Am I Considered Low Income in Canada? LIM, MBM and LICO Thresholds

Canada has no single low-income number. Statistics Canada publishes three low-income lines, and which one applies depends on the question: the Market Basket Measure (MBM) is the official poverty line, the after-tax Low Income Measure (LIM-AT) is the relative line, set against the median household income, and the Low Income Cut-off (LICO) is the oldest. Each depends on household size, the MBM and the LICO also on where you live, and the MBM covers a later year than the other two.

Sources: Statistics Canada tables 11-10-0232-01 (LIM), 11-10-0066-01 (MBM, 2023 base) and 11-10-0241-01 (LICO). The MBM range runs from the lowest-cost provincial region (Quebec communities of 30,000 to 99,999) to the highest provincial region (Vancouver); thresholds in the territories are higher (see the MBM section).

All three lines are compared with income after tax (the LICO also has a before-tax version, shown below); for the MBM it is disposable income, which also subtracts CPP and EI contributions, child care and medical costs. The LIM counts the income of everyone in the household, while the LICO and the MBM count the income of the family (relatives living together), so a roommate’s income doesn’t count. If you know only your salary, work out your take-home pay first. A single employee earning $35,000 a year keeps about $29,989 in Ontario, $29,728 in Alberta and $29,793 in British Columbia after 2026 income tax, CPP and EI.

This page covers the low-income lines. Where a household sits above them, from the middle-income band upward, is on am I considered middle class in Canada?, and what households actually spend is on average household expenses in Canada. Both are part of the cost of living in Canada guides.

Low Income Measure (LIM) thresholds by household size

The after-tax LIM is a household income equal to 50% of the median adjusted after-tax household income in Canada. “Adjusted” means each household’s income is divided by the square root of the number of people in it, which reflects that people living together share housing and other costs. That is why the four-person line is 2.00 times the one-person line rather than four times.

Source: Statistics Canada Table 11-10-0232-01, reference year 2024, the latest published. Thresholds come out with the Canadian Income Survey, so they always describe an earlier year. A single parent with one child is a two-person household.

The LIM is the same in every province and city. It tells you where your income sits relative to other Canadian households, not whether it covers the cost of living where you are; that is what the MBM is for.

Market Basket Measure (MBM): Canada’s official poverty line

The MBM has been Canada’s official poverty measure since 2019, when the Poverty Reduction Act named it the poverty line. It prices a basket of goods and services for a modest, basic standard of living (food, clothing and footwear, shelter, transportation and other essentials) in each region, and compares that cost with a family’s disposable income. Because shelter and transportation cost different amounts in different places, the line changes by region.

Statistics Canada publishes the thresholds for a family of two adults and two children. For another household size, divide by 2 (the square root of 4) and multiply by the square root of the household size; for one person, that is the family amount divided by 2.

Source: Statistics Canada Table 11-10-0066-01, 2023-base thresholds for 2025. This table shows provincial regions only. Thresholds in the territories are higher than in any provincial region: for a family of four, $67,951 in Whitehorse and $76,287 in Yellowknife, up to $86,493 in the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories. Nunavut’s thresholds are set for a family of two adults and three children and reach $117,179 in Iqaluit. Statistics Canada also tracks deep income poverty: disposable income below 75% of the MBM threshold.

Shelter drives much of the gap between regions: between Vancouver and Montreal, the whole four-person threshold differs by $14,064 and the shelter part alone by $13,954. For what rent and homes actually cost in each city, see average rent in Canada and cost of living by province.

Low Income Cut-off (LICO)

The LICO is the income below which a family would likely spend a much larger share of its income on food, shelter and clothing than the average family. On the 1992 base still in use, the average family spent 43% of its after-tax income on those necessities, and the cut-off is set where a family would spend 20 percentage points more, or 63%. Each later year’s lines are the 1992 lines adjusted by the Consumer Price Index, and they vary with the size of the community.

Source: Statistics Canada Table 11-10-0241-01, reference year 2024, 1992 base. Statistics Canada still publishes the LICO, with figures back to 1976, but the official poverty line is the MBM.

Where your income sits between the lines

Putting the lines side by side shows the range from deep poverty to the middle-income band. The MBM rows run from the lowest-cost provincial region to the highest; the territories’ lines are higher. The last two rows use the OECD’s middle-income band, 75% to 200% of the median: since the LIM is 50% of the median adjusted after-tax income, the band runs from the LIM times 1.5 to the LIM times 4.

The MBM and the LIM cover different years (2025 and 2024), so treat the rows as a guide to the order of the lines, not exact gaps between them.

Government benefits at a low income

None of the federal benefits for lower incomes uses the LIM, MBM or LICO as its cut-off. Each has its own income test, based on the income on your tax return, explained on its own page:

Provinces add their own credits and supplements; financial help for low-income Canadians lists the federal and provincial programs together.

Signs that money is tight, whatever the lines say

The statistical lines describe a year of income; day-to-day pressure shows up in other ways:

• Housing costs above CMHC’s standard: CMHC considers housing affordable when it costs less than 30% of before-tax household income, counting the rent (or mortgage payments, property tax and condo fees) plus electricity, heat, water and other municipal services.
• Little or nothing left to save after the bills are paid.
• An unexpected bill of a few hundred dollars that would have to go on a credit card or wait.
• Revolving credit card balances that keep growing because income doesn’t cover monthly costs.

If several apply, the benefits above and the programs on financial help for low-income Canadians are the first places to look. For what households in Canada have saved by age, see average savings by age in Canada.

Related resources

• Am I considered middle class in Canada?
• Average income by age in Canada
• Average household expenses in Canada
• Cost of living by province
• Median income in Canada
• Financial help for low-income Canadians