Participants of the Basic Income Pilot program protested outside the office of Conservative MPP Laurie Scott in Lindsay on Monday.

Singh says the premature end of the pilot will make it impossible to amass enough data to determine how effective a basic income program could be in lifting Canadians out of poverty.

"Most people actually don't want to live their whole lives on $17,000 a year, they want a bit more than that. And they want a bit more comfort, a bit more luxury than [it] will give them."

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced a pilot project introducing a basic income in the test cities of Hamilton, Thunder Bay, and the town of Lindsay.