As our country gradually reopens from the pandemic lockdown, the Arts Sector will be the last one to fully recover in a process that could take several months or even years, with some companies putting their in-person season on hold for one year or more. This makes the arts community one of Canada’s most vulnerable. Of the over 158,000 artists in Canada, close to 52% (82,000) are self-employed and will not be eligible to transition to EI or CEWS, and the current Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is merely a band-aid solution that was not designed to be a long-term answer for our nation’s recovery.
In response to a recent survey on the effects of COVID-19 on Canadian Artists conducted by Hill Strategies, $1.9 BILLION INCOME is the estimated lost or at-risk income in 2020 for the 82,000 self-employed artists in Canada who generate around a $25,000 average income. The Arts Sector creates their work in public spaces. Many performing artists spend a significant time touring, some play with multiple orchestras in several different cities. They cannot work from home, creating their art for little to no income in their private spaces for the online community. Their workplaces are in the concert halls, the theatres, the movie sets. These spaces will be the very last ones to open fully, and will take years before their economies recover.
Under the current Stage 3 reopening protocol, a theatre that might normally seat 100, would only be able to accommodate 19 patrons. It would be impossible for a company to justify the expense of opening under those extreme restrictions. So, in the meantime, most performing arts spaces will remain shuttered until the pandemic subsides and a more realistic plan is put in place.
The Arts Sector operates largely on a gigging and part-time economy that can result in many gaps in-between projects. The frailty of an artist’s mental health is well known. Having to deal with the pressures of a gigging self-directed and often self-employed lifestyle can be incredibly stressful in itself, but when all of your creative opportunities suddenly dry-up due to a pandemic and you have no idea if or when they might come back to life again, imagine the compounded stressors with this unreal uncertainty. This is where having a Universal Basic Income will make a huge impact as a long-term solution to support the inconsistent nature of their financial resources.
We urge the Government of Canada to make $2,000/month a new income floor for all Canadians, decreasing as earned income grows, to a minimum of $500/month as a dividend for all Canadians earning over $36,000/year. As technology and automation continue to depress wages, a Recovery UBI will give all Canadians a much-needed raise while supporting Canadian business owners across the country.
Companies have not only laid off workers—many have also permanently closed. Businesses are replacing jobs with modern software and hardware automation at an unprecedented pace in order to survive. In the last 3 recessions, nearly 90% of jobs lost were easy to automate. Meanwhile, employers are finding workers to be more expensive than existing technologies, which can already automate 4 in 10 tasks Canadians do at work today.
Previous economic recoveries have been highly polarized in ways that are un-Canadian, leaving most Canadians worse off while working harder and longer than generations in the past. Over the last 40 years, growth in the economy has gone mostly to the highest earners, while a growing number of Canadians work in low-income jobs.
This recession will accelerate the widening inequality, as Canadians with low-incomes suffer the greatest losses and those with high incomes remain relatively unaffected.
We cannot have a fast and equitable recovery when the share of our nation’s income going to the bottom half of Canadian earners continues to fall, while technology continues to push income away from workers and towards capital holders.
This time we can do better.
A Recovery UBI recognizes the changing relationship between work, capital, and technology by putting money directly into the hands of Canadians and allowing each of us to share in the vast wealth that technology is creating.
UBI is not social assistance. It is not a handout or a form of charity. It is how Canadians across the country can reclaim their slice of the economic pie. This is why a Recovery UBI should be the same amount paid to all working and retirement age Canadians on top of—rather than replacing—existing social assistance.
Recovery UBI is a $500/month payment to every adult; known as a universal dividend. The amount increases to as much as $2,000/month to ensure every Canadian is making more than $24,000/year. For families, two adults receive a combined $1,000 which increases to as much as $3,121 to ensure every family is making more than $37,456 /year.
If you're one of 8 million Canadians on the CERB, Recovery UBI will buy you the time you need to find opportunity in a post-pandemic economy. Recovery to pre-pandemic levels is predicted to take as much as 10 years. If you are among the 4 in 10 recent layoffs expected NOT to be hired back, adopting this program is urgent.
