About basic income
Basic Income is a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all individuals, without means-testing or work requirements.
BI has the following FIVE characteristics:
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Periodic: it is paid at regular intervals (for example, every month), not as a one-off grant.
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Cash payment: It is paid in a medium of exchange, allowing the recipient to decide how to spend it. It is not, therefore, paid either in kind (such as food or services) or in vouchers dedicated to a specific use.
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Individual: it is paid on an individual basis - and not, for instance, to households.
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Universal: it is paid to all.
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Unconditional: it is paid without means test and without a requirement to work or to demonstrate willingness-to-work.
A wide variety of Basic Income proposals are circulating today. They differ along many other dimensions, for instance, the amounts of the Basic Income, the source of funding, the nature and size of reductions in other transfers that might accompany it, and so on.
We are honoured to co-moderate with Basic Income Earth Network organizers and long-time changemakers from the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and the Anglican Diocese of Niagara.
In part one of the webinar series, the Hamilton Roundtable on Poverty Reduction and partners for a series of critical conversations leading up to the 2026 Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) Congress.
speakers
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Tom Cooper. Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction
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Sheila Regehr. Basic Income Canada Network
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Dr. Kwame McKenzie. Wellesley Institute
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Kathleen Wynne. Munk School, Former ON Premier
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Dr. Evelyn Forget. University of Manitoba
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Dr. Wayne Lewchuk. McMaster University
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Senator Kim Pate. Senate of Canada
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Deirdre Pike. Anglican Diocese of Niagara
