Canadian governments moved swiftly and massively to provide personal supports to Canadians during the COVID crisis. This Intelligence Memo looks at income from three families in February before the crisis hit, in April when generous federal and provincial supports hit their zenith,…

Canada’s social safety net has evolved slowly and carefully in an overlapping federal system of transfers and benefits. Ottawa has responsibility for the tax system and Employment Insurance (EI). The provinces have primary responsibility for most social assistance and disability…

To respond to the economic challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, I have proposed a crisis basic income that would proactively send a direct deposit or cheque to the 28.5 million Canadians who filed income taxes last year. There are 30.5 million Canadians over the…

Sometimes bad policy in good times is good policy in bad times. A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is one such policy. The idea of providing every individual (Universal) a low and unconditional common (Basic) level of cash (Income) is an…

Ken Boessenkool is a public-policy economist with a long history in Canadian politics. The biggest economic policy challenge we face during COVID-19 is addressing the massive and widespread loss of work prompted by government-mandated physical distancing. That’s not to minimize…