|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Quebec Institute for Research and Socioeconomic Information (IRIS) has just published at the end of April 2026 its report on the ‘livable income’.
The Research and Socioeconomic Information Institute (IRIS) of Quebec just published at the end of April 2026 its report on the “livable income.” This is the net income necessary to cover the essential needs (housing, food, transportation, health) of a worker and their family, while allowing for social participation and the ability to save for unforeseen events. It exceeds the poverty threshold and varies according to the local cost of living. In Canada, the reference indicator for measuring poverty remains the Market Basket Measure (MBM), which assesses the annual cost of essential needs, including housing, food, transportation, and clothing. In Montreal, this threshold is set at 25,867 Canadian dollars for a single person. However, as Eve-Lyne Couturier of IRIS noted to the Quebec press, “living at this level still means existing in precariousness.” Hence the central question:From what income can one actually achieve a decent, even comfortable standard of living?
This is precisely what the concept of “viable income” seeks to determine. Like the measure of the consumption basket, it includes basic expenses, but it goes further by incorporating elements essential to a balanced life, such as leisure, vacations, the ability to save to cope with unforeseen events, as well as investments in education. IRIS considers “viable income” as the threshold that allows one to live with dignity in Quebec, beyond merely escaping poverty. The IRIS indicator reflects the total expenses required over a full year. In other words, it corresponds to the disposable income a person must have, once taxes are paid and transfers are taken into account.
