Room to Dream:
A zine about the Ontario Basic Income Pilot
Room to Dream is a zine about the Ontario Basic Income Pilot and the people who were part of it.
In 2017, the former Ontario provincial government introduced a basic income pilot as a policy experiment to test better ways to address poverty. For just over a year and a half, 4,000 low-income Ontarians received a monthly unconditional cash transfer. Despite being slated to last three years, the pilot - and the research associated with it - was prematurely cancelled by the incoming Ford government in 2018.
A mixture of research and art, this 32-page, full-colour zine is an accessible and compelling account of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot and its effects on participants' lives. Featuring handmade collages and anonymized quotes from pilot participants drawn from two separate research projects, it foregrounds lived experience while providing powerful evidence about alternative approaches to income security in Canada.
As of January 2024, we have distributed 1100 copies of Room to Dream across Canada and beyond.
Thanks to support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), 800 free copies of Room to Dream have found their way to zine libraries, elected officials, frontline organizations, classrooms, and book clubs. Our second print run was supported by generous donations from readers. Some zines from our first print run have a few pages out of order due to an error by the printing company (which we didn’t realize until after shipping). If you think your copies were affected, please let us know so we can fix this!
If you've got a copy, we'd love to hear what you think and how you've shared it: tag us on social media or send us an email at hello@basicincomeyouth.ca.
Digital zines: Accessible versions released February 2024
We made Room to Dream with the intention of sharing what we have learned about the Ontario Basic Income Pilot in a creative and accessible way. We also know that a paper-based, print-only, text and image focused zine isn't accessible to everyone we want to reach. We have created multiple free, digital versions of the zine in formats that significantly increase its accessibility, without compromising on the artful components for readers who aren't able to see them.
Different versions of our digital zine include different content, so readers can pick and choose the format that is most accessible and interesting to them. All digital versions are screen-reader friendly and have been tested.
Version 1: This is a digital version of the zine that includes ONLY the text content of the paper-based zine. This is a great option if you just want to engage with the core content of what is written in the zine, and aren't as interested in or don't want to read about the collage art. Link to download Version 1.
Version 2: This is a digital version with all of the text, and succinct image descriptions (1-2 sentences) of each page of the zine so readers get a sense of the art and imagery beyond the text. This is a good option if you would like to know generally and succinctly about the collage art on each page of the zine. Link to download Version 2.
Version 3: And finally, there is a digital version of the zine with text AND rich, detailed descriptions of every page. We think of this version as a sort of audio collage, and an artistic experience in and of itself. The descriptions are lush, detailed, and are our own team’s varied interpretations of the art of the zine, beyond just the need-to-know descriptions. Link to download Version 3.
We are also happy to share .docx version of the files on request. We would also love to hear any of your thoughts, ideas, or reflections about the zine, as well as suggestions for improving its accessibility! BICYN can be reached at hello@BasicIncomeYouth.ca.
Special thanks to Shanaya Fischer, Ellen Spannagel, Alexandra Zannis, and Kendal David for writing the image descriptions and creating a whole new work of audio art from the original, visually-dense paper-based project!
We'd love to share Room to Dream with as many people as possible.
BICYN is a small grassroots group of youth who volunteer their time and expertise to make projects like this one possible. If you’d like to support our work, we gratefully accept financial contributions via e-transfer to hello@basicincomeyouth.ca. Please note that we are unable to issue tax receipts.