Top global basic income experts gathering in Toronto, with senate bill top of mind

Top global basic income experts gathering in Toronto, with senate bill top of mind

4 day international congress looks at how Canada can create a universal basic income program

A bill to develop a national framework for a guaranteed basic income in Canada will be a focal point at an international basic income gathering happening in Toronto this week.

Bill S-206, which is currently being studied by a Senate committee, would direct the Minister of Finance to develop a national framework to give every person over age 17 in Canada access to a guaranteed livable basic income without work requirements.

It's set to be discussed at length on Wednesday at the Basic Income Earth Network Congress (BIEN), which is holding its 25th annual international gathering at Toronto Metropolitan University this year.

A basic income policy like the one outlined in S-206 "isn't some crazy radical idea," said BIEN chair Sheila Regehr.

"In essence, what it is asking for is to provide a similar kind of economic support and security to people 18 to 64 years old that we already provide to families with children and to seniors."

The existing federal programs Regehr refers to include the Canadian disability benefit or the Canada child benefit, which are currently only available to certain groups.

Regehr also says the four-day event is a chance for international experts from 30 countries to share strategies with each other and learn from Canadian activists.

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"It's my hope that people then take that [and say] 'I think I understand where Canada is or I have some ideas about what Canada might need, let me go find out what's happened in Brazil or Germany or South Africa,'" she said.

Ontario pilot project scrapped nearly a decade ago

The congress comes to Toronto eight years after Ontario Premier Doug Ford scrapped a three-year $150-million basic income pilot program, one year after it started.

Bill S-206 sponsor Sen. Kim Pate, who will be speaking at the congress, said interest in basic income can be illustrated by looking at the cancelled Ontario project.

"There were four communities that were able to participate in that initiative. If I recall, it was 400 municipalities who wanted to participate in it," she said.

Pate also says evidence even from a single year’s worth of data showed how effective the regular, conditionless payments were.

"The people who were able to participate in that program, even though it was cut short, many of them were able to get off social assistance," she said.

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She said that she could see a successful framework operating similarly to the former Ontario pilot, where participants were able to increase their total income by working in tandem with receiving their basic income payments, which gradually decrease based on how much is earned.

According to Regehr, S-206 fits in well with a push being made by global basic income activists to tackle a complex tangle of social issues.

"[Basic income] can help address many of these interacting issues, from artificial intelligence to the environment, to threats to democracy, and just overall massive inequality," she said.

Senator fears 'discouraging ambition'

But S-206 — and the concept of basic income more broadly — doesn’t come without opposition.

Previous attempts to bring a basic income policy to Canada have been maligned by some politicians, think tanks and academics, who claim the move is too expensive or disincentivizes Canadians from joining the workforce.

In a sitting of the Senate in late October 2025, Conservative-affiliated Sen. Michael MacDonald made similar arguments against Bill S-206 specifically.

"Such a policy risks discouraging ambition and personal drive precisely when young people should be working to build their futures," said MacDonald at the hearing.

According to Pate, current social support services in Canada disincentivizes citizens from working because when you start working, the support will go away immediately.

She said Bill S-206 is proposing instead to have a gradual release of support once dependents start working to help transition away from supported income.

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Bill S-206 is still in the Senate and will still have to go through the House of Commons before any further action can be taken.

Pate sponsored a basic income bill, S-233, back in 2021, but it failed to make it past the National Finance Committee.

Ian Curran is a video journalist based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He is currently participating in the 2026 CBC summer scholarship for emerging journalists working with News Network and the Toronto local bureau. He has also worked with CBC New Brunswick in the Fredericton bureau. You can contact him with story ideas at ian.curran@cbc.ca.