Universal Basic Income Already Exists in Canada — Just Under Different Names
The debate over Universal Basic Income (UBI) often ignores a simple reality: versions of UBI already exist all across Canada. They’re just called by different names.
- Welfare is a form of UBI, providing income support regardless of productivity.
- Employment Insurance (EI) is another version, giving temporary income to the unemployed.
- Subsidized housing acts as UBI for shelter.
- Maternity leave benefits are essentially UBI for new parents.
- Minimum wage laws guarantee a base income floor, even when market demand would not support it.
- Rent controls (except in Alberta) function as income protection through capped housing costs.
- Universal health care provides medical coverage funded by taxpayers, another indirect UBI.
Each of these programs transfers wealth from taxpayers to recipients, lowering the real cost of living for some while raising it for others. They are all government interventions that function like UBI, though few call them that.
The Real UBI Debate
I would personally be open to scrapping all these piecemeal programs and replacing them with one direct UBI payment. That would at least simplify the system.
But that’s not what UBI advocates want. What they are pushing for is UBI on top of all existing welfare programs. In other words: an additional government cheque layered over the dozens of programs already in place.
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) during the pandemic gave people a taste of this. It was handed out broadly, almost like candy, and because the economic consequences weren’t immediate, many now believe such programs come without cost. But the reality is that the long-term inflationary and fiscal impacts are only now surfacing, and the fallout will be hard to ignore.
The Problem with Rewarding Unproductive Choices
A telling example comes from Dana Wylie, an artist and music teacher in Edmonton who admitted that without CERB she would have struggled. She organized a basic income rally, saying:
“Not only am I a full-time self-employed artist and musician and music teacher, but I have two small kids. I don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t introduced it.” (Global News)
Now, pursuing art is a personal choice, but it comes with risk. I myself once dreamed of being a rockstar. Eventually, I had to accept that I wasn’t good enough to make a living at it. For me, the arts became a hobby, not a career.
That’s the harsh reality: in a free society, people can choose any path they want, but the market decides whether that path is economically viable. When government programs insulate individuals from this reality, society ends up subsidizing unproductive or low-demand career choices.
The Bigger Picture
This is also why I distrust simplistic “wage gap” statistics. If census data counts individuals who choose low-demand fields — then compares them to those in high-demand, high-pressure roles — it distorts the picture. CERB (and by extension, UBI) doesn’t just distort statistics; it distorts incentives.
Rewarding people for remaining in careers that society does not value economically creates false security. And when younger generations see that the government props up “bad bets,” many will be tempted to follow suit. The end result? Less productivity and, over time, a lower standard of living for everyone.
The Hard Truth
Being self-employed is a grind. The market will tell you — quickly and often brutally — if your talents are in demand. If you can’t earn more than a few hundred dollars a week, the signal is clear: society doesn’t value your work enough to sustain it.
Meanwhile, across Canada, millions of people are working jobs they don’t love — but their productivity contributes to the broader economy and raises living standards. Taxing those workers more heavily to subsidize unproductive choices is not only unfair, it’s corrosive.
The Trade-Off No One Wants to Face
If Canadians truly want UBI, the real question is: what are you willing to give up in exchange?
- Would you trade universal health care for a UBI cheque?
- Would nurses, already underpaid and overworked, still show up if their wage were barely above the UBI?
- Would essential industries be able to attract workers when the state guarantees a comfortable floor for doing nothing?
These are the uncomfortable but necessary questions.
Conclusion
The CERB experiment showed Canadians what life looks like when the government hands out unconditional income. It also revealed how quickly entitlement can grow. But when the bill comes due — through inflation, debt, or reduced productivity — the same taxpayers who kept the country running will be forced to foot it.
That resentment is real. It explains, in part, why Conservative parties never disappear in Canada: many hardworking citizens are tired of being taxed to subsidize people who refuse to face reality.
UBI may sound compassionate, but unless it replaces existing programs instead of stacking on top of them, it will only weaken productivity, distort incentives, and accelerate social decline.
Interesting times ahead
