OTTAWA — So-called guaranteed minimum income programs, which are meant to help people escape poverty, could inadvertently have the opposite effect — or require large tax increases in order to be effective, a new report says.

A guaranteed minimum income often means different things to different people, but at its core it can be described as a no-strings-attached benefit that governments can provide to their citizens instead of various targeted social benefits.

But such a program isn't the magic bullet some would like it to be when it comes to eliminating poverty, says the paper, released Wednesday by the left-wing Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives think tank.

Using such a measure to eliminate poverty in Canada could cost anywhere from $49 billion to $177 billion a year in new spending, depending on how much gets clawed back, requiring double-digit tax increases to cover the cost.

Cancelling existing programs and redirecting the money to a minimum income program would be problematic on two fronts, says the report: A universal payment might take needed funds from poorer Canadians, increasing poverty rates across the country, while a more targeted, income-tested benefit could lead to higher levels of poverty among seniors, it warns.

Either way, governments are left with politically problematic paths, said David Macdonald, a senior economist with the think tank and the author of the study.

"If you want to start cancelling programs — existing programs — to pay for a basic income, then you automatically create winners and losers," Macdonald said.

Instead, the paper argues for a taxable, universal benefit sent to all Canadians on top of the 33 federal and provincial income support programs, such as the Canada Child Benefit and old age security. Such a benefit would lift some 713,000 Canadians out of poverty at a net cost of $29.2 billion, it says — a calculation that doesn't include social assistance programs such as employment insurance.

Multiple studies have long argued the pros and cons of an idea some see as a poverty panacea. Outside Canada, the concept has been implemented in several countries; a number of provinces are studying the idea, while Ontario has plans to launch a pilot project.

Macdonald said governments don't need to take years to study how a minimum income affects poverty rates.