Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of providing a basic income to everyone in Canada who needs it was already gaining broad support. Then, in response to a crisis that threatened to put millions out of work, the federal government implemented new measures which constituted Canada's largest ever experiment with a basic income for almost everyone.
In this new and revised edition, Evelyn L. Forget offers a clear-eyed look at how these emergency measures could be transformed into a program that ensures an adequate basic income for every Canadian.
Forget details what we can learn from earlier basic income experiments in Canada and internationally. She weighs the options, investigates whether Canadians can afford a permanent basic income program and describes how it could best be implemented across the country.
This accessible book offers everything a reader needs to decide if a basic income program is the right follow-up to the short-term government response to COVID-19.
EVELYN L. FORGET is the leading authority on basic income in Canada. She is an economist in the School of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Her first edition of Basic Income for Canadians (2018) was nominated for the Donner Prize for excellence in public policy writing. She has been consulted by governments in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Finland, the Netherlands and Scotland on this topic. Her research has been featured on CBC Ideas, PBS Marketplace, and in the documentary The Free Lunch Society. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
"This is an even-handed and thorough survey of what basic income can, and also importantly cannot, do ... It would be a refreshing change from the current state of affairs if politicians on all sides took Forget up on her offer."
"A compelling case for how and why to implement a basic income in Canada"
"This book will help readers to inform themselves so that we can uncover the will to ensure health, happiness and security for all of us."