Households on income assistance

The change is 4.0% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold. Over 5 years (since 12 months to July 2021) the change is 25.4% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold, so the label also says Rising over 5 years.

Average of the latest 12 months: 14,896 cases, against 14,324 for the 12 months before. July 2026: 15,198 (14,759 a year earlier).

Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series. The rule.

Why it matters. It shows how many households rely on provincial assistance. It is shown for context, without a better or worse label.

• The Province’s definition of a case: “Reconciled British Columbia Employment and Assistance Program cases (i.e. family units) that are in pay (payment > $0.00) for a given benefit month”
• The file lists only the largest municipalities in B.C. In the Capital Region it lists 9: Central Saanich, Colwood, Esquimalt, Langford, Saanich, Saltspring Island, Sooke, Victoria, View Royal. Others (for example Oak Bay, North Saanich and Sidney) are not in the file, so the total is lower than the whole region.
• Cases include both income assistance and disability assistance, as the Province counts them.
• The headline averages the latest 12 months (brief rule C3). The latest month is shown as a line.

Assistance cases by municipality, July of each year

Municipalities as the Province lists them in census division 17. Cases are family units in pay that month.

Area: Capital Region

The Capital Regional District: 13 municipalities and 3 electoral areas, including the Southern Gulf Islands and Salt Spring Island.

Included

• The 13 municipalities: Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal, Langford, Colwood, Highlands, Metchosin, Sooke, Central Saanich, North Saanich, Sidney
• The 3 electoral areas: Juan de Fuca (including East Sooke, Jordan River and Port Renfrew), Salt Spring Island, and the Southern Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna)
• First Nations reserve lands within the region

Not included

• Communities north of the Malahat, such as the Cowichan Valley, Duncan and Nanaimo

Official definition

• Capital Regional District: About the CRD
• Statistics Canada: Capital census division (5917), 2021 list of areas

How the agency describes it: Capital Regional District (census division 17): the 9 municipalities the Province lists (Central Saanich, Colwood, Esquimalt, Langford, Saanich, Saltspring Island, Sooke, Victoria, View Royal).

This number is published by the agency as shown; it is not calculated here. The script reads it from the agency’s own file.

Published under an open licence: anyone may reuse it with credit. About licences.

Published by

Province of B.C., Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, BC Employment and Assistance Program by Municipality

Licence

Open Government Licence - British Columbia

Updated by agency

Monthly (Province of B.C.); latest release Sep 19, 2026

Retrieved

Nov 11, 2026, 11:09 PM B.C. time

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - British Columbia.