Quebec basic income program begins, but advocates say many low income people excluded

The program is aimed at 84,000 Quebecers with a "severely limited capacity for employment'' such as a chronic illness or mental health condition.

For the first time in many years, Monique Toutant thinks she might be able to buy herself some better groceries and a few new clothes.

As a longtime social assistance recipient, the 62-year-old Quebec City resident is used to pinching pennies, buying the strict minimum at the grocery store and saving for months for every purchase. She calls it “everyday stress.”

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“Will I have enough money to get through the month? Will I have enough money to eat well? Will I have enough money because I have a doctor’s appointment in two days and I have to pay a bus ticket?” she said in a phone interview.

Toutant, who can’t work because of acute rheumatoid arthritis that prevents her from sitting or standing for long periods, is facing a little less hardship after her monthly cheque rose by more than $300 to about $1,548 at the beginning of January with the launch of the Quebec government’s basic income program.

The program, aimed at 84,000 Quebecers with a “severely limited capacity for employment” such as a chronic illness or mental health condition, will provide an increase of more than 28 per cent for a single person, the government says. Just as importantly, they will also have the ability to earn about $14,500 a year in wages — up from $200 a month — and have up to $20,000 in savings, all without losing benefits. They will also be able to live with a partner who earns a small paycheque without seeing their benefits clawed back.

The program, which will cost about $1.5 billion a year, allows recipients “to benefit from one of the highest disposable incomes for people on social assistance in Canada,” the province’s Labour and Social Solidarity Department said in an email.

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