Basic Income isn’t left or right, if we choose the right away to pay for it.
UBI Works has put together 6 different options to pay for a $500/month universal dividend with a $2,000/month guaranteed income for all Canadians, including seniors. We call this Recovery UBI, and it can be the basis of a more fair and fast economic recovery in Canada.
These 6 funding plans are drawn from a list of nearly a trillion dollars in funding proposals collected from ideas right across the political spectrum.
These options demonstrate that it is fully possible to pay for a basic income without raising personal taxes, cutting existing social programs, or adding to the national debt. Adopting and financing a Recovery UBI for Canada is merely a matter of political will.
UBI makes us owners in our economy, while a guaranteed minimum income addresses poverty. Recovery UBI delivers BOTH, and this article explains why.
When The Globe and Mail quotes the head of the World Economic Forum saying “it’s time for a massive reset of capitalism”, when billionaire investor Ray Dalio says that capitalism is not working for most people, when former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney says a guaranteed basic income needs to be looked at with “great priority”, and even Canada’s former Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz called for an ongoing CERB-like mechanism - the time for band-aid solutions and incremental measures is over.
A post-pandemic recovery without a UBI will leave most people worse off, just like previous recoveries have. We can get it right this time: a $500/month universal dividend with a $2,000/month guaranteed minimum income for all Canadians will speed up our economic recovery and leave people stronger.
Recovery UBI is a $500/month payment to every adult; known as a universal dividend. The amount increases to as much as $2,000/month to ensure every Canadian is making more than $24,000/year. For families, two adults receive a combined $1,000 which increases to as much as $3,121 to ensure every family is making more than $37,456 /year.
If you're one of more than 8 million Canadians on the CERB, Recovery UBI will buy you the time you need to find opportunity in a post-pandemic economy. Recovery to pre-pandemic levels is predicted to take as long as 10 years. If you are among the 4 in 10 recent layoffs expected NOT to be hired back, adopting this program is urgent.
Basic Income isn’t left or right, if we choose the right away to pay for it.
UBI Works has put together 9 different options to pay for a $500/month universal dividend with a $2,000/month guaranteed income for all Canadians, including seniors. We call this Recovery UBI, and it can be the basis of a more fair and fast economic recovery in Canada.
These 9 funding plans are drawn from a list of $874B in funding proposals collected from ideas right across the political spectrum.
These options demonstrate that it is fully possible to pay for a basic income without raising personal income taxes, without eliminating existing needs-based social programs, and without adding to the national debt. Adopting and financing a Recovery UBI for Canada is merely a matter of political will.
UBI makes us owners in our economy, while a guaranteed minimum income addresses poverty. Recovery UBI delivers BOTH, and this article explains why.
When The Globe and Mail quotes the head of the World Economic Forum saying “it’s time for a massive reset of capitalism”, when billionaire investor Ray Dalio says that capitalism is not working for most people, when former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney says a guaranteed basic income needs to be looked at with “great priority”, and even Canada’s former Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz called for an ongoing CERB-like mechanism - the time for band-aid solutions and incremental measures is over.
A post-pandemic recovery without a UBI will leave most people worse off, just like previous recoveries have. We can get it right this time: a $500/month universal dividend with a $2,000/month guaranteed minimum income for all Canadians will speed up our economic recovery and leave people stronger.
Median-wage truck driver making $40,000 a year would receive a 15% raise to $46,000. This will provide more flexibility to find other opportunity as many truck driving jobs will soon be automated.
A retail worker working part time and caring for her children, would receive a 70% raise from $20,000 to $34,000 a year.
An entrepreneur driving an Uber part-time making $28,000 while building their business would benefit from a 35% effective raise to $38,000 a year. Entrepreneurs could choose to live off $2,000/month with no market income as they build their startups. This is why Y Combinator's Sam Altman calls UBI "seed funding for the people".
