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Demographic Insights on Poverty Trends and Food Insecurity in Surrey
In response to requests from city staff and community organizations, SFU REACH-Cities has produced two key resources addressing poverty trends and food insecurity in Surrey.
These resources draw from multiple data sources, including the 2021 Canada Census of Population available through the Community Data Program, Canadian Income Survey (released in April 2024), Market Basket Measure component thresholds up to 2024 (tax year 2023), and custom cross-tabulated data for generational poverty and food security from Statistics Canada.
Below is a summary of the key findings from each resource.
This resource focuses on poverty rates across different demographic groups, with an emphasis on racialized poverty trends across generations.
- Approximately 10% (55,935 people) in Surrey are living in poverty.
- City Centre (17%) and Whalley (12%) have the highest poverty rates, exceeding the city-wide rate of 10%. Cloverdale has the lowest poverty rate at 6%.
- Poverty disproportionately impacts racialized groups, newcomers, youth, and Indigenous people.
- Some racialized groups show intergenerational improvement, while others face worsening economic situations.
- Poverty rates in Surrey have declined since 2016, with a notable decrease in 2021, possibly due to COVID-19 assistance programs like CERB.
- Since 2021, poverty rates have increased across all demographics, particularly among children and older adults.
Food Insecurity in Surrey: Fact Sheets (2024)
This resource illustrates food insecurity experiences among Surrey residents, developed to support the advocacy work of Seeds of Change Surrey.
- In 2022, 21.6% (107,000) of Surrey residents reported experiencing food insecurity, up from 15.1% in 2018.
- Racialized residents face higher food insecurity rates (25%, or 79,000 people) compared to non-racialized and non-indigenous residents (16%, or 27,000 people).
- Young adults are more affected by food insecurity compared to other age groups.
- Single-parent households report significantly higher rates of food insecurity (41%) compared to two-parent families (18%).
Should you have any questions or require further information about our work, please feel free to reach out to Aman Chandi at achandi@sfu.ca.