Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock promises money will be found in the budget to cover the ambitious changes. (CBC)

The provincial government is promising sweeping changes to its social assistance system as part of a new poverty-reduction plan.

Some of the changes will take effect immediately, while others will be implemented over the next five years, Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock said Friday after a two-day poverty forum in Saint John.

Social assistance rates will immediately increase by 80 per cent for people on the "lowest rung" of the system, who currently live on less than $300 a month, he said.

It's unclear how many people are included in that "single, employable adults" category.

'There's been a real change here, a change of viewing the social assistance system as something that should lift people up and not trap people or label them.'— Kelly Lamrock, social development minister

A 2008 report by the National Council of Welfare found New Brunswick paid the lowest amount by far to members of that group in 2007 — $3,258 a year. That rate would have to double to reach the Atlantic provinces average, the report said.

People on social assistance will also now be able to live with roommates without having their benefits clawed back. Health care cards, which help pay for prescription drugs, dental and vision care, will be extended for up to three years for those who leave social assistance to get jobs, Lamrock said.

"There's been a real change here, a change of viewing the social assistance system as something that should lift people up and not trap people or label them," he said.

Other plans include the introduction of a prescription drug plan for all uninsured citizens by 2012 and an increase to the Atlantic average in the minimum wage by the fall of 2011. The current minimum wage in New Brunswick is $8.25/hr, while the Atlantic average is currently $8.56/hr. (P.E.I. $8.40, N.S. $8.60, NL $9)

Benefits outweigh costs

The ambitious plan will cost up to $30 million over five years, Lamrock said, promising that the money will "be found" in the budget.

The benefits will outweigh the costs, Premier Shawn Graham.

"I can tell you the value of this … is immeasurable because we're helping combat poverty and giving individuals in this province the start they wouldn't have had before we signed this covenant today," he said.

Lisa Morris, a single mother of three in Saint John who used to be on social assistance, said she's glad problems with the system are being addressed, such as the difficult transition period between being on assistance and getting a job.

"Being on assistance was really the only way to make sure my kids had a roof over their heads, health coverage … so really going back to work was a huge step toward insecurity," she said.

Morris hopes the planners follow through on their promises.

"Talking doesn't really help me or my children," she said. "It's the doing that does. So I guess we'll wait and see."

About 50 people representing the non-profit sector, industry and government participated in the Saint John forum. It was the final in a series of forums held across the province during the past year to help develop a strategy to reduce poverty.

The poverty-reduction plan — Overcoming Poverty Together: The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Plan — aims to reduce income poverty in the province by 25 per cent and deep income poverty by 50 per cent by 2015.

In April, 39,097 New Brunswick residents were living on social assistance, about 35 per cent of them children.