A new report gives New Brunswick a failing grade in poverty management, ranking it last among all provinces.
The 2026 Food Banks Canada Poverty Report Card assigned the province an F, making it the only jurisdiction to receive a failing grade this year — down from a D- in 2024.
The report issued report cards for federal, provincial and territorial governments, assessing how well they’re doing in their efforts to reduce poverty, using a combination of public polling, statistical data from Statistics Canada, and qualitive policy analysis.
According to the report, New Brunswick is facing a growing struggle to afford basic needs, driven by stagnant social assistance rates and rising living costs — key factors behind the province’s grade.
For example, the document found that in average New Brunswickers spend more than 63 per cent of their income on basic everyday needs — such as groceries, utilities, transportation, and internet — which is the highest proportion nationally, up from 59.3 per cent in 2024.
It is also found the province is not providing enough support to help people on social assistance meet their basic needs or escape poverty.
In New Brunswick, social assistance covers only 38.9 per cent of the income needed to reach the poverty line, while disability assistance covers nearly 52 per cent. Additionally, about 70 per cent of recipients say rates are not keeping up with the cost of living.
The report warns affordability is continuing to worsen, with rates of severe and moderate hardship at 26 and 36 per cent — both the highest in the country.
“The increase signals intensifying hardships rather than stabilization,” the report states.
It also finds 45 per cent of New Brunswickers feel worse off than they did a year ago — the highest level in Atlantic Canada.
While the report notes some progress, including an extended rent cap, a universal school breakfast program and exempting the Canada Disability Benefit from clawbacks, it says gains have been uneven and social assistance rates remain unchanged.
New Brunswick continues to have the lowest social assistance rates in the country, and key housing supports, such as rent caps and rental benefits, remain temporary.
“While new strategies signal intent, the absence of durable income supports suggests persistent gaps,” added the report.
The report recommends for the province to make rent protection permanent and strengthen tenant rights, raise social assistance to a level that meets basic needs, and inflation, and build a plan to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.
Feed NB executive director Stephane Sirois agrees with the recommendations, and said the government needs to address systematic problems to get meaningful change in the province.
He added that change needs to come from provincial policy shifts, and not solely from the work of charities.
Recently, the province gave Feed NB a grant of $9 million to help food banks and community kitchens in the province meet the growing demand for their services.
Sirois said while the funding is positive and will allow food banks to feed people, there is only so much charities can take on.
“We don’t have the power, or the capacity to affect government policy, and that’s where the big works needs to happen now,” he explained. “If we want to move away from an F grade next year, [the government] needs to start working on these core issues that drive people to the food bank in the first place.”
