Province scrapping Ontario basic income pilot project


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The Ontario basic income pilot project is coming to an end, says Children, Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod.


MacLeod said Tuesday that the project was expensive, and “clearly not the answer for Ontario families.”


She said the ministry would have “more details at a later date” about how the government would end the project.


Close to 4,000 people were enrolled in the basic income pilot program in Thunder Bay, Lindsay, Hamilton, Brantford and Brant County.


The pilot project started in April 2017. It was originally set to last three years, and explore the effectiveness of providing a basic income to those living on low incomes — whether they were working or not.


Under the project, a single person could have received up to about $17,000 a year, minus half of any income he or she earned. A couple could have received up to $24,000 per year. People with disabilities could have received an additional $6,000.


MacLeod also announced Tuesday that the province’s PC government will increase rates for people on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program by 1.5 per cent — not the three per cent increase that was promised in the previous Liberal government’s latest budget.


“We need to do more than just help people remain mired in poverty,” MacLeod said while making the announcement at Queen’s Park.


“We’re going to hit the pause button on the previous government’s patchwork system and replace it with a system that helps stabilize people in need and support them to succeed.”


MacLeod said the province has set a 100-day deadline to develop and announce a “sustainable” social assistance program.

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