The Ford government is ending the Ontario basic income pilot project.
Announced under the previous Liberal government, almost 4,000 people were enrolled in the pilot program in five regions: Lindsay, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Brantford, and Brant County.
The announcement was made earlier today (July 31) by Ontario’s Children, Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod, as part of a plan to “reform social assistance to help more people get back on track.”
MacLeod announced the government has set a 100-day deadline to develop and announce a reformed social assistance program. The government said it will provide, “in the intermediate term”, current Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program recipients with an across-the-board 1.5 per cent increase in support rates to help them with a higher cost of living.
The rate increase is half of the 3 per cent planned by the previous Liberal government.
In a supplied backgrounder, the government states it will “wind down” the Ontario basic income pilot project.
“The three-year study of no-strings attached payments is not the answer Ontario families need,” the backgrounder states. “Ontario will focus resources on more proven approaches.”
MacLeod said the government will provide “more details at a later date” about how it will end the Ontario basic income pilot project.
