“Dear Prime Minister:
Re: Measures to Assist Canadians Impacted by COVID-19 and Facilitate Economic Recovery
We commend you and your Cabinet for all efforts to ensure Canadians have received vital economic
support as we continue into the second year and third wave of this current pandemic.
We are also heartened by your government’s commitment to reducing poverty by 50% by 2030.
The new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) concludes that a guaranteed livable
income would achieve this by next year. Moreover, it reveals that this could be achieved at a net zero
cost with minimal impact on the labour market. In short, the PBO estimates that guaranteed basic
income—a cash transfer sufficient to meet basic needs and available to anyone with income below a
certain cut off—would cut poverty in half by 2022.
The PBO revealed that a guaranteed basic income program would result in only a 1.3% reduction in
hours worked and could deliver $80 billion in supports for a net cost of only $3 billion, by replacing tax
measures like the GST credit and basic personal amount, as well as provincial and territorial social
assistance payments.”
