B.C. and Quebec had the highest percentage of low-income seniors among all 10 provinces in 2003, according to a report released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.

"A portrait of seniors in Canada" looks at the well-being and wellness of people across the country aged 65 and over.

According to a table that accompanies the report, 10.3 per cent of seniors in both B.C. and Quebec fell into the category of low income after taxes in 2003.

Manitoba followed close behind, with 8 per cent of seniors classified as low-income after taxes, while Saskatchewan had the lowest percentage, with only 1.7 per cent of seniors considered low-income after taxes.

Statistics Canada uses the term low-income cutoff, or LICO, to define low income in Canada. The agency says a family has a low income after taxes if it has to spend a disproportionate amount on such necessities as food, shelter and clothing.

It compares the total spent on such necessities by a family to the amount spent on the same things by an average Canadian family. If a family spends more than 63 per cent of its gross income on food, shelter or clothing, then it is said to be below the LICO. 

A senior living alone or a senior couple would fall into the category of low income if either household has to spend 20 percentage points more of its gross income on those necessities than the average Canadian family of roughly the same size. LICO varies depending on the size of a family and the population of the area where the family lives.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, only 2.1 per cent of seniors were considered low income after taxes in 2003, while Ontario was closer to the middle, with 4.9 per cent of seniors having a low income after taxes in 2003.

In the other provinces, the percentage of seniors classified as low income after taxes in 2003 was 2.9 per cent in New Brunswick, 3.5 per cent in Alberta, 4.5 per cent in P.E.I. and 5.0 in Nova Scotia.

Fewer poor seniors now than in the 1980s

The report says, however, that overall, seniors are now doing better financially than they were in the 1980s.

"Rising income levels among seniors have benefited those in lower-income categories, contributing to a well-documented decline in the incidence of low income among seniors in Canada," it says.

"The incidence of low income can be measured in a number of different ways, but all show the same downward trend since the early 1980s."

For example, in 1980 in P.E.I., 34.2 per cent of seniors were considered low income after taxes, while in that same year in Quebec and B.C., 25.9 per cent and 20.8 per cent fell into that category, respectively.

The financial situation for seniors in P.E.I. improved the most over the years; 8.5 per cent of seniors were considered low income after taxes by 1986 and 6.2 per cent by 1996.

Statistics Canada has separate low-income cutoffs for different sizes of family, from unattached people to families of seven or more, and for five community sizes, from rural areas to urban areas greater than 500,000 people.