Provincial Health Officer's Annual Report (2005)

Released October 4, 2006

For full report, click here.

Some highlights:

Published annually since 2000, The Cost of Eating in BC reports have all concluded that BC residents living on low incomes cannot afford a healthy diet after paying for average shelter expenses. For example, the
report notes:

1. A single woman living alone on income assistance would not be able to afford reasonable shelter or healthy food. She would receive a total of $510 per month on assistance. Shelter (a bachelor apartment at the 25th percentile for rent) alone would cost about $580 per month. After paying rent, she would not be able to afford any food, or any other necessities (Dietitians of Canada, 2005b);
2. A single-parent family with two children receiving income assistance plus their Child and Family Tax Benefit would be $26 short after paying for shelter and food. They would have nothing left for all other expenses, including transportation, clothing, laundry supplies, and other items (Dietitians of Canada, 2005b);
3. While the average-income family of four would spend about 15 per cent of their income on the food basket, the low-income family would need to spend about 30 per cent of their income to buy the same food basket. A family of four on income assistance would need to spend 44 per cent of their income on the food basket (Dietitians of Canada, 2005b);
4. A single, pregnant woman living alone on income assistance in BC would most likely be unable to feed herself adequately or nourish her developing baby. She would receive $555 a month in assistance, which would not cover the average cost of a bachelor apartment at $580 a month (Dietitians of Canada, 2005b).

Low-income British Columbians face challenges in affording healthy foods and that may well contribute to their higher rates of chronic diseases and nutritional problems, including micronutrient deficiency (Health Canada, 1996).

...it is now recognized that the main solution to individual and household food insecurity is to eliminate poverty...

The BC government provides social assistance for those who have no other source of income but this assistance has not kept pace with inflation and falls short of covering the cost of shelter and food. In BC, the Provincial Health Officer has stated that evidence suggests that government programs that reduce social inequities, and mitigate the impacts of low socio-economic status, will have more impact on the health of the population than simply providing more and more health services to treat preventable disease (PHO, 2003). Placing a priority on ensuring that low-income families can afford to purchase nutritious food would be an important step towards reducing food insecurity in BC and fostering a healthier population.