Tag Archives: employment insurance

The Government of Canada to strengthen Employment Insurance

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SHEDIAC, NB, March 30, 2016 /CNW/ – The Honourable Dominic Leblanc, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for Beauséjour, today announced a series of improvements to the Employment Insurance (EI) system that will help middle class Canadians – and those working hard to join them – while also easing the burden on those affected by recent layoffs.

Mr. Leblanc made the announcement today in Shediac, and noted that changes made in Budget 2016 will help more Canadians access EI when they need it, improve service delivery, and ensure the program adapts to the labour market realities across the country.

The Government of Canada is also sensitive to the regions hardest-hit by recent economic challenges, and will implement immediate measures to assist workers and employers in affected regions.

As outlined in Budget 2016, changes to the EI program include measures to:

  • eliminate the EI eligibility requirements that restrict access for new entrants and re-entrants to the labour market, which will help an estimated 50,000 more Canadians access EI, when they need it;
  • reduce the EI waiting period from two weeks to one week, effective January 1, 2017;
  • extend and expand the current EI Working While on Claim pilot project until August 2018. This will give Canadians greater flexibility as they return to work, help them stay connected to the labour market, and ensure that they benefit from accepting work.
  • reverse the changes to EI – introduced in 2012 – that made some Canadians accept lower paying jobs, farther away from home;
  • meet the increased demand for EI claims processing and offer better support to Canadians as they search for new employment through proposed investments of $19 million in 2016-17;
  • improve access to EI Call Centres, through proposed investments of $73 million over two years, starting in 2016-17. For example, increasing the number of agents will reduce waiting times so that Canadians can access information and support they need to receive their EI benefits; and
  • promote compliance with program rules through proposed investments of $21 million over 3 years, starting in 2016-17, to strengthen the integrity of the EI program.

The Government of Canada will also assist workers and employers who have been hard hit by the recent economic downturn in certain parts of the country. These include measures to:

  • extend EI benefits in 12 EI economic regions that have experienced a sharp and sustained increase in the local unemployment rate without showing significant signs of recovery. For all eligible claimants in these 12 regions, this change will provide an additional 5 weeks of EI regular benefits, up to a maximum of 50 weeks. An additional 20 weeks of EI regular benefits will also be available to long-tenured workers in the affected 12 regions, up to a maximum of 70 weeks; and
  • extend the Work-Sharing agreements from a maximum of 38 weeks to 76 weeks across Canada. This measure will help employers retain skilled employees and avoid the cost of recruitment and training. Employees can continue to work and maintain their skills while supplementing their wages with EI benefits for the time they are not working.

The Government will continue to monitor the situation in these and other regions.

Quotes

“The Government has listened to Canadians over the past several months who have said they need to have an EI system that can respond quickly to changing labour market needs. This will ease the worry of those Canadians who have been laid off through no fault of their own and are trying to find another job.”
– The Honourable Dominic Leblanc, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for Beauséjour

“Middle class Canadians and those working hard to join them, will prosper from a revitalized and strong Canadian economy. This Government is proud to be taking concrete actions to help Canadians get back to work. When a Canadian loses their job through no fault of their own, and is struggling to find that next job and earn a living, they deserve to have an EI program to turn to that reflects today’s labour market realities.”
– The Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

Quick Facts

  • The elimination of the new entrant and re-entrant rules is expected to benefit approximately 50,000 EI claimants across Canada.
  • Reducing the waiting period will provide a larger first EI payment and ease the financial pressure on Canadians when they need it most.
  • To help claimants return to work, the Government will also continue to strengthen and integrate on-line tools such as Job Bank and Job Match into their job search efforts.
  • Extending the duration of EI benefits within the identified regions will help provide approximately 170,000 workers with financial stability until they find new employment.
  • Some 33,000 claimants nationally could benefit by the extension of the Work-Sharing agreements.

