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Social assistance: What North American reforms can teach us

In the past dozen years, the number of people on social assistance has fallen sharply across North America. In Quebec, the number of recipients went from 813,200 in March 1996 to 492,941 in October 2006, or 6.4% of the population, the lowest level since the late 1970s. Despite this, the province has the continent’s highest proportion of people on social assistance apart from Newfoundland and the District of Columbia. This reflects both a traditionally higher level and a lower reduction than elsewhere.

Links of interest

Léger Marketing-MEI Public Poll (January 2007): Quebeckers’ opinion on social assistance payments

Media Release: Four out of five people in Quebec say social assistance should be fully conditional – Success elsewhere shows the way to social assistance reform

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