Poverty costs taxpayers more than $24 billion a year, said the report released Wednesday from the National Council of Welfare, a federal government advisory board.

The council reports to Diane Finley, the minister of human resources and skills development.

"The best way to fight poverty is to get Canadians working," said Finley's representative Alyson Queen.

"Our government is squarely focused on job creation as part of the economic recovery, and through the Economic Action Plan, we have created 600,000 jobs since July 2009."

She said that through the universal child-care benefit, the government has lifted 24,000 families above the poverty line. The report said the government should put money toward things such as income subsidization, affordable housing, education and better health care to help rid Canada of poverty.

While the cost of such measures are not specified in the report, council chairman John Rook acknowledged it would take several billion dollars.

"It's a lot less than the status quo," he said in reference to how much poverty costs the country indirectly through things such as shelters, police and prison costs, health care and lost productivity. Continued...