Question Period Note: Guaranteed Basic Income

Exploring the idea of a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI)

• The Government of Canada already has programs with the features of a basic income, such as the Canada Child Benefit for families with children, the Old Age Security pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors.

• The Government of Canada will continue to monitor the work that other jurisdictions are leading and look forward to reviewing any conclusions or results.

• We have offered to share available data with provinces interested in implementing guaranteed basic income pilots or programs within their jurisdictions.

If pressed on taking over Ontario’s basic income pilot:

• The Government recognizes the importance of working with provincial and territorial counterparts to find solutions to our common challenges. That being said, decisions around the design of provincial social assistance programs – including the testing of potential new approaches to guaranteed basic income – are under the jurisdiction of provincial governments.

• In the context of the emerging gig economy and the changing nature of work public interest in a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) has been increasing, with a number of stakeholders and governments suggesting that there be further study and the creation of pilot projects to determine its feasibility. During the public engagement for the Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy, some stakeholders suggested a GBI as a tool to reduce poverty.

• In April 2017, the Ontario Government launched a three-year GBI pilot project in Hamilton, Brantford and Brant County, Thunder Bay and the surrounding area, and Lindsay. The 4,000 participants were low-income people aged 18 to 64 and they started to receive monthly deposits in 2017. Payments were based on 75 percent of Statistics Canada’s Low-Income Measure (LIM). A single individual received $16,989 less 50 percent of earned income while couples received $24,027 less 50 percent of any combined earned income. People with disability received an additional $500 per month. Participants continued to be eligible to receive certain benefits including the Canada Child Benefit.

• On July 31st 2018, the Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services announced that the basic income pilot would be cancelled. It was subsequently announced that payments to participants would continue only until March 2019.

• Although the Ontario Basic Income Pilot required some participants to withdraw from the existing social assistance system in order to receive the benefit, the pilot tested a potential new approach to income support that would replace social assistance if it were fully implemented. The pilot explored the reform of the current income support system under its authority and, as such, all decisions related to it are within provincial jurisdiction.

• In September 2018, four mayors of cities affected by the cancellation, respectively for the City of Kawartha Lakes, Hamilton, Brantford, and Thunder Bay, issued a joint letter to Minister Duclos, expressing their concern with the cancellation of the pilot and requesting that the federal government take over and continue it.

• Legal action has been pursued. One lawsuit sought to overturn the Ontario government’s cancellation of the pilot. The Ontario Superior Court ruled against the challenge on February 14, 2019.

• A separate class action lawsuit has been launched against the Ontario Government seeking damages due to the cancellation of its basic income pilot project. The plaintiffs were participants in the pilot, and they are seeking damages on various grounds, including breach of contract, negligence, breach of public law duty, and violation of section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (which deals with life, liberty, and security of the person). It is expected that the lawsuit will go to court in June 2020.

• On January 21, 2019, anti-poverty stakeholder organizations criticized the Ontario government’s decision to cancel the basic income pilot, asked the provincial and federal governments to work together to continue the project, and drew attention to the project’s 2017 baseline survey findings. The baseline survey was conducted prior to the pilot and was not an evaluation.

• Its findings include the following: 35 percent of participants were employed, with 18 percent looking for work and 47 percent not in the labour force; 81 percent had experienced moderate or severe psychological stress; and 72 percent had experienced moderate or severe food insecurity.

• On March 5, 2019, the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) reported on a survey to which 424 participants in the Basic Income Pilot responded. As BICN acknowledged, the survey did not have a random sample of the participants.

• Key findings of BICN’s survey include the following:
• 34 percent of participants found that the basic income supported employment by enabling transportation, childcare, or the ability to start or expand a business.
• 88 percent of respondents reported less stress while they received basic income payments, and 73 percent had less depression.
• 45 percent of respondents reported fewer health problems; 74 percent said they were able to make healthy food choices; and 28 percent said they stopped using food banks.
• However, when the cancellation of the pilot was announced, 80 percent of respondents felt previous problems returning, and 61 percent had to cancel or change future plans. Some participants had signed leases or contracts on the understanding that they would be receiving basic income payments for the full three-year duration of the pilot.

• Other provinces have shown interest in the idea of a GBI. In June 2019, Ernie Hudson, P.E.I.’s Minister of Social Development and Housing, asked the federal government “to consider additional partnership, such as funding support” for a basic income pilot project. The P.E.I. government also plans a “secure income” pilot with means-tested benefits for individuals with severe barriers to entering the workforce (i.e., it is narrower in scope than a full basic income proposal). As well, the B.C. government is examining the concept of basic income in the context of its poverty reduction efforts.

• The Government has offered to share available federal data with provinces interested in implementing GBI pilots or programs within their jurisdictions, including tax, administrative and survey data.

• Governments in several other countries are in varying stages of experimentation with basic income projects. On February 8, 2019, the Government of Finland issued the preliminary results of a two-year pilot project with 2,000 unemployed participants receiving monthly payments of €560 (about $840 Canadian). The evaluation showed that these payments contributed to the health and happiness of the beneficiaries; however, participants were not more likely to enter the labour force. It is expected that the final evaluation of the project will be published in 2020.

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