Incomes continue to tumble for many Canadian farmers. Increasing costs, stagnating product prices, and tight margins are making farm livelihoods untenable. Canadian farmers are increasingly seeking off-farm jobs to fill in the gaps. New farmers are faced with high start-up costs, with few long-term guarantees that they can keep farming and make a livelihood. What’s the solution? At our National Convention in 2025, members of the National Farmers Union passed a resolution calling for a guaranteed annual income of $50,000 to support Canadian farmers. Income guarantees come in all shapes and sizes, so how can we organize successfully for a policy that makes sense for Canadian farmers?

In this NFUniversity session, Sheila Regehrs will give a history of organizing for basic income in Canada. This historical overview will answer important questions for the NFU’s organizing work, including: What basic income policies have been proposed in Canada in the past? Are there examples of successful basic income policies in Canada or abroad? How can we effectively organize for a basic income in Canada?

This session will be followed up with organizing session on Thursday, March 26th (Noon PST / 1pm MST / 2pm SK, MB / 3pm EST / 4pm AST).

Here, we’ll be turning knowledge into action! This session will be a guided conversation about how to mobilize and organize around what we learned in the knowledge-building session on March 15th. Register for both sessions below.

Event Presenter(s)

Sheila Regehr

Sheila Regehr is a founding member of the Basic Income Canada Network and former Executive Director of the National Council of Welfare. Her 29 years of federal public service spanned front-line work, policy analysis and development, international relations and senior management, with a focus on improving fairness and equality, and on gender and race in particular. She has policy expertise in areas of income security and taxation, such as child tax benefits, child support, maternity/parental benefits, pensions and social assistance. Her insight also comes from experiencing poverty as a young parent. Sheila is grateful, in her retirement, to have resources, time and health to do volunteer work and help care for twin grandsons.

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