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Indicator 6.3.4 - Incidence of low income in forest-based communities core indicator 
The incidence of low income is used by Statistics Canada as a proxy measure for poverty in Canada. It is defined as the proportion of families or individuals below the low income cut-off, which is determined on the basis of a general assumption that families or individuals spending 70% or more of their income on basic necessities are in strained circumstances. For families, the low income cut-off varies depending on the size of the family and the size of community where they live. In 2000, the low income cut-off for a family of three living in a rural area was $19 738, while in small urban regions it was $22 635. A measure of low income in forest-based communities provides a strong signal about the ability of residents to secure a living wage. Social scientists have been studying issues of poverty in resource-based communities for several decades and have put forth many theories about its prevalence. Some argue that higher rates of poverty are related to deficits in human capital while others counter that the structure of resource-based economies is a primary reason for the preponderance of low wages. Researchers also focus on pockets of poverty within specific groups such as women and minorities. Regardless of the reasons for low income, researchers have identified a close relationship between low income and other social and health issues that draw down the capacity of forest-dependent communities to take advantage of opportunities and respond positively to challenges in the community. For non-Aboriginal communities in all regions of the country, higher incidences of low income are generally associated with greater forest dependence (Table 6.3g). For Canada, multiresource-dependent rural CSDs report a rate of 7.8%, significantly lower than forest-dependent CSDs (10.4%). Other single resource dependent CSDs also report a significantly lower incidence of low income (7.2%) than forest-dependent CSDs. The difference between multiresource-dependent and forest-dependent communities is especially strong in New Brunswick where the incidence of low income in multiresourcedependent communities is 11.5% versus 15.7% in forest-dependent communities. Table 6.3g Average incidence of low income (%) in non-Aboriginal census subdivisions.
nd: Not determined due to insufficient data. For reasons of data quality and confidentiality, Statistics Canada has suppressed information on the incidence of low income in many of the Aboriginal CSDs. As a result, some comparisons are impossible and the reported statistics should be interpreted cautiously. Across Canada, nonforestdependent Aboriginal CSDs report a rate of 1.3% for the incidence of low income, while the rate in forest-dependent CSDs is significantly higher at 4.4% (Table 6.3h). Table 6.3h Table Average incidence of low income (%) in Aboriginal census subdivisions.
ns: Not significantly different from the incidence of low income for nonforest-dependent communities in the same region (P‹0.05). nd: Not determined due to insufficient data. |