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This paper extends analyses of the declining social assistance participation rate in Canada since the mid-1990s using rich Manitoba administrative data for the period since 1999. We examine trends in Manitoba to mid-2008, separately analyze the entry and continuation rates, and include for the first time information about the growing number of adults with a disability on social assistance. Our results show that the declining participation rate is due entirely to a declining entry rate and that the continuation rate has actually risen since 1999, mainly because of the dramatic growth in the number of adults with a disability on social assistance but also because of the rising duration of spells on assistance by those without a disability. Our results raise questions about the policy, pursued in all jurisdictions in Canada, that keeps social assistance benefits low to discourage welfare use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has two purposes. First, it documents the historical context of MINCOME, a Canadian guaranteed annual income field experiment (1974 to 1979). Second, it uses routinely collected health administration data and a quasi-experimental design to document an 8.5 percent reduction in the hospitalization rate for participants relative to controls, particularly for accidents and injuries and mental health. We also found that participant contacts with physicians declined, especially for mental health, and that more adolescents continued into grade 12. We found no increase in fertility, family dissolution rates, or improved birth outcomes. We conclude that a relatively modest GAI can improve population health, suggesting significant health system savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decade, Manitoba's Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) has increased immigration to the province and dispersed immigrants more widely within Manitoba. At the same time, the rapid growth of the program and the decentralized way in which it has been implemented have contributed to some challenges. This ten-year analysis of the MPNP finds that many places in Manitoba are experiencing settlement service gaps, and that immigrants and communities are taking on much of the burden for MPNP application and settlement. In addition, the analysis demonstrates that the fragmented way in which the MPNP has been marketed and implemented (i.e., by relying on particular employers, consultants, and ethnocultural organizations) has resulted in a sort of ethnocultural inequality where certain groups are ushered into the province—often to perform particular occupations—while others are bypassed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]