Tell your Mayor & City Councillors: Push the Provincial & Federal Governments for Basic Income

Use the form below to email your Mayor and City Councillor(s) asking them to push the provincial and federal governments to work towards a Basic Income.

We're aware of some outdated mayors/councillors in this tool and are working to fix those ASAP. If it shows you the wrong mayor/councillor, please email ken@ubiworks.ca to let us know!

At the moment this tool only works in medium and large Canadian cities. If you can't find your councillors below based on your postal code, it means they're not in the list and the form will email several mayors across Canada instead. Click here for a pre-written email you can send to your mayor and city councillor through your inbox.

First Name *

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Your Letter *

Dear [submission:values:well_notify_your_representative:full],

My name is [submission:values:first_name] [submission:values:last_name] at [submission:values:postal_code] and I am urging you to introduce a council resolution to call on the provincial and federal governments to work towards a Basic Income.

Municipalities bear the brunt of income insecurity and, as councillors you see first-hand how poverty and economic precarity affects our families and communities. These are issues that cannot be solved by one community alone, and that is why it is important for our city to add its name to the growing list from across the country who are pressuring our provincial and federal governments to act.

Canadian mayors and former mayors who have shown support for Basic Income include: John Tory (Toronto), Mike Savage (Halifax), Dorothy McCabe (Waterloo), Jim Diodati (Niagara Falls), Marianne Alto (Victoria), Kate Rogers (Fredericton), Danny Breen (St. John’s), Dan Carter (Oshawa), Dawn Arnold (Moncton), Guy Caron (Rimouski), and Rick Goldring (Burlington).

The growing list of city councils that have passed motions in support of Basic Income include: Hamilton, Waterloo, Halifax, St. John’s, Victoria, Niagara Falls, Moncton, Fredericton, Charlottetown, Saint John, Edmunston, Miramichi, Pictou County, County of Annapolis, Wolfville, Antigonish, Yarmouth, and Cumberland County.

In 2022, the Union of BC Municipalities and the Atlantic Mayors Congress both passed motions calling for the provincial and federal governments to work towards implementing Basic Income. In 2020, the Hamilton and Thunder Bay chambers of commerce passed a resolution calling on the federal government to launch a Basic Income program, garnering support from the national Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

In 2015, Kingston’s city council became the first elected body in Canada to endorse Basic Income, passing a motion calling on municipalities across the country to adopt similar resolutions and send notice to their provincial and federal leaders. In the end, over 40 other Ontario municipalities endorsed Basic Income in 2016.

In the US, over 100 mayors have openly supported Basic Income and started 40+ pilots in their cities. The data show that people who get a Basic Income spend it on basic needs and are better able to secure full-time employment.

Basic Income has been demonstrated time and again to be a good investment that improves health outcomes, safety in our communities, and economic mobility of our residents. It can help reduce the strain on city services aimed at addressing poverty, freeing up resources to invest in other important priorities.

A report by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis showed that a national Basic Income could grow Canada’s economy by $80B/year, create 600,000 jobs, and increase private capital investments by nearly $15B/year, while lifting 3.2 million families out of poverty. No doubt, many of these benefits would be felt right here in our community. You can read more at https://www.ubiworks.ca/groweconomy.

This matters not only to our city’s residents but to all Canadians.  It’s a policy that can only be adequately addressed with input from all levels of government, so I am urging you to help by introducing a resolution calling on the provincial and federal governments to work together towards a Basic Income. The need for changes to our social policy have always first been identified in municipalities. From Universal Healthcare to Old Age Security, the debate for how we build stronger communities has similarly always started at City Hall.

I urge you to continue this proud tradition and join us in the push for Basic Income.

Sincerely,
[submission:values:first_name] [submission:values:last_name]
[submission:values:postal_code]

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