Budget 2021: A new social contract?

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After a year of the most significant economic and social crisis of our generation, this year’s federal budget is critical — and highly anticipated by many, especially those in social impact. The communities and groups social impact organizations work with are devastated by the pandemic, organizations can’t keep up with the demand for economic and social support on their own, and our current social safety nets aren’t keeping everyone safe.

Will the federal budget catalyze the beginnings of a new Canadian social contract?

If history is a signal, it just might. Overhauls and major additions to Canada’s social safety net have historically taken place during or following times of crisis. The federal government introduced Old Age Security following the First World War. It created Employment Insurance just following the Great Depression, during World War II. 

Will we see the same kind of dramatic reimagination of our social safety net this time around? 

In a new member-exclusive Future of Good special report covering the 2021 Federal Budget, we’ll examine how much of what is tabled will reimagine our social safety nets in a way that measures up to the times we’re in. We’ll ask leaders and experts whether the social safety net proposed by the budget is enough to catch the Canadians plummeting into poverty, food insecurity, poor health, and a myriad of other cascading impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic. From universal basic income to childcare to foreign aid and beyond, we’ll explore how the pandemic has changed the Canadian government’s responsibility, both to Canadians and to the rest of the world. 

This special report will be exclusive to Future of Good members. Click here to learn more.