Systems-Level Reforms to B.C.’s Income and Social Support Programs Along Basic Income Lines

Abstract

B.C. residents are offered a large, complex web of income and social support programs. Those programs tend to be difficult to access, difficult to understand, and difficult to navigate, and are much more a collection of disparate programs than a cohesive and consistent system targeting an overriding objective. As a result, many potentially eligible persons do not apply for programs they might be eligible for, due to a lack of knowledge or a lack of time and energy; many of these potentially eligible persons are already dealing with other complex and stressful situations, such as searching for employment and/or dealing with medical conditions. The purpose of this paper is to consider whether system-level reforms to B.C.’s income and social supports could make the system more consistent with BI principles (detailed below). This would be a first step toward a more complete contemplation of a BI. This paper focuses on reforms that would apply across the whole system. Petit and Tedds (2020a) detail reforms to B.C.’s biggest income support program: Income Assistance (IA).