Our Letter
To: The Right Honourable Prime Minister and Members of Parliament,
We urge the Government of Canada, in conjunction with its provincial and territorial counterparts, to work together to enact a guaranteed minimum income program (Basic Income) for all Canadian adults to improve our resiliency and productivity.
We believe Canada cannot successfully meet the challenges of a modern labour market without a basic income. We are in a time of great transition. Technological job displacement, accelerating globalization, surging gig work, falling entrepreneurship, rising cost of living, and climate change will continue to challenge our communities and exacerbate unforeseen crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Our workers, customers, and businesses alike need the confidence and security that only an income guarantee can provide.
…
CEO Signatories
We are a group of over 170 Canadian CEOs and business leaders representing diverse industries and views who share a common concern about the state and future of the economy. See some of our initial signatories and their companies below.
Jim Estill, Danby, Appliance Manufacturer
Audrey Mascarenhas, Questor Technology Inc. (TSXV: QST), Clean Air Technology Company
Jason Atkins, 360insights, Channel Success Platform
Chris Ford, Intelliware, Enterprise-grade software solutions
Shane Skillen, Hotspex, #1 Market Insights Firm In North America
Myrna Gillis, Aqualitas, Licensed producer and processor of organic cannabis products
Paul Vallée, Tehama, Leading data-centric cloud services provider
Peter Neal, Neal Brothers Foods, Food brand & distributor of natural/organic foods
Michael Mazza, Retired President and CEO of Middlesex Hospital Alliance, Acute Care Hospital
Kim Orlesky, ConvergentIS, SAP partner offering a design, build, sell, and service focus to clients across North America
Jay Giraud, Damon Motors, Electric Motorcyles of the Future
Brendan Thompson, BJ Electric Supplies Ltd., Independent electrical wholesale distributor
Susan Garrett, Dogs That, a learning platform for dog people
Alon Ozery, Ozery Bakery, Makers of natural pitas, flatbreads and alternative buns sold in North America
David Suydam, Architech, an innovation firm building digital products and enterprise systems
Libby Wildman, Davis Rea Investment Counsel Ltd
Darryl Ballantyne, LyricFind, powering licensed lyrics, royalties, and music data services around the world
Trevor Newell, biOptimizers, Health Supplement Producer and Distributor
David Suydam, Architech, an innovation firm building digital products and enterprise systems
Libby Wildman, Davis Rea Investment Counsel Ltd
Darryl Ballantyne, LyricFind, powering licensed lyrics, royalties, and music data services around the world
Trevor Newell, biOptimizers, Health Supplement Producer and Distributor
Alfred Jay, Recollective Inc., software platform for qualitative research
Josh Singer, Optimy.ai, live chat solution for businesses
Megan Rafuse, Shift Collab, one of Canada’s leading group therapy practices, offering counselling and mental health care from coast-to-coast
Jamie Burton, INNoVA and Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work
Stu McLaren, North Results Inc., Software and training that help online entrepreneurs sell courses and membership sites
Floyd Marinescu, C4Media Inc., QCon: Global Software Developer Conferences and InfoQ: Online News
Bob Vaez, EventMobi, a global software company that empowers event organizers to promote and manage their events as well as engaging attendees at their in-person or virtual events
Partner Spotlight
Read their article on Why Universal Basic Income Would Help Women Entrepreneurs Soar To New Heights
Our Past Work
On October 18th, 2018, over 120 Canadian CEOs and business leaders, representing $2.3B in combined annual revenues signed a letter to the government at the Ontario Legislature calling for the Ontario Basic Income Pilot to be reinstated. Now, we are building on this first campaign with a new letter and a goal of 500 CEO and business leader signatories.
In the News
How Basic Income Helps Canada’s Economy
Basic Income could grow Canada’s economy $80B/year — while lifting 3.2M families out of poverty
A report by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis shows that Basic Income could grow Canada’s economy $80B/year, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and support workers and businesses, while lifting 3.2M families out of poverty. Here’s what some top Canadian economists had to say about the report.
Additional Learning
The Business Case for Basic Income — CBC Radio
CEOs for Basic Income organizer Floyd Marinescu explains how basic income would help business, stimulate the economy, and help people retrain. Floyd explains how globalization & automation are causing downwards pressure on incomes, leading to the slowing of economic growth.
BNN Bloomberg: Basic Income is trickle-up economics
Paul Smetanin, President & CEO of the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss his firm's study showing Basic Income can grow Canada's economy sustainably and create hundreds of thousands of jobs— while ending poverty and growing the middle class.
TedX Talk on Basic Income by Floyd Marinescu
Technology created the middle class and now it is destroying it. Basic income could preserve and expand a middle class way of life for everyone, bringing in an era of human prosperity and wellbeing - but only if we can come to see that technology is our shared inheritance.
Former Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz shares why #BasicIncome is an upgrade for Canada's economy. pic.twitter.com/nFYHK3b3ph
— UBI Works 🇨🇦 (@ubi_works) August 19, 2021
"The middle class is disappearing. For every job, we lost to trade, we lost eight to automation. I see a situation which we have to buy time. And that's why the discussion of #BasicIncome is so important. That's what's missing at this point."
— UBI Works 🇨🇦 (@ubi_works) October 22, 2020
🗨 Deputy Chief Economist of CIBC pic.twitter.com/qeQ7aumTGd
"Majority of CEOs say automation will affect jobs. The process will accelerate."
— UBI Works 🇨🇦 (@ubi_works) August 7, 2021
- Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney
Time for #UBI, your tech cheque. pic.twitter.com/xi1bjclKv5
Former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal went on CBC News to remind us: "Most people in poverty have jobs. Many have multiple."#BasicIncome is a raise for working Canadians. What are you waiting for, Ottawa? 🇨🇦 #cndpoli pic.twitter.com/Yhz6wqLnE9
— UBI Works 🇨🇦 (@ubi_works) September 9, 2021
Canadian CEO - "We need #BasicIncome"
— UBI Works 🇨🇦 (@ubi_works) May 23, 2021
Timothy Daigle is a CEO that uses automation for his business. "If the economy can't take care of everybody, the economy doesn't work." pic.twitter.com/Df9C0AbvIx
Basic income gives everyone the opportunity to pursue their potential in life.
— UBI Works 🇨🇦 (@ubi_works) December 2, 2021
Our founder @floydmarinescu shares his story as a successful entrepreneur and why he believes we need basic income. pic.twitter.com/YV2P9od8QY