Rob Gillies/AP VIA CANADIAN PRESS Tim Button poses for a photo while waiting for the bus in Hamilton, Ont. on Nov. 21, 2017. Bus rides are one of the luxuries Button could not afford before enrolling in Ontario's basic income pilot project.

Ontario's basic income pilot project was "an angel in disguise" for people who could afford dental work for the first time in years, buy their prescription medications and pay for transportation to and from work, according to a new survey. "I was able to get the medical equipment I needed so I didn't have to leave work for my asthma," one participant told the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN). "I felt finally like I was a part of society and not isolated ... It was a feeling of confidence, self-worth," another reported. "I was able to live as a happy human being." BICN designed its survey to make up for the government's "very unfortunate missed opportunity" to study the impact of Ontario's pilot. BICN is an advocacy group that supports the idea of a government-funded basic income available to all citizens. Watch HuffPost Canada's series on basic income recipients in Ontario. Story continues after video.

Rob Gillies/AP VIA CANADIAN PRESS Jodi Dean helps her daughter Madison, who has epilepsy and severe osteoporosis, on an elevator as they leave home for a doctor's visit in Hamilton, Ont. on Nov. 21, 2017. The mother of three said basic income gave her family "the breathing room to not have to stress to put food on the table."

Before basic income, one respondent said they visited the hospital multiple times a week because they ate poorly and felt stressed and hopeless all the time. Other health benefits included weight loss and improved mental health. Forty per cent said they joined a gym or started working toward fitness goals. One person reported losing 100 pounds while enrolled in the pilot. The mental health benefits were staggering. Eighty-eight per cent said basic income reduced their stress and anxiety and 73 per cent said it reduced their depression. One person said they paid off debts that were making them feel suicidal. Another said they found full-time work because basic income payments reduced their anxiety so much. "Basic income made me want to better myself and I did," that person wrote. The pilot reduced reliance on community services and in some cases, helped people look for work and improve their employment prospects. Fifty-six per cent of respondents said they had no paid work in 2018. Basic income made me want to better myself and I did.Ontario pilot project participant Twenty-eight per cent said they stopped relying on food banks because of the pilot; 32 per cent went back to school; almost 6 per cent said they started working or looking for work because they could now afford child care; 20 per cent could afford transportation for work or interviews; 9 per cent started or expanded their own business. "I was able to move to a city where I could find better work opportunities and get married," one person wrote. The government told participants when they signed up for the pilot that it would run for three years. At the time of BICN's survey, respondents reported receiving payments for anywhere between four and 14 months.