Canada has a history of debate, discussion, and pilot programs related to Basic Income, with renewed interest following the Ontario pilot and again in 2020 in response to the rapid spread of COVID-19. Last year, the Canadian Emergency Response Benefits (CERB) program, targeting those with lost income, reached 35.2% of all Canadian workers who had earned at least $5,000 in 2019 (Statistics Canada, June 2 2021). Its mechanism of rapid disbursement and the unprecedented disruptions caused by the pandemic have seemingly solidified Basic Income within the mainstream of political and policy discussions. In addition to presenting new types and levels of economic challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many longstanding challenges within our social support sector. As groups seek to advance an equitable recovery moving forward (see, e.g., CAEH’s July 2020 “Recovery for All” report), advocacy and debate around these and related policies will surely continue.
Background: What is Basic Income
In their September 19th 2021 overview of Basic Income, CBC reported the following:
“Right now, struggling Canadians can access help support through a patchwork of federal, provincial and municipal programs. Health economist Evelyn Forget, a professor in the department of health sciences at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, said that basic income would replace many of those programs, and ideally cut out a lot of the confusing, bureaucratic red tape. Forget, the author of Basic Income for Canadians: from the COVID-19 emergency to financial security for all, is a firm believer in the benefits of basic income.”
They highlight two types of basic income:
- Universal basic income (UBI) means that everyone in a society — rich or poor — gets a monthly cheque for the same amount. At the end of the year, the government uses the tax system to balance out the scales and recoup that extra cash from the higher income earners who didn’t end up needing it.
- Guaranteed basic income (GBI) is the system most people are referring to when they talk about basic income in Canada. It is an income-contingent system, meaning monthly payments only go to families and individuals with lower income.
An Overview of Basic Income in Canada
As was noted, Canada has a history of basic income pilots.
- The Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment (MINCOME), conducted between 1974 and 1979, focused on low income household with a negative income tax approach using a basic support level and an offset tax rate (see MINCOME Technical Report 1 for specifics, or this general overview). Every family in Dauphin (a population of approximately 10,000 and another
2,500 living in its rural municipality) was eligible to participate (see Forget’s 2011 Commentary for an overview). - The Ontario Basic Income Pilot, similarly specific to low income individuals, providing $16,989 per year ($24,027 per year for a couple) less 50% of any earned income. It was launched in 2018 but was cancelled prematurely in 2019. Approximately 1,000 low-income households from Hamilton, Brantford and Brant County purportedly enrolled in the pilot(more more context, see this 2020 Report on the results of a survey of the experience of those who participated, and this 2019 Maytree Report of lessons learned).
There have also been smaller-scale experiments such as the New Leaf / UBC study offering $7,500 to 50 recently homeless participants, presented earlier this year (Video / Final Report).
This attention and discussion likewise prompted a series of federal studies produced by the Parliamentary Budget Office:
- “Costing a National Guaranteed Basic Income Using the Ontario Basic Income Model” (April 2018)
- Costing a Guaranteed Basic Income During the COVID Pandemic (July 2020)
- Update: Five-Year Cost Estimate of the Guaranteed Basic Income (November 2020)
- Distributional and Fiscal Analysis of a National Guaranteed Basic Income (April 2021)
The topic of a basic income also came up in the lead up to the recent 2021 federal election also saw increasingly considered by parties (What is basic income and which of Canada’s main parties support it? – September 2021) or by their delegates (Liberal delegates endorse a universal basic income, reject capital gain tax hike – April 2021).
Basic Income in British Columbia
In July 2018, the Province of BC announced the creation of an expert panel to explore the idea of a basic income guarantee in British Columbia. The researchers’ mandate was to study basic income as a potential policy tool for poverty reduction, assessing its feasibility and its relation to existing income and social supports in BC. The panel concluded their work in December 2020 and their findings are publicly available on their site, including their:
- Executive Summary
- Final Report
- Over 40 supporting research papers on a large range of associated topics, cinluding: Basic Income Design, Children, Finance, Gender, Housing, Labour, Poverty, Programs / System, Reform, and Tax
- And additional resources (including detailed charts on Income and Social Support Programs in B.C.