All Canadians can exit social assistance and re-enter the work force with a $2,000 income guarantee that can be used as they re-train for the jobs needed today. Because of this guarantee, they'll always make more by going back to work.
A manager making $60,000 a year would receive a 10% raise of $6,000 to $66,000 a year.
Students not receiving an income could focus on school with the full $24,000 income guarantee, increasing graduation and attainment rates.
Most seniors would be better off as a $24,000 minimum annual income for individuals and $37,000 for households is higher than what is guaranteed by OAS/GIS. This is also an income you can build off, should you want to continue working or making other contributions to Canadian society.
Median-wage truck driver making $40,000 a year would receive a 15% raise to $46,000. This will provide more flexibility to find other opportunity as many truck driving jobs will soon be automated.
A retail worker working part time and caring for her children, would receive a 70% raise from $20,000 to $34,000 a year.
An entrepreneur driving an Uber part-time making $28,000 while building their business would benefit from a 35% effective raise to $38,000 a year. Entrepreneurs could choose to live off $2,000/month with no market income as they build their startups. This is why Y Combinator's Sam Altman calls UBI "seed funding for the people".
Recovery UBI supplements existing needs-based support programs, so that the most vulnerable Canadians will not be left worse off. A $2,000/month guaranteed minimum income, which they can keep in part if they go back to work, ensures they'll always be better off.
A manager making $60,000 a year would receive a 10% raise of $6,000 to $66,000 a year.
Students not receiving an income could focus on school with the full $24,000 income guarantee, increasing graduation and attainment rates.
Most seniors would be better off as a $24,000 minimum annual income for individuals and $37,000 for households is higher than what is guaranteed by OAS/GIS. This is also an income you can build off, should you want to continue working or making other contributions to Canadian society.
The economy is broken; fewer and fewer jobs pay enough for a decent life, because technology is cheaper than workers. As a result, the economy has polarized us. The number of middle-income earners is shrinking while a growing share of Canadians are working in low-income jobs. Economic and productivity growth is no longer driving improvement in incomes and quality of life in the way they used to.
We can fix the economy by giving everyone a raise from the riches technology is creating, and giving those who need it most a bigger raise. This raise will be key to a more fair and fast post-pandemic economic recovery. If we don’t do this now, the recovery will leave people worse off than before—just like previous recoveries.
The $500 dividend and $2,000 minimum floor which make up the Recovery UBI will ensure a fairer and faster post-pandemic recovery from the bottom up. In our plan, all Canadians have a universal dividend of $500 a month, increasing for those who need it most.
Individuals are guaranteed an income of $24,000/year, with working people receiving 50 cents less for every dollar they earn under $36,000 to a minimum benefit of $6,000/year - ending working poverty. Joint-filing house holds who can combine living expenses, are guaranteed $37,452 of income a year less 50 cents for every dollar the household earns under $50,900 —supporting families.
Recovery UBI will usher in a more fair and fast economic recovery. It will stimulate economic growth and create jobs by increasing consumer confidence and driving job-creating spending for local businesses. Given that 2/3 of the economy is driven consumer spending, how can we NOT afford to do this?
The proof is visible within our own families. The Canada Child Benefit is Canada's national scale Basic Income for people with children, received by 67% of Canadian families.
UBI Works commissioned a study on the Canada Child Benefit, a basic income for families, showing that basic income is growing the economy, creating jobs, and lifting Canadians out of poverty.
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On March 7, 2020 UBI Works founder, Floyd Marinescu spoke to more than 2,000 politicos, including former Premiers of Ontario, MPs, and MPPs about automation and the urgency for UBI
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On March 16, 2020, UBI Works launched a petition for an Emergency UBI, garnering over 30,000 signatures and emails to all 338 MPs.
See the PetitionTo shift the conversation about basic income to recognize it as an economic need and economic opportunity, with the goal of seeing UBI implemented in Canada.
We want a Canada where everyone can pursue their potential and not be held back by basic material constraints or unsafe environments.
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