Agreement to amend the Canada ̶ Nova Scotia Labour Market Development Agreement

Note: By agreement of the Parties, the agreement was signed in English only. The French version is provided for convenience only. In the event of a conflict with the English version, the English version prevails.

Between

The Government of Canada, hereinafter referred to as "Canada", represented by the Minister of Employment and Social Development styled as the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission

And

The Government of Nova Scotia, hereinafter referred to as "Nova Scotia", represented by the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education

Hereinafter referred to as "the parties"

Preamble

Whereas the parties concluded the Canada-Nova Scotia Labour Market Development Agreement ("Canada-Nova Scotia LMDA") on June 13, 2008;

Whereas the Canada-Nova Scotia LMDA was amended on May 1, 2009;

Whereas in Budget 2016, the Government of Canada announced that it would provide an additional $125 million in 2016-2017 to be allocated between the provinces and territories under the LMDAs to help ensure unemployed Canadians can access the training and supports they need to develop their skills and pursue opportunities for a better future;

Whereas to access this additional funding, the parties agree to amend the Canada-Nova Scotia LMDA to reflect this one-time increase to the federal contribution toward the cost of NS Benefits and Measures for fiscal year 2016-2017;

Whereas the definition of "insured participant" in section 58 of the Employment Insurance Act ("El Act") was amended effective July 3, 2016 and Nova Scotia has expressed the desire to expand the definition of "El client" in the Canada-Nova Scotia LMDA applicable to the NS Benefits and Measures to reflect the definition in the El Act;

Therefore, the parties agree to amend the Canada ̶ Nova Scotia LMDA, as follows:

1. The Canada ̶ Nova Scotia LMDA is amended to replace the definition of "El client", under section 1.2 of the Canada ̶ Nova Scotia LMDA by:

   "El Client" means an unemployed person whom, when requesting assistance under an NS Benefit or Measure,

   1. is an active El claim an, or,
   2. had a benefit period that ended within the previous 60 months, or
   3. has a benefit period established under a "provincial plan· as that term is defined in section 76.01 of the Employment Insurance Regulations, or has had that benefit period end within the previous 60 months, and who would have been entitled to receive special benefits under sections 22 or 23 of the El Act had they not been entitled to receive provincial benefits, as this term is defined in section 76.01 of the Employment Insurance Regulations, under the provincial plan."
2. The Canada - Nova Scotia LMDA is amended by adding the following heading and section after section 14A:

   "Targeted One-Year Increase in Contribution to Costs of NS Benefits and Measures

   14B. Notwithstanding anything in section 14 in fiscal year 2016-2017, Canada agrees to increase the maximum contribution payable to Nova Scotia under section 14 based on an allocation methodology that takes into account Nova Scotia’s share in the national total of the following two variables:

   1. Number of El Part I claims with regular benefits paid (50% weight)
   2. Number of unemployed workers (50% weight)

   Therefore, the maximum contribution payable under section 14 towards the costs of the NS Benefits and Measures is increased by an amount not exceeding the amount, rounded to the nearest thousand, determined by the following formula:

   C = [(A x 0.5)+(B x 0.5)] x $125 million

   where:

   C is the amount of additional funding payable to Nova Scotia for fiscal year 2016-2017; and

   A is the number of El Part I claims with regular benefits paid in Nova Scotia, divided by the number of El Part I claims with regular benefits paid in Canada, both in 2014-15, as per Annex 2.4 of the 2014/2015 Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report; and,

   B is the average number of unemployed workers in Nova Scotia, divided by the average number of unemployed workers in Canada, both from April 2014 through March 2015, as determined by Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey."

3. As a result of this formula, Canada will pay to Nova Scotia an additional amount of $4,898,220 for fiscal year 2016-17, towards the cost of NS Benefits and Measures. The parties agree that no part of this amending agreement will have an impact on how Canada allocates the current Employment Insurance funding ($1.95 billion per year) when determining the maximum annual amount of contributions paid to Nova Scotia, in accordance with section 14 of the Canada ­ Nova Scotia LMDA. The parties acknowledge that the current method set out in section 14 of the Canada – Nova Scotia LMDA for allocating the current $1.95 billion to the provinces and territories is the allocation method described in the letter dated June 26, 1996, from the Deputy Minister of the Department of Human Resources Development to the Deputy Minister of Community Services.
4. The Canada – Nova Scotia LMDA is amended by adding the following, after section 16:
   • "16.3 The parties agree that the payment of the additional amount of funding determined under section 14B for fiscal year 2016-17, will be made available once this amending agreement has been signed by both parties."
5. The Canada – Nova Scotia LMDA is amended by the adding the following, after section 8.1 (c):
   • "8.2 The parties agree that results measurement and reporting related to the additional amount of funding provided under section 14B for fiscal year 2016-2017, will be consistent with the process described in Annex 4."
6. In all other respects, the Canada – Nova Scotia LMDA shall remain unchanged.
7. This amending agreement shall be read together with the Canada – Nova Scotia LMDA as amended from time to time and takes effect as if its provisions were part of the Canada-Nova Scotia LMDA.
8. This amending agreement comes into force once it has been signed by both parties.

Signed on behalf of Canada in Quebec city this 4th day of November, 2016.

______________
The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Employment and Social Development styled as the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

______________
Louise Levonian
Chairperson, Canada Employment Insurance Commission

Signed on behalf of Nova Scotia in Halifax this 18th day of September, 2016.

______________
The Honourable Kelly Regan
Minister of Labour and Advanced Education