UPDATE: Wednesday, September 19
Here’s a Toronto Star article on the global opinions of the Ontario Basic Income pilot cancellation, Cancellation of Ontario’s basic income project sparks global outrage.
UPDATE: Saturday, August 11
There’s currently a petition with over 23,800 signatures to the Minister of Social Services Lisa MacLeod called Save the Basic Income on Leadnow.ca which you can sign.
UPDATE: Tuesday, July 31
The new provincial government cancels the basic income pilot after only 15 months, as noted in this CBC article, PC’s plan to scrap Ontario basic income pilot project called ‘shameful’ by NDP leader. Along with that announcement, the government also mentioned that the planned 3% increase for Ontario Works and ODSP recipients will only be 1.5% and that they are looking into other solutions within the next 100-days.
Any readers that’s currently part of the program want to share how they’re feeling about this?
UPDATE: Sunday, February 25
Toronto Star released an article yesterday, From ‘barely surviving’ to thriving: Ontario basic income recipients report less stress, better health which interviewed several people that are currently participating in the pilot program and how it has impacted their lives so far.
Anyone here is now part of the basic income program and can share their experiences with us?
UPDATE: Thursday, February 22
There was a question of whether those that are part of the Basic Income program would impact other sources of funding they may be receiving. Here is the response from the ministry:
As you may know, to participate in the pilot, social assistance recipients would need to withdraw from social assistance. ODSP clients will remain eligible for the Ontario Drug Benefit and dental benefits if they were receiving them prior to entering the pilot. ODSP clients will not remain eligible for other benefits such as hearing aids and mobility devices, special diet allowance, and transportation for medical purposes; however they will remain eligible for other services and supports received outside of ODSP including services provided through Developmental Services Ontario (e.g. Passport), rehabilitation services, and other programs for people with special needs.
The existing income-based benefits and tax credits will continue to be available to pilot participants. Examples of these benefits include the Ontario Student Assistance Program, the Trillium Drug Program, the Child Care Fee Subsidy, Rent-Geared-to-Income Housing, and Healthy Smiles Ontario.
UPDATE: Saturday, September 9
There were some questions regarding what would happen post-pilot to those that are on ODSP. Here is the response from the ministry:
Thank you for your e-mail to the Ministry of Community and Social Services concerning the Basic Income Pilot.
As you may know, we launched the three-year pilot in late spring in Hamilton, Brantford and Brant County, and in Thunder Bay and the surrounding area, and Lindsay will be added this fall. Invitations to apply are being mailed to a randomly selected sample of mailing addresses in the initial pilot regions.
To participate in the pilot, social assistance recipients would need to withdraw from social assistance. Ontario Works and ODSP clients will remain eligible for the Ontario Drug Benefit, and those on ODSP will remain eligible for dental benefits if they were receiving them prior to entering the pilot.
Prior to the end of the pilot, the Basic Income will be gradually phased out. Participants who wish to return to ODSP will follow the existing rapid reinstatement process. Rapid reinstatement is a streamlined re-application process for granting income support to a former ODSP recipient without re-adjudicating the applicant’s disability.
For further assistance and information about this or any other aspect of the application or pilot process, I encourage any person who has received a Basic Income Pilot invitation in the mail to use either of the contact options in the package to reach the Centralized Pilot Team directly.
Please visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-basic-income-pilot for more information about the Basic Income Pilot as our work continues.
—
UPDATE: Monday, May 29.
The Ontario Basic Income Pilot page is up with more details on the program, locations, participants, what’s measured, payment amount, impact on other benefits, evaluation and reporting.
—
UPDATE: Sunday, May 7.
Ontario launches basic income pilot for 4,000 in Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Lindsay.
This will be a 3-year pilot and the dollar amount to be provided looks to be the same as what was in the proposal with no impact on any drug and medical coverage. Under the plan, single adults between the ages of 18 and 64 will receive up to $16,989 annually and couples will receive up to $24,027. People with disabilities will receive an additional $6,000. Single people would have to earn less than about $34,000 to qualify and the income cut-off for couples would be about $48,000, according to a government spokeswoman.
