Canada’s child poverty rate has improved "slightly" but the gap between rich and poor continues to grow, says Campaign 2000's annual report card on child and family poverty.

The proportion of children living in poverty declined by one-fifth between 1989 and 2007, to 9.5 per cent from 11.9 per cent, according to the report released Tuesday in Ottawa. However, 637,000 Canadian children — a number about equal to the population of Winnipeg — were still classified as poor.

“That small change over 20 years is striking in light of an unprecedented period of growth since 1998 and in bold contrast to the growing gap between Canadian families with the highest income and those with the lowest income,” the report stated.

The group used Statistics Canada information from 2007 and said the poverty figures do not reflect the impact of the recent economic recession.

Over the last decade, inequality between rich and poor in Canada grew more than in any country in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development except Germany, a 2008 OECD report indicated.

"The average income of the wealthiest share of families with children increased more than twice as much (33 per cent over the past 18 years) as family incomes for the poorest tenth of Canada’s population (16 per cent from 1989 to 2007)," according to Campaign 2000.

The report also stated:

• One-quarter of aboriginal children, and nearly half of those living off-reserve, are poor.
• Forty per cent of all low-income children had at least one parent working full-time.
• Canada’s child poverty rate ranked it 13th among 17 similarly well-off countries.

Better wages and benefits key

The group called on the government to increase social support for low-income families, including raising the national child benefit to $5,100 annually (from $3,416 now).

Canada now ranks 25th out of 30 OECD countries in spending on benefits for families and the unemployed.

Campaign 2000 also recommended:

• Restoring employment insurance eligibility requirements to 360 hours.
• Increasing the federal minimum wage to at least $11 per hour.
• Increasing funding for aboriginal child welfare services.
• Creating universal child care.

Tuesday's report marks the 20th anniversary of a unanimous House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada. Campaign 2000 is a national coalition tracking progress on this promise.

As Canada has no official poverty line, the report used Statistics Canada's low-income cutoff line. By this measure, a single parent with one child living in an urban centre on an annual income of $21,851 or less was considered poor.