Emergency benefits in Canada: A comparison of jurisdictions

Overview

Health emergencies pose an ongoing challenge for governments, requiring them to protect public health while also supporting individuals and households experiencing sudden social and economic disruption.

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated both the possibilities and limitations of emergency benefit systems in Canada. As climate-related emergencies become more frequent and severe, governments face comparable challenges.

This jurisdictional scan compares the responses of four provinces – British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec – to the COVID-19 pandemic and to extreme heat. Together, these provinces reflect substantial geographic, demographic and economic diversity, making them useful comparators for policy approaches that could support resilience across a range of current and future crises.

Analysis highlights

Overall, this scan highlights that emergency benefit design lacks a coherent framework across emergency types. Previous and existing benefit programs are often fragmented, narrowly targeted or difficult to access. This has implications for equity and preparedness.

Across both types of emergencies, vulnerable groups who were often in the most need for support experienced uneven access due to:

• benefit eligibility rules
• how programs were delivered
• reliance on existing programs.

Groups that were affected by uneven access included:

• precariously employed workers
• caregivers outside formal labour markets
• renters
• low-income people with disabilities
• individuals facing housing or transportation barriers.

“Equitable benefit design requires attention not only to who programs are for, but to how they are accessed, delivered and sustained.”

Directions forward

Future research could develop a complete understanding of available supports, and existing gaps in these supports, from an equity perspective. This could help governments build an equitable and comprehensive emergency benefits system that could help them respond more rapidly and effectively to many types of emergencies and crises in Canada in the future.