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

Source: The Government of Canada to strengthen Employment Insurance

Canada’s Top Labour Leaders Call on Premiers to Oppose Harper’s Low-wage Agenda

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NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 25, 2013) – At a meeting with Canada’s premiers, labour leaders from across the country called for unity among the provinces in rejecting Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s low-wage agenda. While the premiers gather for their Council of the Federation meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake this week, the presidents of Canada’s provincial and territorial federations of labour are hosting parallel meetings where jobs, pensions and healthcare are the big-ticket items.

The labour federation presidents called on the premiers to put pressure on the federal government to double the Canada Pension Plan and renew the 2004 Health Accord, but the main focus of their talks was on jobs, training, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, Employment Insurance and Canada’s labour market.

“The Harper government is driving down wages and working conditions for all Canadians,” said Lana Payne, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour. “The latest changes to Employment Insurance be terrible for the labour market and damaging for the economy as well. They will hurt industries and employers in some regions of the country but they will hit the most vulnerable workers hardest, with fewer and fewer unemployed workers being eligible for benefits.”

The federation of labour presidents encouraged all the premiers to call on the federal government to scrap the Employment Insurance changes.

Today 1.4 million Canadians are unemployed while the country faces many labour market challenges, including the rise of precarious work, the exploitation of migrant workers, cuts to Employment Insurance and reduced investment in job training programs for vulnerable workers – all of which highlight the need for a renewed focus on creating jobs for Canadians.

“The provinces must reject this low-wage agenda,” said Sid Ryan, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour. “The premiers have an opportunity to use their leadership to engage in substantive dialogue and take action to make sure that Canadians have good jobs. One way they can do this is by establishing Labour Market Partners Forums in every province to provide vision, collaboration and leadership on job creation.”

Already established in Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador, a Labour Market Partners Forum is a tripartite body that would facilitate collaboration and dialogue between government, labour and employers, particularly on employment strategies. This coming together of stakeholders would help to develop economic strategies that would allow the provinces and territories to compete in a global economy on the basis of high productivity and quality rather than low wages.

There is no shortage of labour market issues to be discussed in this kind of tripartite forum, including job training programs, support for unemployed persons, regular increases to the minimum wage and protections for migrant workers.

“The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is being used to fundamentally transform our country’s labour market in ways that are detrimental to the interests of ordinary Canadians,” said Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. “Provincial governments should follow Manitoba and Saskatchewan in implementing legislation that protects migrant workers from abuse and exploitation. The provinces should join the growing chorus of critics calling on the federal government to scrap the low-skill stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. These workers are being used as pawns to drive down wages and displace Canadians, while also allowing employers to shirk their responsibility to train Canadians. The Premiers need to stand up to the Harper government on this important issue.”

Together, Canada’s provincial and territorial labour federations give voice to over three million workers, represented by the Alberta Federation of Labour, British Columbia Federation of Labour, Canadian Labour Congress, Manitoba Federation of Labour, New Brunswick Federation of Labour, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, Northern Territories Federation of Labour, Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, Ontario Federation of Labour, Prince Edward Island Federation of Labour, Fédération des travailleurs et travailleises du Québec, Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and Yukon Federation of Labour.

EI benefits falling faster than unemployment

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By Erin Weir  http://rabble.ca        July 19, 2013

Statistics Canada reported this week that 12,290 fewer Canadians received Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in May compared to April. EI benefits are shrinking far faster than unemployment.

In percentage terms, the number of EI recipients declined as much in just the last month as unemployment declined over the past year. Between April and May, the number of unemployed Canadians decreased by only 1 per cent while the number of EI beneficiaries decreased by 2.4 per cent. Compared to May of last year, the number of unemployed workers was down by 2.4 per cent but the number of EI beneficiaries was down by 7.4 per cent.

We already know from the Labour Force Survey that unemployment rose in June. The downward trend in EI is troubling given that more workers will likely need benefits.

The federal government is cutting back EI too quickly given that unemployment is barely decreasing. As Armine Yalnizyan points out, EI coverage is now at its lowest level since World War II.

Erin Weir is an economist with the United Steelworkers union and a CCPA research associate