VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – New numbers show almost one in 10 Canadians are poor — and BC has the highest child poverty rate of any other province.

Seth Klein with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says that’s because a lot of British Columbians make very low wages. “They can’t make ends meet. They’re faced with terrible trade-offs between paying the rent, feeding the kids, or heating the house.”

Statistics Canada says child poverty rate is 12 per cent — way above than the national average of nine per cent.

Klein credits the province for hiking the minimum wage but says “It was so long in coming that even a year from now when the minimum wage goes up to $10.25, it will still be below the poverty line.”

Numbers show 12 per cent of BC kids are poor — compared to nine per cent across the country. It’s the eighth year in a row we’ve had the highest child poverty rate.