Canada: A Guaranteed Income Framework to Address Poverty and Inequality?

Like other economically advanced democracies, Canada has had recurring discussions on how to provide more effective income security measures as a key component of the welfare state. This discussion has arisen on a regular basis, particularly since the period of rapid growth in Canadian social programs in the 1960s. Not only through numerous reports and academic publications, but also through the action of several groups ranging from trade unions to small associations, innovative proposals have been made and debated. Among these proposals, the most controversial might be the idea of giving all Canadians the right to an unconditional and universal “basic income” (BI)—frequently referred to in English-speaking Canada as Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI).1