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In the 2016 Ontario Budget, the creation of a Basic Income Pilot Project was announced, to test a new approach to reducing poverty in a sustainable way. The pilot project will test a growing view that a basic income could build on the success of minimum wage policies and increases in child benefits by providing more support in the labour market. The pilot would also test whether a basic income would provide a more efficient way of delivering income support, strengthen the attachment to the labour force, and achieve savings in other areas, such as health care and housing supports. 

The discussion paper Finding a Better Way: A Basic Income Pilot Project for Ontario by Hugh D. Segal (CM Master, Massey College) recommends some constructive options for the design and implementation of a pilot project, in a way that encourages open discussion and debate. A pilot project testing how a Basic Income would improve Ontarians' well-being should answer some crucial questions, such as:

  • Can Basic Income policies provide a more efficient, less intrusive, and less stigmatizing way of delivering income support for those now living in poverty?
  • Can those policies also encourage work, relieve financial and time poverty, and reduce economic marginalization?
  • Can a Basic Income reduce cost pressures in other areas of government spending, such as healthcare?
  • Can a basic income strengthen the incentive to work, by responsibly helping those who are working but still living below the poverty line?

A note of interest from the paper:

In discussions with the federal government on poverty abatement initiatives, the idea of a Canadian Social Data Research Initiative (SDRI) should be pursued. Canada and all of the provinces would benefit immensely from a broad unit under federal-provincial sponsorship (as in the case of Canada Health Infoway and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research) that ensured the availability of current integrated social data sets. These data sets are necessary to make informed public, social, and economic policy decisions. They would be used by governments of any affiliation, at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, and by the private and not-forprofit sectors.

Read the full discussion paper below, join the online consultations and complete this survey!