The wind down of the basic income pilot project was first announced by the Ontario government in July but payments to eligible participants will continue until March 31, 2019. The government says this will allow participants enough time to transition to existing income support programs.
At the time of the July announcement, the government also announced that it would take 100 days to develop a “sustainable Social Assistance program that focuses on helping people lift themselves out of poverty.”
Nearly 1 in 7 people in Ontario are living in poverty. CMHA Ontario had supported the BI pilot as our mental health is heavily influenced by social and economic conditions referred to as “social determinants of health.”
Access to adequate income (or income security, employment, food security) is a particularly significant social determinant of mental health and can be considered equally important to other determinants such as housing, social inclusion, racialization and freedom from discrimination and violence (among many others).
Many people with mental health and addictions conditions rely on social assistance. Since nearly 46% of all recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) have a diagnosed mental illness, any changes toODSP will disproportionately impact people with mental health issues.
For more information, see news release: https://news.ontario.ca/mcys/en/2018/08/ontarios-government-for-the-people-announces-compassionate-wind-down-of-basic-income-research-projec.html