A six-month national basic income program identical in design to a pilot project once offered in Ontario would cost at least $47.5 billion, according to a new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased calls for a guaranteed minimum income program, which proponents say would protect lower-income Canadians from financial challenges both during and after the crisis.

The analysis released Tuesday examines the costs for such a program, which would ensure all Canadians between 18 and 64 have a basic income for the last six months of the 2020-21 fiscal year, which ends March 31. In the analysis, payments would start in October.

The amounts would be equal to up to 75 per cent of the low-income measure, calculated as half of median household income. In 2020, it is equal to $24,439 for individuals and $34,562 for couples.

The Ontario government, under its basic income pilot that used the same formula, guaranteed annual income of up to $16,989 for individuals and $24,027 for couples in 2017.
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