The program will begin rolling out spring and summer in Thunder Bay and the Hamilton area, including Brantford and Brant County. Lindsay will join the project in the fall. About 1,000 households will be chosen in the Hamilton area and another 1,000 will be invited to participate in Thunder Bay. About 2,000 are expected to take part in Lindsay, where larger community impacts of the basic income will be studied. Participants must be living in one of the test locations for the past 12 months or longer to be eligible.
—
Basic Income has been in the news lately, with Elon Musk, CEO and founder of Tesla and SpaceX back in November 2016, predicting that the rise of machines in the workplace could soon mean job displacement and a ‘universal basic income’ for humans. Finland is one of the first countries in 2017 to pilot which started on January 1.
What exactly is basic income?
According to the Basic Income Earth Network, a basic income is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-testing or work requirement.
Many reasons have all been invoked in Basic Income’s favour, including liberty and equality, efficiency and community, common ownership of the Earth and equal sharing in the benefits of technical progress, the flexibility of the labour market and the dignity of the poor, the fight against inhumane working conditions, against the desertification of the countryside and against interregional inequalities, the viability of cooperatives and the promotion of adult education, autonomy from bosses, husbands and bureaucrats.
The inability to tackle unemployment with conventional means has, in the last decade or so, become a major reason for the idea being taken seriously throughout Europe by a growing number of scholars and organisations. Social policy and economic policy can no longer be conceived separately, and Basic Income is increasingly viewed as the only viable way of reconciling two of their respective central objectives: poverty relief and full employment.
What is happening in Ontario?
In June 2016, the Ontario government asked the Honourable Hugh Segal for advice on the design of a Basic Income Pilot. As a result, Mr Segal has submitted a discussion paper, Finding a Better Way: A Basic Income Pilot for Ontario. Which the government is using as the platform for the pilot.
What excites me most is that the recommendations of the Ontario Basic Income pilot would replace Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), which removes many of the restrictions of those two existing programs on current recipients. As noted in the discussion paper:
In answer to this set of questions, it is recommended that the pilot focuses on testing a Basic Income in the form of a NIT (what some would call a refundable tax credit) that would replace Ontario Works and ODSP, and for which Ontarians aged 18 to 65 living in poverty would be eligible. Unlike the support provided under the current Ontario Works and ODSP, the financial support provided would not impose restrictions, limits or interdictions related to financial assets, work-based earnings, or labour force participation.
Individuals would be guaranteed an income equivalent to a determined proportion of the LIM (that proportion differing across experimental groups), which would not be taxed. Additional earnings beyond the Basic Income would be encouraged and taxed at varying rates. These tax rates would apply until an individual has paid, in taxes on earned income, the exact equivalent of the Basic Income, with a threshold (or break-even point) after which earned incomes would be subject to the normal income tax schedule by which all working Ontarians are governed. The taxation mechanisms applied to earned incomes in the context of the NIT would provide incentives for individuals whose incomes are currently below the poverty line to join or remain in the workforce. They would also reduce the costs to the province of implementing a Basic Income, should it choose to do so after studying the results of the pilot.
As you can see in the table above, a single adult would see an increase of $787.75 to $1915.75 per month, and for a couple, $814.25 to $2502.25 per month on basic income compared to ODSP, and you would still be able to earn on top of that without same restrictions. The only thing that the paper doesn’t address is whether the other programs within ODSP such as health or disability-related benefits would be cut.
It is of course not full proof and with concerns such as how would we pay for the basic income programs? However, I am optimistic with Ontario piloting this program, and unlike the Mincome experiment in Manitoba back in the 1970s, to have concrete results and to truly address poverty relief and full employment for all.
Be sure to participate in the Ontario Basic Income Pilot public survey before January 31, 2017.