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Broadbent Institute
Recommendation 2:
This federal income security initiative would generate savings for provinces, potentially $2 to $3 billion overall. It would then free up funding for provinces as the new basic income program would replace provincial/territorial social assistance for most working-age persons with severe disabilities. This amount is large enough to justify an investment and accountability framework that would enable provinces and territories to reallocate funds to urgently needed personal supports as well as home-based and community services for those with disabilities.
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Recommendation 1:
The adequacy of provincial social assistance has fallen over time since. Data from the Maytree Foundation show that from 1996 to 2018 and adjusting for inflation, the value of welfare income for a single person with a disability increased in only one province, remained more or less stable in three provinces, and declined in purchasing power in six provinces, in some jurisdictions falling by $2,000 or more. In 2018, the maximum welfare income for a person with a disability ranged from as low of just under $10,000 a year in New Brunswick to almost $20,000 in Alberta.
It is time to address these limitations in adequacy and equity in the safety net for Canadians with disabilities and to examine major reform options moving forward.
It is time to address these limitations in adequacy and equity in the safety net for Canadians with disabilities and to examine major reform options moving forward.
- Introducing a Canada basic income program for people with severe disabilities. In close cooperation with the provinces, the federal government should establish a national basic income that could be modelled along the lines of the Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income programs for seniors. The benefit would be paid monthly, indexed to the cost of living, free of social stigma, portable across the country and the maximum benefit would be the same as for eligible low income seniors under the OAS/GIS.
- This federal income security initiative would generate savings for provinces, potentially $2 to $3 billion overall. It would then free up funding for provinces as the new basic income program would replace provincial/territorial social assistance for most working-age persons with severe disabilities. This amount is large enough to justify an investment and accountability framework that would enable provinces and territories to reallocate funds to urgently needed personal supports as well as home-based and community services for those with disabilities.
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