Prince Edward Island has made “very, very little progress” on child poverty, says one of the co-authors of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative’s report on youth poverty in the province.

The 2025 report card, which was given the subtitle Complacency is Disgraceful, is based on data from 2023. 

“All of these children who are living in poverty — their brains are developing, they are developing,” said Christine Saulnier, the Nova Scotia director for the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives and one of the report’s co-authors. 

“They need to be lifted out of poverty. It is urgent.” 

Data shows 5,000 children on P.E.I. were living in poverty in 2022, and the provincial child poverty rate that year was 16.8 per cent.  

While the data from 2023 show the child poverty rate went down slightly to 16.7 per cent, provincial population growth meant the total number of children living in poverty on the Island increased by 60. 

Saulnier said that although the numbers may not be getting worse, there are still thousands of children across P.E.I. who are struggling — and there’s more the province could do to tackle the issue.

“Our governments really are not putting the investment in. They are allowing children to languish in poverty,” she said. 

‘Not enough support’

P.E.I. has invested roughly $8.4 million in targeted food supports over the last year, said a written statement from the Department of Social Development and Seniors.

“Despite these significant efforts, we recognize that more work needs to be done,” the statement reads. 

The province’s statement said the report shows that P.E.I. has made considerable progress in a number of areas, including having the lowest child poverty rate in the region, showing the largest improvement in the country for child food insecurity and having a lower depth of poverty compared to other parts of the country. 

Saulnier said she agrees that the province has made progress in some areas — like the addition of the child benefit and minimum wage increases — but those improvements aren’t doing enough to help Island families. 

“Anybody earning less than the living wage is making difficult decisions. They’re hoping that luck is on their side,” she said. 

“If they’re not lucky, there’s just not enough support there.” 

Saulnier said the province has an opportunity to add onto existing supports, including those provided by the federal government. 

“I think where we see missed opportunities is when the federal government invests and we see provinces step back,” she said, pointing to childcare and grocery rebates as examples.

“You leverage what the federal government does instead of stepping back and letting the federal government do their part and P.E.I. not doing theirs.”

‘It’s everywhere’

The report card also said child poverty was worse in some rural areas compared to others, with the rate of child poverty ranging from seven per cent in some areas to just over 33 per cent in others. 

Food banks on P.E.I. are feeling the effects firsthand. 

Unfortunately, poverty does not single out a specific area– Norma Dingwell

“Sadly, I wasn’t surprised,” said Norma Dingwell, manager of the Southern Kings And Queens Food Bank.

“The number of clients just keep growing month to month … We see pretty much weekly how the numbers are growing.” 

Dingwell said the Southern Kings And Queens Food Bank served 639 people in the month of January — 217 of whom were children. 

“It’s very heart wrenching, and we do live in a country that’s supposed to be very rich and able to take care of one another,” she said. 

“Unfortunately, poverty does not single out a specific area. It’s everywhere.”