A basic income for Canada
Over 250 Leadnow members across the country recorded heart-felt personal messages in support of basic income. This video is a compilation of some of these messages:
Soon, Liberal and NDP MPs will vote on their policy priorities at their respective conventions. We’re calling on MPs to do what’s right: vote to make basic income a priority.
- Liberal MPs: Vote for Resolution #3375 ‘A Canadian basic income – rethinking Canadas’ tomorrow’
- NDP MPs: Prioritize and vote for Resolution 03–01–20 ‘Fighting poverty with a guaranteed basic income’
Most of us can agree that everyone deserves to live a decent life. This means ensuring we can all afford our basic needs, like putting food on the table and having a safe place to call home.
But the pandemic has shown us that our society doesn’t provide for everyone. Canada’s wealth has soared even as we’ve let inequality grow.1
Maintaining this status quo is incredibly expensive. Poverty costs the government a staggering $72-86 billion every year. And with the pandemic making people sick, forcing businesses to close and putting people’s jobs at risk, the gaps in our social safety net are widening.2 3
If the government provided a regular, no-strings payment to everyone in Canada who needed it — a guaranteed, livable basic income — it would help close the gaps by radically simplifying access to income support.
A basic income would provide everyone in Canada who needs it with a regular payment, regardless of work or immigration status. It would help make our economy more resilient, so if more businesses are forced to close, workers can still feed their families and pay their bills during difficult times. And it would create jobs and grow our economy at the same time.4 It’s the right thing to do.
We know basic income works. A basic income trial in Manitoba had positive physical and mental health benefits — and high school graduation rates improved, too. A recent Ontario pilot helped people buy food, participate in training, and pay their bills. And research shows that basic income could lift millions of people out of poverty, while boosting the economy by $80 billion a year.5 6 7
A guaranteed, livable basic income, coupled with investments in social programs, will help ensure everyone can live a dignified life.
Find out more by checking out these organizations working for a basic income in Canada:
BICN
UBI Works
Leadnow
Coalition Canada
The Case for Basic Income for the Arts
Ontario Basic Income Network
Basic Income Canada Youth Network