ESDC's Top 10 Most Accessed Regulations Explained

1. Purpose of these regulations

The Employment Insurance Act provides authority to the Canada Employment Insurance Commission to make the Employment Insurance Regulations to prescribe conditions for the operation and administration of the Employment Insurance (EI) program, including regulations related to pilot projects, EI benefit payments and insurable employment.

2. Key elements of these regulations

The Employment Insurance Regulations set out the detailed provisions for implementing the EI program. Key elements of the regulations pertaining to claimant eligibility for benefits include:

• Defining insurable employment;
• Conditions under which claimants may receive benefits;
• Defining insurable earnings and provisions for allocating earnings for benefit purposes;
• Defining what constitutes an interruption of earnings;
• How hours of insurable employment are allocated to the qualifying period;
• Prescribing information to be provided by employers regarding claimants’ employment history as well as information to be provided by the claimants;
• Specific terms and conditions for the payment and receipt of benefits, including conditions for receiving benefits while outside Canada;
• Prescribing procedures for claiming benefits and procedures for consideration of claims for benefits; and
• Prescribing conditions under which payment of benefits are prohibited.

Additionally, the regulations include provisions for the administration of the EI program and financial management of the EI account, including:

• Criteria and conditions for defining a Supplemental Unemployment Benefit plan established by an employer;
• Conditions for premium reductions for employers who provide sickness benefits under wage-loss plans, and for residents of provinces that have established provincial special benefits programs (i.e. Quebec Parental Insurance Plan); and
• Conditions under which debts owed by claimants may be written-off.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

The regulations provide the framework and/or obligations for employers with respect to:

• Employment insured under the Employment Insurance Act ;
• Calculating hours of insurable employment;
• Defining and reporting an interruption of earnings;
• Completion of the Record of Employment;
• Registration of Supplemental Unemployment Benefit plans; and
• Application for reduction of Employer's EI Premium rate.

4. Timeline for implementation

The Employment Insurance Regulations are longstanding statutes and are currently in force. New or amended regulations come into force and are implemented as required. Various aspects of the EI program, governed by the Employment Insurance Regulations may have timelines associated with specific regulations.

1. Purpose of these regulations

The purpose of the Canada Pension Plan is to provide contributors and their families with earnings replacement upon retirement, disability or death.

The main purpose of this regulation is to provide the administrative framework to implement the Canada Pension Plan.

2. Key elements of these regulations

The key elements of these regulations are their administrative function, (i.e. setting out the required information to make an application for benefits). These regulations also contain provisions related to eligibility, payment and various administrative processes.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

These regulations do not have a direct impact on Canadian businesses, except for those portions that fall under the purview of the Canada Revenue Agency on their List of Regulations.

4. Timeline for implementation

The Canada Pension Plan Regulations are longstanding statutes and are currently in force. New or amended regulations come into force and are implemented as required. These regulations came into force on May 5, 1965, with the program in effect January 1, 1966.

1. Purpose of these regulations

The Old Age Security (OAS) program is the first pillar of Canada's retirement income system program and assists in providing income security to seniors. The benefits under the OAS program include the basic monthly OAS pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for low-income seniors, and the Allowances for low-income Canadians aged 60 to 64 who are the spouses or common-law partners of GIS recipients, or who are widows or widowers.

The main purpose of the Old Age Security Regulations is to provide the administrative framework for the Old Age Security Act, the primary legislative statute that governs the OAS program.

2. Key elements of these regulations

The key elements of these regulations are their administrative function, (i.e. setting out the required information to make an application for benefits). These regulations also contain key provisions related to: eligibility criteria such as residence and legal status, determining the approval date of applications, and various administrative processes.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

These regulations do not have a direct impact on Canadian businesses.

4. Timeline for implementation

The Old Age Security Regulations are longstanding statutes and are currently in force. New or amended regulations come into force and are implemented as required. These regulations came into force on January 1, 1952.

1. Purpose of these regulations

The purpose of these regulations is to provide a regulatory framework to support the administration of Canada Student Loans (Risk-Shared Loans and Direct Loans), disbursed on or after August 1, 1995, and Canada Student Grants (formerly Canada Access Grants and Canada Study Grants), and to provide repayment assistance measures for federal student financial assistance.

2. Key elements of these regulations

Key elements of these regulations include eligibility requirements and program design for Canada Student Loans (Direct and Risk-shared loans) and Canada Student Grants, including repayment assistance and loan forgiveness measures (e.g. the Repayment Assistance Plan and Loan Forgiveness for Family Physicians, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners) and restrictions on assistance.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

There is no direct impact on Canadian businesses.

4. Timeline for implementation

The Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations are longstanding statutes and are currently in force. New or amended regulations come into force and are implemented as required. These regulations came into force on August 1, 1995.

1. Purpose of these regulations

The purpose of these regulations is to provide a regulatory framework to support the administration of Canada Student loans disbursed before August 1, 1995 and other federal student financial assistance measures, such as the Repayment Assistance Plan.

2. Key elements of these regulations

Key elements of these regulations include eligibility requirements and program design for Canada Student Loans (Guaranteed Student Loans), including repayment assistance and loan forgiveness measures (e.g. the Repayment Assistance Plan and Loan Forgiveness for Family Physicians, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners).

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

There is no direct impact on Canadian businesses.

