When it comes to measuring seniors' poverty, there are 3 different measures. Two of these 3 show that seniors are less likely to be poor than other age groups. This includes Canada's official poverty measure, which informs the national poverty reduction plan. One measure shows that seniors' poverty is slightly higher than other age groups. No poverty measure accounts for wealth - like the housing wealth that many of the majority of seniors who own their homes have gained from rising prices. 

Canada’s official poverty line is the Market Basket Measure (MBM), which defines poverty based on the cost of a ‘basket’ of goods and services considered essential to have a modest standard of living. A household is considered poor if its income is insufficient to purchase this basket. The MBM is measured and reported by Statistics Canada.

According to the MBM, seniors have the lowest rate of poverty of all age groups. The most recent data for 2023 show that seniors are the only group for whom poverty has declined, to 5%.

The Material Deprivation Index (MDI) assesses whether a household can access 11 essential goods and services considered necessary for a ‘minimally acceptable’ standard of living. A household is considered poor if it cannot afford two or more of these 11 items. This measure was developed recently by Food Banks Canada and other partners.

According to the MDI, seniors have the lowest rate of poverty of all age groups. The 14% of seniors considered to be poor under the MDI is much higher than the 5% under the MBM.

The Low Income Measure (LIM) assesses poverty by comparing households to Canada’s median income. It is a relative measure of poverty, meaning that changes to median income can affect the number of households considered poor, even if the incomes of these households themselves remain the same. The LIM considers a household to be poor if its income is less than 50% of the median (adjusted for household size). The LIM is measured and reported by Statistics Canada.

According to the LIM, seniors have slightly higher rates of poverty than other age groups: 13.8% in 2023, compared to 13.2% for those under age 18 and 11.1% for those age 18-64.