Special Senate committee on aging recommends government study of GLI

Poverty among seniors is often considered Canada’s success story. While the poverty rates have remained substantially the same for other demographics over the past thirty years, seniors’ poverty rates have decreased drastically. This is due in significant part to programs targeting seniors.

However, despite the success story, not every senior in Canada still has access to an income at or above the poverty line. This is particularly a problem for single men and women. And even those who receive enough income support to reach the poverty line are nonetheless vulnerable to emergencies and unexpected events.

The Special Senate committee on Aging released its final report on Tuesday, Canada’s Aging Population: Seizing the Opportunity. Among the committee’s recommendations was one that the federal government “look more closely at the question of a Guaranteed Annual Income for all Canadians.”

The highlights include testimony about the struggles some seniors still face, due to the inadequacy and complexity of income security programs. Some seniors do not receive all the benefits they are entitled to because they cannot understand the complex programs that exist. Others are penalized due to interactions between various federal and provincial government programs. And still others receive multiple benefits – and still don’t reach the poverty line.

A GAI, also known as a guaranteed livable income, could be the solution to this challenge. Because of its simplicity, no one would be left behind because they were not aware of or could not understand a program. Because it is a single program, it would reduce benefit reductions due to negative interactions between government programs. And if the benefit level were set high enough, no Canadian – senior or younger – would need to suffer the indignity of living in poverty as a result of insufficient income.