Canada – Northwest Territories Labour Market Development Amending Agreement No.1

Between

The Government of Canada (herein referred to as "Canada"), as represented by the Minister of Human Resources Development and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission

and

The Government of the Northwest Territories (herein referred to as the "Northwest Territories"), as represented by the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment

1. Background

1.1 This Amending Agreement is entered into on the basis of the following background facts:

1.2 Canada and the Northwest Territories entered into a Labour Market Development Agreement (the "LMDA") on February 27, 1998. Under the LMDA Canada and the Northwest Territories agreed to certain arrangements relating to the assumption by the Northwest Territories of an expanded role in the delivery of labour market programs and services in the Northwest Territories with financial assistance provided by Canada under section 63 of the Employment Insurance Act.

1.3 Those arrangements included arrangements for the provision by Canada of contributions to the Northwest Territories towards

  1. (a) the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures provided by the Northwest Territories, and
  2. (b) the administration costs that the Northwest Territories incurred in providing the Territorial benefits and measures.

1.4 The parties also agreed that the division of the Northwest Territories into the Northwest Territories and the new territory of Nunavut that was scheduled to occur on April 1, 1999 would necessitate the review, renegotiation and amendment of some of the terms of the LMDA, including the terms relating to the amounts of Canada's annual contributions towards the costs of providing the Territorial benefits and measures and the related administration costs.

1.5 The division of the Northwest Territories took effect as scheduled on April 1, 1999.

2. Purpose

2.1 The purpose of this Amending Agreement is to make amendments to the LMDA in relation to the financial arrangements set out as a consequence of the division of the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 into the Northwest Territories and the new territory of Nunavut

3. Interpretation

3.1 In this Amending Agreement

  1. (a) the terms "administration costs", "Commission", "costs of Territorial benefits and measures", "territorial benefits" have the meanings assigned in the LMDA;
  2. (b) "LMDA" means the Labour Market Development Agreement signed between Canada and the Northwest Territories on February 27, 1998.

4. Amendments

4.1 Canada and the Northwest Territories agree to the following amendments to the LMDA:

  1. (a) Sections 13.2 to 13.23 of the LMDA are deleted and replaced by the following:

"Contribution Towards Costs of Territorial Benefits and Measures"

13.2 In each of fiscal years 1998/99 to 2001/2002, Canada (through the Commission) agrees to make a maximum contribution to the Northwest Territories towards the costs of Territorial benefits and measures incurred in those years of an amount determined in accordance with the allocation methodology described in the letter of June 26, 1996 from Canada's Deputy Minister of Human Resources Development to the Government of the Northwest Territories' Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and attached as Annex 7 to this Agreement.

13.3 As a consequence of the division of the Northwest Territories, it is understood that while the allocation methodology referred to in section 13.2 will continue to apply to determine the amount of Canada's maximum contribution in fiscal years 2000/01 and 2001/02, the maximum amount of Canada's contribution towards the costs of Territorial benefits and measures in each of those fiscal years will be less than in fiscal years 1998/99 and 1999/2000.

13.4 The currently projected amount of Canada's contribution towards the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures in each of fiscal years 2000/01 and 2001/02 is $3,267,000 and $3,369,000 respectively.

13.5 The Northwest Territories recognizes that given the nature of the allocation methodology referred to in section 13.2, the actual amount of the maximum contribution payable in each fiscal year cannot be ascertained until shortly after January of the immediately preceding fiscal year. Furthermore, the maximum contribution payable could change should the allocation methodology change as a result of a consensus between provinces/territories and Canada. To assist the Northwest Territories in its planning and the preparation of its Annual Plan referred to in section 3.2 of this Agreement, HRDC undertakes to provide it in December of each year, with a prelimim1ry estimate of Canada's maximum contribution towards the costs of Territorial benefits and measures for the coming year.

13.6 Notwithstanding the results of the allocation methodology referred to in section 13.2, Canada agrees that the maximum amount of funding to be made available for in each of fiscal years 2000/01 and 2001/02 will not be less than $ 3,034,000.

