In order to provide a holographic or complete picture of low income, Statistics Canada implements an approach that uses three complementary low income lines: the Low Income Cut-offs (LICOs), the Low Income Measures (LIMs) and the Market Basket Measure (MBM). While the first two lines were developed by Statistics Canada, the MBM is based on concepts developed by Human Resources and Skill Development Canada. Though these measures differ from one another, they give a generally consistent picture of low income status over time.

The file package downloadable from this page contains the following low income cut-off tables, for the years 1992-2018:

• Table 1 Low income cut-offs (1992 base) after tax
• Table 2 Low income cut-offs (1992 base) before tax

The following low income cut-off tables are available online through the Statistics Canada website, with data up to 2018:

• Low income measure (LIM) thresholds by income source and household size (Table 11-10-0232-01)
• Low income cut-offs (LICOs) before and after tax by community size and family size, in current dollars (Table 11-10-0241-01)
• Market Basket Measure (MBM) thresholds for the reference family by Market Basket Measure region, component and base year (Table 11-10-0066-01)