A coalition of advocacy groups says the level of child poverty in B.C. is growing, with roughly 1 in 5 children in the province living in poverty.

In its annual B.C. Child Poverty Report Card, released Monday morning, the First Call coalition says 169,240 children were living below the poverty line in B.C. in 2012.

Last year, the number cited in their report stood at 153,000 children. This year’s report used the latest numbers available from Statistics Canada, which are from 2012.

According to the report, B.C. has the fifth highest child poverty rate among the Canadian provinces.

see earlier story on ODN