, including its human rights component; and

• (j) no later than two years after the first strategy is tabled in Parliament, study the appropriateness of establishing an entity to accept and address people’s complaints about the efficiency of the programs intended to reduce and eliminate poverty, formulate recommendations to the Minister and investigate whether the complaints reflect widespread problems or patterns.

Staff

Staff

11 (1) Any officers and employees that are necessary to enable the Commissioner to perform his or her duties must be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Technical assistance

(2) The Commissioner may engage, on a temporary basis, the services of persons having technical or specialized knowledge to assist in the performance of his or her duties and may, subject to Treasury Board approval, fix their remuneration and expenses.

General

Opting out

Quebec

12 The Government of Quebec may choose to opt out of the application of any program providing public funds to the provinces to take measures to eliminate poverty and is to receive a monetary contribution equivalent to the amount it would have received through the program.

Reports to Parliament

Report to Parliament

13 (1) The Minister must cause a report setting out the strategy and the progress made in attaining the poverty elimination and social inclusion objectives before each House of Parliament within a year after the day on which this Act comes into force.

Publication of report

(2) The Minister must publish the report on the departmental website within 30 days of its tabling in Parliament.

Deemed referred to appropriate committee

(3) The strategy that is tabled in a House of Parliament is deemed to be referred to the standing committee of that House that normally considers matters relating to poverty and social inclusion or to any other committee that the House may designate for the purposes of this section.

Strategy progress report

14 (1) Four years following the tabling in Parliament of the report referred to in section 13, and every four years after that, the Commissioner must report to the Minister on the progress made in implementing the strategy.

Consultations

(2) During the preparation of the report, the Commissioner must consult with the following in order to obtain their observations on the implementation of the strategy:

• (a) the National Council on Poverty Elimination and Social Inclusion established by section 74 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act;

• (b) organizations with a social mission that adopt market-based strategies to attain social, cultural, community, economic or environmental results; and

• (c) the public, including people who are living or have lived in poverty and their defenders.

Strategy review

15 Within six months of the receipt of the Commissioner’s report, the Minister must review the strategy, taking into account the progress made and the observations formulated under subsection 14(2).

Tabling

16 Within six months of the strategy review under section 15, the Minister must cause to be tabled before each House of Parliament the new version of the strategy, the Commissioner’s progress report and the observations formulated under subsection 14(2).

Report to Parliament

17 The Commissioner must, within three months after the end of each financial year, submit an annual report to Parliament on the activities of the Office of the Poverty Reduction Commissioner during that financial year.

Transmission of reports

18 (1) Every report to Parliament made by the Commissioner under section 17 is to be transmitted to the Speaker of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Commons for tabling in those Houses.

Reference to Parliamentary committee

(2) Every report referred to in subsection (1) must, after it is tabled in accordance with that subsection, be referred to the committee designated or established by Parliament for that purpose.

General Agreements

Power to enter into arrangements or agreements

19 The Minister may enter into agreements or arrangements

• (a) with any department, board or agency of the Government of Canada or any public or private organization or agency to assist in carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act; and

• (b) with the approval of the Governor in Council, with any provincial, territorial, municipal or Aboriginal government

  • (i) to facilitate the administration or implementation of this Act, and

  • (ii) to harmonize and administer federal or provincial financial assistance programs.

Regulations

Regulations

20 The Governor in Council may make regulations that he or she deems necessary for carrying out and giving effect to the provisions of this Act.

R.‍S.‍, c. H-6

Canadian Human Rights Act

21 Section 2 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is replaced by the following:

22 Subsection 3(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

2005, c. 34; 2013, c. 40, s. 205

Department of Employment and Social Development Act

23 Section 2 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

24 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 73:

Consequential Amendments

R.‍S.‍, c. A-1

Access to Information Act

25 Schedule I to the Access to Information Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order under the heading “Other Government Institutions”:

R.‍S.‍, c. F-11

Financial Administration Act

26 Schedule I.‍1 to the Financial Administration Act is amended by adding, in alphabetical order in column I, a reference to

and a corresponding reference in column II to the “Minister of Employment and Social Development”.

27 Schedule IV to the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

28 Part III of Schedule VI to the Act is amended by adding, in alphabetical order in column I, a reference to

and a corresponding reference in column II to the “Poverty Reduction Commissioner”.

R.‍S.‍, c. P-21

Privacy Act

29 The schedule to the Privacy Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order under the heading “Other Government Institutions”:

R.‍S.‍, c. 31 (4th Supp.‍)

Official Languages Act

30 Subsection 24(3) of the Official Languages Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (e), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (f) and by adding the following after paragraph (f):

1991, c. 30

Public Sector Compensation Act

31 Schedule I to the Public Sector Compensation Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order under the heading “Other Portions of the Public Service”:

2013, c. 36

Language Skills Act

32 Section 2 of the Languages Skills Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (j):