The case is aimed at providing students with an overview of the burden of poverty in Canada and the effects of poverty on the health of Canadians. It exposes students to the various definitions of poverty, as well as its measures, including the Gini index, which is an internationally recognized measure of income distribution used to assess overall inequity. While it is challenging to define poverty and identify its multifactorial root causes, the link between poverty and ill-health is stronger. The case exposes students to existing federal, provincial and territorial policies and plans aimed at reducing poverty and supporting low income families. It asks the student to focus on the development and implementation of an innovative poverty reduction plan in British Columbia, one of the Canadian provinces without a provincial poverty reduction strategy