Their Executive Summary notes the following objectives and the associated conclusions of the Panel:
- We were asked to “consider the viability of a basic income in B.C.” We have concluded that moving to a system constructed around a basic income for all as its main pillar is not the most just policy option. (p.4)
- We were also asked if there were any areas that require further exploration with a basic income pilot. We have concluded that a pilot is not warranted. (p.4)
- Finally, we were asked whether the spirit of a basic income could be applied to transform and enhance the current income and social support system. We have concluded that this is the best approach. (p.5)
Perspectives on Basic Income – Pros & Cons
Some dispute the overall conclusions against a basic income at this time — for a useful comparison of each perspective, see the following recent instalments of The Best Evidence podcast:
Recently, Basic Income has also been featured as:
- One of 8 pathways identified by the Tamarack Institute to support the eradication of poverty (The End of Poverty: Eight Pathways That Are Ending Poverty in Canada)
- A potential structural intervention for preventing and ending homelessness (The Role of Universal Basic Income in Preventing and Ending Homelessness, 2021)
The BC Basic Income Panel Recommendations
Overall, the BC Basic Income Panel identified a set of 65 recommendations “to reform the current provincial system using a diverse set of tailored policy approaches”. Below is the overview of those items, presented in greater detail alongside brief notes on timing, costing, and implementation starting on page 496 of the full report. While there may be arguments in support of stronger and / or alternative actions, these represent a comprehensive, evidence-informed set of measures that might further support vulnerable groups within our communities.
Reform Disability Assistance (DA) into a targeted basic income
- 1) Replace disability-related designations
- 2) Reform application process
- 3) Revise application forms
- 4) Eliminate DA asset test
- 5) Relax DA income test
- 6) Reform adjudication process
- 7) Eliminate reassessment
- 8) Convert DA to a targeted basic income
- 9) Increase DA benefit to the poverty line
- 10) Lower DA benefit reduction rate and maintain income exemption
- 11) Create public and community employment
- 12) Integrate support for addiction and mental health
- 13) Review addiction support
Reform Temporary Assistance (TA) to reduce the “welfare wall”
- 14) Eliminate work-search requirement
- 15) Engage federal government on COVID-19 recovery benefit rationalization
- 16) Initially maintain current TA income test
- 17) Increase TA income test threshold in medium term
- 18) Eliminate TA asset test
- 19) Extent TA streamlined reapplication
- 20) Increase TA benefit levels by making COVID-19 emergency $300 supplement permanent
- 21) Lower TA benefit reduction rate and maintain income exemption
- 22) Evaluate training support
- 23) Expand earning supplement
Provide extended health-care benefits to all low-income individuals
- 24) Convert extended health supplements to a basic service
Provide housing support to all low-income renters
- 25) Combine Income Assistance support and shelter allowances
- 26) Expand targeted supportive housing
- 27) Institute a B.C. Rent Assist refundable tax credit
Provide intensive work support to targeted groups
- 28) Establish Assisted to Work basic service
- 29) Establish a joint rehabilitation and work support agency
Enhance support for low-income families with children
- 30) Refocus the Child Opportunity Benefit
Enhance financial and support services for young adults
- 31) Increase Ministry of Children and Family Development resources
- 32)Enhance transition planning and community support capacity
- 33) Extend Agreements with Young Adults education and training duration
- 34) Enhance Agreements with Young Adults life-skills support
- 35) Extend Assisted to Work eligibility to former youth in care
- 36) Create targeted basic income for former youth in care
- 37) Initiate basic income with community support engagement
- 38) Mandate a ministry to support former youth in care
- 39) Establish a B.C. Learning Bond
- 40) Contribute to a B.C. Learning Bond for children in care
- 41) Create a B.C. Career Trek program
Enhance financial and support services for people fleeing violence
- 42) Enhance housing for people fleeing violence
- 43) Create a three-tiered domestic violence program
Improve precarious employment through labour regulation reform
- 44) Develop gig work employment standards
- 45) Review Employment Standards Act exclusions
- 46) Enhance Employment Standards Act enforcement
- 47) Improve employment standards for fissured work
- 48) Review Labour Relations Code unionization provisions
- 49) Proactively facilitate industry advisory councils
- 50) Extend Labour Relations Code successor rights
- 51) Rationalize employee definitions across program
Improve the way benefit delivery platforms function
- 52) Combine refundable tax credits into Dogwood Benefit
- 53) Rationalize income definition for income-testing purposes
- 54) Engage federal government to reduce tax-filing barriers
- 55) Engage federal government to increase tax and benefit delivery responsiveness
- 56) Engage federal government to streamline administrative tax data-sharing
- 57) Develop an identification and verification platform for non-tax filers to increase benefit access
- 58) Automate informing applicants of eligibility for other programs
- 59) Enhance cross-program system navigation
- 60) Establish system governance
- 61) Index Income Assistance rates to changes in the poverty line
- 62) Increase Income Assistance staff resources
- 63) Rigorously evaluate major reforms
- 64) Create linked administrative data for policy development
Make ongoing engagement a permanent part of all policies
- 65) Set up a human rights-based approach to engagement with those affected