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The number of Canadians in poverty is declining rapidly thanks to a strong labour market and an increase in child benefits, a new report from Statistics Canada says — a bit of good news for a Liberal government increasingly mired in controversy.

Indeed, the government boasted about the numbers on Twitter Tuesday, and even found a way to squeeze a shout-out to its Canada child benefit program in a response to a question about the ongoing scandal around the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin on bribery charges.

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In total, about 3.4 million people currently live in poverty in Canada, according to the report. In total, about 622,000 children lived below the poverty line in 2017, down about 18 per cent from 2016.

Jean-Yves Duclos, the minister of families, children and social development, said on Twitter the report means the government has met its poverty-reduction goals three years ahead of schedule.

Between 2015, the year before the Liberals introduced their Canada child benefit, and 2017, the first full year Canadians received it, the country saw “approximately 825,000 fewer people living in poverty,” said Duclos.