Poverty Reduction Timeline
The Alberni Clayoquot Health Network has supported poverty reduction in Alberni Clayoquot through community engagement, planning, and regional collaboration since 2015.
December 2025
May 2020 – Dec 2021
Building Prosperity in the Alberni Clayoquot – Poverty Reduction Action Plan
Completed by the ACHN with UBCM funding.
January 19th, 2018
January 19th, 2018 Workshop and Protocol Signing Event
Building Health and Prosperity in the Alberni Clayoquot – Poverty Reduction Community Engagement 2.0
April 2017
Poverty Protocol Agreement is endorsed by MLA Scott Fraser and MP Gord Johns
February 2017
ACHN presents the Poverty Reduction Theory of Change back to local leadership for direction and endorsement. A small working group is formed to create a Poverty Reduction Protocol Agreement to ensure an opportunity for endorsement from local communities.
Fall 2016
The Working Together To Reduce Poverty in the ACRD Report and Theory of Change were created from the May 2016 workshop and presented back to community organizations.
May 2016
The ACHN partnered with the Social Planning And Research Council of BC to facilitate a dialog with local community partners to identify key outcomes and strategies to reduce poverty in the ACRD.
November 2015
Community poverty reduction gathering and conversation at the Port Alberni Friendship Society, hosted by MLA Scott Fraser’s office.
Why Poverty Reduction Matters in Alberni Clayoquot
Like many coastal regions of BC, the Alberni-Clayoquot region has seen high rates of poverty and inequity. For many years, the ACRD was one of five regional districts across the province reporting the highest rates of poverty. Poverty rates have improved moderately, as illustrated by the child poverty rate, which began to decline in 2016 and has continued to decrease marginally from 32.6% in 2015 to 29.5% in 2021. Currently 21% of all residents live in poverty, with 1880 children experiencing poverty (a 15% poverty rate for children in two-parent homes and a 62% poverty rate for children in lone-parent families. Significant barriers around housing, transportation and health access exist in the region with diversity in the experience of these barriers for residents in urban, rural, remote and/or First Nation communities. Recognizing that poverty is a complex issue which cannot be addressed by any one organization or initiative, leaders in the ACRD have begun to bring together local stakeholders to discuss, identify opportunities and plan around poverty reduction.
The Alberni Clayoquot Health Network (ACHN) has been working with local partners since 2016 to identify action, partners and ways to address poverty in the region. The 2021 Regional Action Plan outlines recommendations across 4 dimensions to address poverty. The ACHN has made a commitment to supporting this process and look forward to future collaborations, revisions and planning with community stakeholders.
ACHN’s Role in Poverty Reduction
Recognizing that poverty is a complex issue which cannot be addressed by any one organization or initiative, the ACHN has participated and convened efforts to move this conversation forward resulting in the following tools and frameworks to keep work moving.
Key Poverty Reduction Tools and Frameworks
Working Together To Reduce Poverty in the ACRD Workshop Report
ACRD Poverty Reduction Briefing Note
Alberni Clayoquot Working Together to Reduce Poverty Protocol Agreement
Building Prosperity in the Alberni Clayoquot – Poverty Reduction Action Plan