🍁 civid v1

Purpose and scope

• Bill C-253 would require the Minister of Finance to develop a national framework for implementing a guaranteed livable basic income program throughout Canada.
• The proposed framework would cover anyone in Canada over 17, including temporary workers, permanent residents and refugee claimants.
• The bill was at first reading on October 29, 2025. It does not itself establish a payment amount or specify the program’s cost.

National framework

• The minister would have to consult federal ministers, provincial representatives, Indigenous elders and governing bodies, other stakeholders and experts in basic income programs.
• The framework would have to include measures to:
  • Determine a livable basic income for each region, considering the cost of goods and services needed for a dignified and healthy life.
  • Create national standards for complementary health and social supports.
  • Ensure education, training or labour-market participation is not required to qualify.
  • Ensure implementation does not reduce services or benefits for exceptional health or disability needs.

Reporting and deadlines

• Within one year after the Act comes into force, the minister would have to prepare a report setting out the framework and related social, health and economic conclusions and recommendations.
• The report would have to be tabled in each House of Parliament within the first 15 sitting days after completion and published on the Department of Finance website within 10 days after tabling in both Houses.
• Within two years after the initial report is tabled in both Houses, and annually thereafter, the minister would have to review the framework’s effectiveness in consultation with the specified parties and table a report in each House.

Existing law

• The provided text does not identify amendments to existing legislation. It proposes a new Act establishing framework-development and reporting duties.