Posted: Wednesday, 28 February 2007

This backgrounder and policy statement was prepared for the Parliamentary Committee studying Bill C-269, which would significantly improve access to EI benefits. The CLC encourages all parties to work co-operatively to produce a consensus set of changes to the program which would result in significant benefits for workers.

This statement focuses on regular EI benefits.

Why EI is important

EI is Canada’s most important income support program for workers. In 2004-05, almost two million workers received some $13 billion in benefits. Just under two-thirds of that amount was in the form of regular benefits for temporarily unemployed workers actively seeking work, while most of the remainder was for parental and maternity benefits which allow a new parent to take up to a year’s supported leave from the workforce. (Maternity and parental benefits play an important role in enabling workers to balance work and family responsibilities. But, despite some significant recent improvement, many new parents fail to qualify for benefits, and those who do often find that they can’t afford to take a leave.)

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