Economic turmoil and a federal election: what’s next for Canada?

By Sandra Wiens

The 2025 federal election is well underway with voting day coming up on Monday, April 28th. It’s been a chaotic several months. The US-initiated trade war, threats of annexation, and the election in Canada all happening so quickly initially alarmed me. But after reflection, I also see that an election and a new government in Canada presents an opportunity. Together we can question the status quo and centre priorities that are good for all.

With inequality, cost of living, and poverty rising at alarming rates, now is a great time to question candidates and their political parties on these pressing issues. With tariffs, the trade war, and looming job loses, income security for people in Canada should be of utmost importance in this election.

What is GLBI?

Guaranteed Livable Basic Income (GLBI), would offer cash payments to people who earn less than a set threshold. As people earn more, payments would be gradually reduced until they were no longer needed. GLBI would be available (or guaranteed!) to any Canadian, but only if their income fell below the threshold. This would address poverty in a practical way, allowing people to have enough income to live with security and dignity.

Why is this important now?

I think it has escaped no one that we’re experiencing hardships in Canada, and they aren’t being felt equally. We’re in what people call a polycrisis—multiple crises at the same time with cumulative effects that worsen each other: cost of living and income inequality, housing affordability and homelessness, food insecurity and stress, and more. According to StatsCan, income inequality is at the highest level ever recorded.¹ Wealth is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Oxfam Canada found that the richest 0.02% of Canadians now posses more wealth than the bottom 80%!² No, that shocking number is not a typo.

In January a groundbreaking report detailed that 80,000 people experienced homelessness in Ontario last year.³ Indigenous people represent almost half. This is a systemic failure that goes far beyond housing.

Food insecurity is also on the rise. More than a quarter of households in Nova Scotia, PEI, and Saskatchewan are food insecure.⁴ The growing cost of living, inflation, and economic uncertainty all contribute to this.

Food insecurity is an indicator of bigger problems. If households are compromising on food, it’s likely they’re doing so on other essentials. The problem is so acute that in the past six months, three cities (Kingston, Mississauga, and Toronto) have declared states of emergency related to food insecurity. This is an issue too big for food banks to solve. We need political will to acknowledge the real drivers of the problem and implement coherent policy proposals.

Given the wealth that exists in Canada, poverty seems to be a policy choice that has been allowed to go on for too long. More than ever, many Canadians are just a paycheck or two away from falling into poverty—with no safety net to catch them. Can you imagine a time when you or some you love could have had a better experience if they’d had access to a GLBI?

GLBI as the solution?

Yes and no. GLBI is not a panacea or the solution to these many structural problems. But it can provide a foundation to create greater equity. Money not only helps provide for our needs, but having sufficient amounts mitigates worry—especially amongst those who are more vulnerable. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health estimates that mental illness and mental health problems cost the Canadian economy over $50 billion each year in healthcare, lost productivity, and reduction in health-related quality of life. Government investments in mental health today mean a substantial savings in the future.

“The richest 0.02% of Canadians now posses more wealth than the bottom 80%… Given the wealth that exists in Canada, poverty seems to be a policy choice.”

 

Policies and programs—including cash transfers—that help alleviate poverty introduced during an individual’s childhood have the greatest capacity to improve mental health outcomes. A recent report explains that poverty is one direct and immediate cause of mental health problems. Addressing poverty, it explains, is “not only imperative on moral and human rights grounds, but on the basis of cost and efficiency as well.”⁵

What will you do?

Troublingly, the major party platforms have already indicated that fiscal restraint and austerity is on the horizon. And they promise new funds to dramatically increase military spending. These dollars will have to come from somewhere, and often this means cuts that affect the services that many of us rely on.

If you can, vote! We also encourage you to reflect on the issues that matter most to you and to engage with your neighbours, Friends, community, candidates, and the party leaders. Let them know what you want to see from our elected representatives. Accountability only comes from society holding our leaders responsible for the promises they make today, and every day after the election.

Sandra Wiens is CFSC’s Government Relations Representative in Ottawa.