VICTORIA – The Green Party of Canada is calling for bold federal action to eliminate poverty across the country, with a strong focus on improving the long-promised Canada Disability Benefit, introducing a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI), and investing in homelessness prevention and support services.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.” The Green Party believes it is time for Canada to embrace this transformative solution.
“Ending poverty, it’s not only a moral imperative, it makes good economic sense,” said co-Leader Elizabeth May. “A Guaranteed Livable Income, for example, would take pressure off our healthcare system and off our criminal justice system. Poverty not only grinds an individual down, it weakens us as a country. Ending poverty makes for a stronger Canada, and today, more than ever, we need a strong Canada.”
“People with disabilities in Canada are disproportionately living in poverty,” May further added. “The Canada Disability Benefit must be equitable and rolled out without further delay. Along with a Guaranteed Livable Income, this policy is rooted in compassion, fairness, and evidence.”
The Canada Disability Benefit, which passed in Parliament with unanimous support but remains underfunded and difficult to access, would provide much-needed income support to too few people with disabilities living below the poverty line. Meanwhile, the Green Party has long advocated for a GLI—a universal basic income approach that would replace existing income support programs. Greens agree with the late and former Progressive Conservative Senator Hugh Segal who said a basic income puts “a floor under all Canadians beneath which they could not fall.”
“The disability community deserves so much better than half-measures,” said Mike Morrice, the incumbent for Kitchener Centre and Green Party of Canada Disability Critic. “We have the resources. What’s lacking is political will. The Green Party is the only party ready to take bold steps to make sure no one in this country has to choose between rent and food, between medication and heat.”
Greens are continuing to fight to increase the maximum Canada Disability Benefit amount above $200 a month, to remove the burdensome Disability Tax Credit requirement to reduce barriers, and to support independence through individual income assessments.
In his first term as an MP, Morrice secured more improvements to the Canada Disability Benefit Act than all other parliamentarians combined. His efforts included mandating public disclosure of federal-provincial agreements, ensuring the benefit is indexed to inflation, and requiring meaningful engagement with the disability community. Morrice also rallied 79 MPs from four parties in support of the benefit, sponsored multiple petitions that gathered tens of thousands of signatures, and ensured regulations were approved by the Treasury Board to guarantee a July 2025 launch date.
In addition to these income measures, the Green Party is prioritizing robust action to prevent and end homelessness across the country. The party is committed to creating a new, consistent Homelessness Prevention and Eradication Fund of $3.5 billion annually to cut chronic homelessness in half. This includes:
- Expanding investments in Housing First programs and wraparound services—ensuring those experiencing homelessness have access to permanent housing along with mental health care, harm reduction, and addiction recovery supports.
- Increasing municipal funding for emergency shelters and transitional housing, so cities can count on long-term, stable federal support.
- Expanding the Rapid Housing Initiative to accelerate the creation of supportive housing across the country.
“In my time as an MP and as executive director of the Nanaimo Unitarian Shelter, I met countless people trapped in homelessness by a system that punishes poverty rather than preventing it,” said Paul Manly, Nanaimo city councillor and Green candidate for Nanaimo–Ladysmith. “Canada urgently needs a bold federal commitment to end homelessness. Stable housing, strong support services, and serious investments in prevention can transform lives—and our communities.”
“With the cost of living rising and inequality growing, the time to act is now,” said May. “Poverty is a policy choice. And we choose justice.”
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For more information or to arrange an interview :
Fabrice Lachance Nové
Press secretary
514-463-0021
Rod Leggett
Senior Advisor, Strategic Communications
613-203-1524