Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has laid out aggressive targets to tackle poverty, pledging to reduce the number of Canadians living below the poverty line by 30 per cent over the next five years.

Dion also said that under his leadership, he would reduce the number of children living in poverty by at least 50 per cent.

"Call it our 30/50 plan to reduce poverty," Dion said in Toronto on Friday. "This 30/50 plan is a bold goal, and we intend it to represent the strongest  government action in a  generation.

"We commit to an effort never before seen in Canada," he said.

Dion claims about 3.4 million Canadians live in poverty, including 788,000 children.

While not providing specific figures about his plan, Dion said a Liberal government would "significantly increase" income support for at least three groups of Canadians: those seeking to escape welfare, children and seniors.

Dion said that under the current system, many people who want to leave welfare face a giant welfare wall, and that many are worse off because they lose benefits and have to pay taxes.

Dion said he will increase the working income tax benefit — a refundable tax credit introduced in the 2007 budget to improve incentives to work for low-income Canadians.

Dion said his government would also expand and improve the Canada Child Tax Benefit, and increase the guaranteed income supplement payment for low-income seniors.

But Human Resources and Social Development Minister Monte Solberg said the Liberals had once promised to eliminate child poverty.

"He has failed to present a specific, detailed and credible costed plan. Without costing, a plan to eradicate poverty is just talk," Solberg said in Calgary.

"But then, we've seen this before. Mr. Dion is setting targets for reducing poverty just like he had targets for meeting Kyoto; targets that were never met because all he had was good intentions."

With files from the Canadian Press