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“The link between poverty and poor health is widely documented; so if a GAI reduced the prevalence of poverty, it could create better health outcomes and help slow the rising costs of publicly-funded health care,” he said.

He pointed to a study by Evelyn Forget published in the Canadian Public Policy journal in September.

Ms. Forget analyzed a GAI field experiment called MINCOME, one of five conducted in North America between 1968 and 1980, undertaken by the government of Manitoba in the down of Dauphin from 1974 to 1975.

Using health-administration data, Ms. Forget found an 8.5% reduction in the hospitalization rates for participants, along with improved mental health and completion of secondary education.

“If the MINCOME results could be reproduced and generalized across Canadian society, a GAI might produce sizable net fiscal savings, especially for provinces,” Mr. Hodgson said.

But reproducing it on that level might be the stumbling block, Mr. Poschmann said.

“In a small and relatively homogenous community we’ve seen that there can be some good results,” he said. “In urban centres and with a much bigger mix of people and issues to deal with, the likelihood of success seems a lot smaller.”

Mr. Hodgson admitted the prospect of replacing the “smorgasbord” of social supports currently in place — along with their bureaucracies and employees —is no small task and said it would probably take a government willing to run another GAI trial on a smaller scale to get the ball rolling.

“I think governments are going to have to be much more creative going forward in a very resource-strained world,” he said.

Ken Battle, president of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, wrote in 2008 that Canada already pursues GAI-like policies through programs like the guaranteed income supplement for low-income seniors and tax benefits for families with children. But he noted that the policies are not consistent or comprehensive.