Skip to content According to UNICEF Canada’s Report Card 18 Canadian Companion (October 2023), Canada ranked 19th out of 39 high-income countries for child poverty, with an average rate of 17.2% between 2019 and 2021 – over one million children affected.
Worsening in 2021 due to expiring pandemic support and rising living costs, the poverty rate rose more sharply for children than for the general population for the first time in years. In 2022, 24% of Canadian children – nearly 1.8 million – experienced food insecurity, the highest rate among all age groups, highlighting the impact of poverty, discrimination, and exclusion on children’s well-being.
Canada still faces significant challenges in reducing child poverty.
Since 1994, Tzu Chi Canada has collaborated with school boards all over the Lower Mainland Region of British Columbia to help provide various programs benefitting vulnerable children. By expanding on these, the “Blue Sky Project” aims to assist even more children in need by helping them build healthier and more well-rounded personalities. We believe “every child deserves a chance.” Therefore, Tzu Chi strives to provide underprivileged students with opportunities that they may not have been given otherwise, that will broaden their horizons, and that help guild them toward their dreams.
Feeding hungry children’s stomachs with a nutritious breakfast every school morning, Tzu Chi volunteers do it withe warmth, care and love.
Tzu Chi is currently running Breakfast Programs in several elementary and secondary schools in the Lower Mainland, and we’re expanding our program to more children in need.
Tzu Chi has provided back-to-school supplies to recipients of our Summer/Winter Camp Bursaries, users of food banks in a variety of communities, and financially challenged students across the country.
