Implement PEI GBI pilot
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to renew and strengthen federal participation in the PEI Guaranteed Basic Income working group, implement a 5–7‑year PEI GBI demonstration, and use its results to plan a national GBI.
Why we would sign this petition
- Per petitioners, the PEI GBI would sharply cut provincial poverty, eliminate deep poverty and improve outcomes for people with disabilities and lone‑parent families.
- A 5–7‑year, evidence‑based pilot would generate data to guide national income reform; petitioners say the PEI model is about 40% cheaper than other basic‑income models.
- The project is shovel‑ready, already has a federal–provincial working group, and aligns with stated federal priorities like inclusive growth, gender equity and reconciliation.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Results from a single‑province pilot may not generalize to Canada's diverse provinces and territories, limiting the pilot's ability to justify a national rollout.
- Scaling a guaranteed basic income nationwide could be costly and require reallocating funds or raising revenue, creating trade‑offs with existing programs and services.
- Critics may prefer targeted reforms of current income‑security programs or worry about negative effects on work incentives despite the petitioners' claim of minimal labour‑supply impact.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada In May 2025, the Prime Minister mandated all federal departments to deliver results that strengthen the economy, reduce inequality, and rebuild public trust; Canada’s social safety net is aging and fragmented, leaving many working-age adults with economic insecurity and uneven access to support; The Prince Edward Island (PEI) Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) Demonstration Project is a shovel-ready solution, supported by all political parties in PEI, and designed by economists, politicians, civil servants and policy leaders to increase economic security in a fiscally responsible, evidence-based way; The PEI GBI offers an immediate, pragmatic policy to advance federal priorities of inclusive economic growth, gender equity, reconciliation, smart government, and evidence-based innovation; The PEI GBI would reduce poverty in PEI from 9.7% to 2.1%, eliminate deep poverty, improve outcomes for persons with disabilities and lone-parent families, have minimal impact on labour supply, and reduce annual program costs by approximately 40% compared to other basic income models; and A Federal-Provincial GBI Working Group has already been created to study this model, beginning the process of cross-government collaboration to implement the Project. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Renew and strengthen federal participation in the PEI GBI Working Group; 2. Work with the Government of PEI to implement the PEI GBI Demonstration Project, studying its impacts over 5 to 7 years, adjusting the program as necessary; and 3. Use the evidence-based results of the PEI GBI Demonstration Project to reform Canada’s income security system by implementing a guaranteed basic income across Canada in consultation with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners. 1. Renew and strengthen federal participation in the PEI GBI Working Group; 2. Work with the Government of PEI to implement the PEI GBI Demonstration Project, studying its impacts over 5 to 7 years, adjusting the program as necessary; and 3. Use the evidence-based results of the PEI GBI Demonstration Project to reform Canada’s income security system by implementing a guaranteed basic income across Canada in consultation with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners.
Government response
No government response is available yet.