August 2009 Parliamentary Report

AUGUST, 2009 PARLIAMENTARY REPORT

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE INITIATIVES

 

Our government knows the global economic recession is affecting workers and we are taking concrete action to help Canadians through Employment Insurance (EI).  We made timely improvements to the program by providing longer EI benefits and more efficient service and we are freezing EI premiums for 2010 at the same rate as 2009 to provide economic stimulus.  We are assisting businesses experiencing temporary slowdowns and their workers through Work-Sharing agreements and increasing opportunities for unemployed Canadians to upgrade their skills and get back to work.

 

RESPONDING TO CHANGING UNEMPLOYMENT ACROSS THE COUNTRY

 

Every month, the number of work hours needed to qualify for EI benefits and the number of weeks of benefits people receive are adjusted according to local unemployment figures.

 

As unemployment increases, affected workers can access EI with fewer hours and receive more weeks of EI benefits.

 

ENHANCEMENTS TO EI AND DELIVERY OF BENEFITS

 

·         More than 240,000 Canadians have received additional weeks of benefits thanks to the extra five weeks of benefits included in Canada's Economic Action Plan

·         More than 150,000 Canadians are benefiting from Work-Sharing agreements in place with almost 5,000 employers across Canada.  The agreements have been extended by 14 weeks to a maximum of 52 weeks for the next two years; and

·         Canadians are benefiting from improvements to service delivery.  Between April and July, 756 additional claims processing staff and an additional 280 agents answering calls, were hired and trained to help even more Canadians receive their EI cheques as quickly and as efficiently as possible. 

 

 

CAREER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE

 

We believe it is important to ensure Canada's workforce is in position to get good jobs and bounce back from the recession. 

 

Career Transition Assistance is a new initiative that will help an estimated 40,000 long-tenured workers who need additional support for retraining to find a new job.  Through this initiative, we have extended the duration of EI regular income benefits for eligible workers who participate in longer-term training for up to two years and we are allowing earlier access to EI for eligible workers investing in their training through all or part of their severance package. 

 

This initiative is being implemented in partnership with provinces and territories.  The federal government provides income support through the EI program and the provinces and territories are responsible for providing training support. By working with the provinces and the territories through this and other programs, we're providing Canadians easier access to training that's tailored to the needs of our country's different regions.

 

EI WORKING GROUP

 

The Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader agreed to have a bi-partisan group to consider EI benefits for the self-employed, access to EI and regional fairness.  They will report back by September 28, 2008.

 

It is clear from the EI measures introduced in the Economic Action Plan that our Government is stepping up to the plate to provide real results for Canadians.