Our Mission

Canada Without Poverty seeks to eradicate poverty in Canada for the benefit of all by educating Canadians about the human and financial cost of poverty, and by identifying public policy solutions.

About Canada Without Poverty

Canada Without Poverty is an Ottawa-based, federally incorporated, charitable and non-partisan organization, founded in 1971 as the National Anti-Poverty Organization. Our name expresses the end that we seek – a Canada in which no person need suffer what Gandhi called “the worst form of violence.” 

Acting from the belief that poverty is a violation of human rights and that poverty elimination is a human rights obligation, CWP seeks to champion the rights of individuals experiencing poverty and marginalization through research, awareness-building campaigns, public policy development, and educational programming.

We work to achieve this through a number of projects, including: 

• The development of resources like our Human Rights and Poverty Strategies, A Guide to International Human Rights Law and its Domestic Application in Poverty Reduction Strategies
• Our Dignity for All initiative, which includes our annual awareness-building event on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: ChewOnThis!
• Online and in-person economic and social rights workshops, introducing people across Canada to human rights language
• Our Poverty Progress Profile reports, featuring data on poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness in every province and territory 

Since our inception in 1971, we have always been governed by people with direct, personal experience of living in poverty, whether in childhood or as adults.  This lived experience informs and helps to guide our work, and our directors are also deeply engaged in combating poverty within their communities, provinces or territories. 

Donors to Canada Without Poverty may be featured in our annual report. Please let us know if you would like to opt out.