e-4746 (Social affairs and equality)

The Government of Canada is taking crucial steps to help make life more affordable for more Canadians, while investing to grow the economy and create jobs. 

It is important to acknowledge that income security is a shared responsibility across different levels of government. As such, the federal Government recognizes the importance of working with provinces and territories to find solutions to common challenges.

In the context of Prince Edward Island’s (PEI) Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) proposal, this petition calls for the Government of Canada to implement a national framework for Guaranteed Basic Income that tests various funding and implementation models and their effects on poverty, inequality, innovation, and labour productivity.

In response to a request from PEI’s Minister of Social Development proposing a joint Canada-PEI working group to demonstrate and assess the expected impacts of introducing a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) across PEI, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development expressed the federal government’s willingness to explore the creation of a working group composed of department officials with the intention of exchanging federal-level administrative data in support of PEI’s work to evaluate a GBI. The Government will continue to collaborate with provinces and territories that are interested in exploring such an avenue.

The Government of Canada already has ongoing programs with features of a partial basic income, such as the Canada Child Benefit for families with children, as well as the Old Age Security (OAS) pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors. In addition, existing programs such as the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) and Employment Insurance (EI) provide support to low-income individuals with labour market attachment or with insurable employment. These and other initiatives have contributed to lifting Canadians out of poverty. These programs exist alongside provincial and territorial programs, including those that deliver social assistance.

In addition, recent budgets introduced several measures that will help to reduce poverty and inequality. For example, Budget 2023 made significant investments to build a healthier Canada and deliver affordable dental care. This includes $13 billion over five years, and $4.4 billion ongoing, to implement the Canada Dental Care Plan. The Plan’s rollout started in 2023 and provides dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with an annual family income of less than $90,000.  

More recently, Budget 2024 announced further measures to help make life more affordable. For instance, through the Canada Housing Plan, the Government of Canada provides incentives across government, private and non-profit sector partners to build 3.87 million homes by 2031. Budget 2024 also continues to strengthen competition in the grocery sector by giving more power to the Competition Bureau to crack down on unfair practices. Budget 2024 committed $1 billion over five years to create a National School Food Program providing up to 400,000 more kids healthy meals – helping them learn, grow and reach their full potential. It also included an investment of $6.1 billion over six years, and $1.4 billion ongoing, for a new Canada Disability Benefit and another $1.5 billion over five years was included for the new National Pharmacare Plan. This first phase will ensure the effective roll-out of pharmacare, while providing immediate support for the health care needs of women and covering lifesaving diabetes medication.

The Government is also working with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners to build a Canada-wide, community-based early learning child care system. The federal government is providing provinces and territories with significant funding to support substantial reductions to families for the cost of regulated child care spaces.

The Government of Canada also undertakes research and analysis on potential basic income programs and other approaches that could positively impact Canada’s economy and society, as part of its efforts to tackle poverty and to ensure that all Canadians have a real and fair opportunity to succeed.