Discourses are powerful narratives that influence attitudes and actions towards important societal issues and those that are affected by these issues. They explain and justify social phenomena such as growing poverty in Canada and other developed economies. Dominant discourses on poverty in some nations neglect the structural causes of poverty and blame poor people for their situations. These discourses may even justify increasing poverty as necessary in order to achieve economic growth that benefits most citizens. This article examines the discourses on poverty in various forms of the welfare state and how they shape public policy towards the poor. It will argue for shifting policy discourse to an emphasis on broader structural issues that involve reducing poverty by redistributing economic and social resources through public policy action.