Pilot program originally scheduled to last 3 years
The Ontario government is facing a class action lawsuit over the cancellation of the province's basic income pilot project.
On March 4, the Ontario Superior Court released its decision certifying the class action, which alleges that the cancellation of the pilot amounts to a breach of contract, according to Toronto law firm Cavalluzzo LLP.
The lawsuit is seeking damages of up to $200 million for the 4,000 program participants in Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay who agreed to receive a monthly basic income in exchange for regularly completing surveys and “opening their lives up to the researchers.”
As part of the pilot, the participants, earning less than $34,000, received just under $17,000 annually, with couples receiving a little over $24,000 and people with disabilities receiving an additional $6,000.
Ontario’s basic income pilot project was cancelled in July 2018, almost one year after its introduction. The plan was to last three years and was designed to “test whether a basic income can better support vulnerable workers, improve health and education outcomes for people on low incomes, and help ensure that everyone shares in Ontario’s economic growth,” according to the Ontario government.
Following the cancelation of the program, in February 2019, an Ontario court denied a request to quash the Ontario government’s decision to cancel a basic income pilot project. Three Superior Court judges ruled that the court had “no power” to reverse the move, according to the Canadian Press.
The Ontario Court of Appeal reversed this decision in 2022 and determined that the class action lawsuit could proceed against the province.