4. Timeline for implementation

The Canada Student Loans Regulations are longstanding statutes and are currently in force. New or amended regulations come into force and are implemented as required. These regulations came into force on August 1, 1993, replacing the previous regulations of the same name, which had come into force in 1964.

1. Purpose of these regulations

The Employment Insurance Act provides authority to the Canada Employment Insurance Commission to make regulations for the establishment and operation of a scheme of employment insurance for self-employed persons engaged in fishing.

2. Key elements of these regulations

The Employment Insurance (Fishing) Regulations (Fishing Regulations) provide the specific parameters and conditions for the provision of EI benefits to self-employed fishers, as authorized under the Employment Insurance Act. Specifically, the Fishing Regulations include provisions for:

• Defining persons as self-employed fishers;
• Defining the buyer of the catch, the head fisher, or an agent, as the employer of self-employed persons engaged in fishing;
• Prescribing records required and information to be provided by fishers and the employer to determine the amount of premiums payable, and to establish eligibility for benefits;
• Determining insurable earnings of fishers;
• Defining entrance requirements for fishers;
• The establishment of the benefit period for fishers;
• Determining the application of the EI Act and EI Regulations in relation to the EI (Fishing) Regulations;
• Determining and allocating earnings in periods of unemployment; and
• Access to special benefits for fishers, and conditions for extensions to the benefit period.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

The Fishing Regulations establish the rules for:

• The determination of who is considered as an employer of a fisher;
• The calculation by employers of insured earnings in respect of a catch;
• The payment of EI premiums by employers; and
• The maintenance of books and records by employers.

4. Timeline for implementation

The Employment Insurance (Fishing) Regulations are longstanding statutes and are currently in force. New or amended regulations come into force and are implemented as required. Various aspects of the EI program, governed by the EI Regulations may have timelines associated with specific regulations.

1. Purpose of this regulation

The purpose of the Canada Disability Savings Regulations (Regulations) is to complete the legal framework established by the Canada Disability Savings Act (CDSA) for the payment of Canada Disability Savings grants and bonds into Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSPs).

2. Key elements of this regulation

The Regulations:

• contain the requirements for the payment of the Canada Disability Savings grants and bonds (in addition to the requirements listed in the CDSA);
• outline the minimum terms and conditions that must be included in agreements between ESDC and financial institutions which offer RDSPs;
• outline the circumstances when a repayment of a grant or bond is required;
• list the personal information collected by financial institutions that ESDC will disclose to the Canada Revenue Agency for the purpose of administering RDSPs in accordance with the Income Tax Act.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

Financial institutions that wish to offer RDSPs to the public must comply with the Regulations.

4. Timeline for implementation

RDSPs first became available to the public in December 2008. The Regulations were implemented at that time. Since then, the Regulations have been periodically updated in order to implement changes in the program.

1. Purpose of these regulations

To establish the requirements that govern the eligibility, payment and repayment of the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) and Canada Learning Bond (CLB) ¬– two education savings incentives paid into Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP) to help families save for their children’s post-secondary education.

2. Key elements of these regulations

The key elements of these regulations are the eligibility and payment conditions, the rules surrounding transfers, repayments, sharing of the CESG, and the distribution of the CESG and CLB when the child has entered post-secondary education. In addition, the regulation defines the terms and conditions for agreements between the Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and RESP promoters who wish to offer the savings incentives to clients; and agreements between the Minister and the trustee engaged by the promoter to hold the funds in trust.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

The education savings incentives must be held in trust in a RESP. In order for a business to apply on behalf of its clients for the CESG and CLB, a business must first be enrolled with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as an RESP promoter, and then enrolled with ESDC to offer the education savings incentives.

4. Timeline for implementation

The Canada Education Savings Regulations are longstanding statutes and are currently in force. New or amended regulations come into force and are implemented as required. These regulations came into force on July 1, 2005.

1. Purpose of these regulations

The purpose of these regulations is to support the amalgamated Departmental Privacy Codes under the Department of Employment and Social Development Act. These regulations consolidate the lists of federal institutions with which Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) may share information for outlined purposes given program requirements, thereby allowing ESDC to be in a continued position to manage the large repositories of personal information under its control.

2. Key elements of these regulations

The key elements of these regulations are the prescribed federal institutions identified in the document, to whom ESDC can legally make personal information available for the administration or enforcement of a prescribed federal law or activity.

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

The regulations are related to information sharing with other federal government institutions, and as such there is no direct impact on Canadian businesses.

4. Timeline for implementation

These regulations entered into force on March 1, 2013.

1. Purpose of these regulations

The Social Security Tribunal Regulations (SST Regulations) and Reconsideration Request Regulations support the implementation of the new appeal system prescribed in the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act (JGLTPA) for appeals of decisions regarding benefits under the Employment Insurance Act (EIA), the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and the Old Age Security Act (OASA). These regulations, which are necessary for the proper functioning of an administrative tribunal, provide appellants and their advocates, tribunal administrators, and decision makers, with an understanding of the rules and procedures of the SST so that they can effectively work in this system. This direction supports a consistent approach to how appeals are conducted and respect for the principles of fairness and natural justice.

2. Key elements of these regulations

3. Impact on Canadian businesses

There is no direct impact on Canadian businesses.

4. Timeline for implementation

These regulations entered into force on April 1, 2013.