BC’s Basic Income Expert Panel spent more than two years studying income security. It recommended against making a broad basic income the central pillar of the social safety net, while proposing 65 reforms to strengthen existing supports.

That challenge should be taken seriously and you can read our response here. A guaranteed income floor should complement public services, disability assistance and other targeted programs, not displace them.

Local evidence also demonstrates what greater financial agency can accomplish. In the UBC-linked New Leaf project, a one-time cash transfer helped a selected group of recently homeless people move into stable housing faster and reduced their use of shelters. It was not a basic income trial, but it provides meaningful evidence that direct cash can improve outcomes when it is carefully designed.

In 2024, the Union of BC Municipalities endorsed a resolution urging the provincial and federal governments to implement a universal basic income. Municipal leaders argued that gaps in income security place growing pressure on shelters, housing services, food programs and other local supports.

Modelling by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, commissioned by UBI Works, also found that basic income could produce substantial employment and economic gains under some of the program designs and financing scenarios it examined. These are projections rather than observed results, and the report emphasizes that outcomes depend heavily on how a program is funded.