Synopsis

What exactly does it mean to be poor in Canada today? We find out as two volunteers leave behind their status, résumé, network of friends and bank cards. Throughout the two-month experiment, they will have no financial resources except the $19 a day we provide them – the equivalent of welfare benefits for a person living alone. With handpicked experts and social workers watching and analyzing, their journey will be the main focus of a 10-episode series documenting their efforts to find housing, food, medical care, clothing, jobs . . . and deal with prejudice. Using hidden cameras and daily check-ins, we document their progress.