Article content

Quebec plans to inject $3 billion over the next five years to fight poverty by increasing financial assistance to society’s poorest.

Individuals with a limited capacity to work are the big winners of the much-anticipated welfare reform announced on Sunday. By 2023, they will see their annual government assistance jump from $12,749 to $18,029, which will bring their income up to the poverty threshold. Quebec will pay a total of $1.2 billion to provide them with a basic income (or guaranteed minimum income), separate from rules imposed in the social assistance program.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Quebec to inject $3 billion into anti-poverty program Back to video

People deemed fit to work will continue to operate under the current social assistance system, with training and job search bonuses subsidized to varying degrees.

These measures are expected to bring some 100,000 destitute people out of poverty by the end of 2023, government officials said.

The policy made public Sunday by Prime Minister Philippe Couillard and François Blais, the minister of Employment and Social Solidarity, was immediately denounced by anti-poverty groups. Convinced Quebec is using the carrot-and-stick approach, group members said the plan will create two classes of poor: those who cannot work and are rewarded and others who are always penalized.