In the early part of the pandemic, support programs in Canada reduced income inequality throughout most of the country and helped folks make ends meet. On July 13, Statistics Canada confirmed what one would expect to find from the country’s crisis measures. This was particularly the case where the effects of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) were concerned. Giving people money helped them manage the crisis and closed income gaps. While they lasted, the programs worked.

According to the statistics agency, the pandemic drove down the percentage of Canadians who receive employment income, especially women and older folks. It also found two-thirds of adults accessed one or more relief programs. The cash from those offerings provided relief from lost revenue and increased after-tax income, except in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2020, household income was up nearly 10 percent, to $73,000. That was good news for low-income earners. As Marie-Danielle Smith writes for the Canadian Press, “Despite fewer Canadians receiving employment income during the pandemic, the transfers pushed the low-income rate down to 11.1 percent in 2020 versus 14.4 percent in 2015, the largest decline since 1976. Statistics Canada also attributes a decrease in income inequality to the programs.”

Proponents of universal basic income (UBI) have jumped on the findings, arguing the rise in income and decline in income inequality support the case for the program. But while the findings may back the promise of UBI, the current political reality calls for caution, reflection, and a deeper look into the power dynamics of pursuing the idea.