13.7 For greater certainty, it is understood that the above mentioned funding allocations relate only to allocations for expenditures in the Northwest Territories under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act and do not include insurance benefits payable by the Commission to active El claimants under Part I of the Act (by virtue of section 25) while participating in training and other employment activities under Territorial benefits.

13.8 For each fiscal year after the fiscal year 2001/02 during the period of the Agreement, Canada's contribution towards the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures will be mutually reviewed annually between the parties. The agreed amount of Canada's contribution towards the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures for each such fiscal year will then be specified in the Annual Results Annex for that fiscal year. In conducting the annual reviews, Canada undertakes to provide the Northwest Territories with projected three year allocations on a rolling basis as a forecast based on current trends, but which are subject to change.

13.9 Canada also agrees to establish an intergovernmental process aimed at reviewing the current methodology for the allocation of Employment Insurance funds in support of expenditures under Part II of the Act and at proposing options which put emphasis on matters such as achievement of results and generation of savings to the Employment Insurance Account.

Contribution Towards Administration Costs

13.10 In addition to the contribution towards the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures, Canada (through the Commission) agrees to make a contribution to the Northwest Territories in each fiscal year during the period of the Agreement towards the administration costs incurred by the Northwest Territories in that fiscal year.

13.11 Subject to sections 13.13 to 13.16, the maximum amount of Canada's annual contribution in fiscal years 1998/99 to 1999/00 shall be an amount determined in accordance with the methodology as outlined in the letter of September 25, 1996, from Canada's Deputy Minister of Human Resources Development to the Government of the Northwest Territories' Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and the calculations made in the Table attached to that letter, as amended by a revised Table issued by Canada dated May 5,1997, all attached as Annex 8 to this Agreement. The actual amount of the maximum contribution for administration costs will be dependent upon the employee transfer arrangements set out in the Employee Transfer Agreement referred to in section 12 of this Agreement.

13.12 Subject to sections 13.13 to 13.16, as a consequence of the division of the Northwest Territories, the maximum amount of Canada's contribution towards the annual administration costs incurred by the Northwest Territories for fiscal year 2000/01 and each year thereafter during the period of the Agreement shall be $1,378,000.

13.13 The maximum amount of the contribution towards the administration costs of the Northwest Territories in fiscal years 1998/99 to 2000/01 will be increased depending upon the actual financial resources available to Canada after the termination of various property leases which will occur as a result of reduced accommodation requirements for Canada flowing from the transfer of HRDC employees to the Northwest Territories under the Employee Transfer Agreement referred to in section 12. Designated Officials will be responsible for determining and recommending to the parties the amount of any such increase.

13.14 If during the first three fiscal years of this Agreement, the Treasury Board of Canada makes available to HRDC additional sums for former federal employees transferred to the Northwest Territories under the Employee Transfer Agreement referred to in section 12 and who remain employees of the Northwest Territories during that period, Canada agrees to increase, for those years, the maximum contribution payable to Northwest Territories for administration costs by an amount equal to those sums.

13.15 If during the first three years following the transfer of an employee the application of the Northwest Territories' program of mandatory leave without pay results in deductions from the annual salary of the transferring employee, the amount of the maximum annual contribution towards administration costs in those years shall be decreased by the aggregate amount of those deductions.

13.16 The maximum amount of Canada's annual contribution to the Northwest Territories for administration costs in each of the first three fiscal years in which transferring employees currently occupying federal Crown housing continue living in that housing at a subsidized rate of rent, shall be decreased by the amount of the annual amount paid by HRDC to Public Works and Government Services Canada to subsidize that arrangement, provided, however, that the amount of the decrease shall not exceed $65,000, being the amount of the current payment by HRDC to Public Works and Government Services Canada to subsidize that arrangement."

  1. (b) Annex 3 (Delivery Arrangements) to the LMDA is amended by deleting the following communities from the list of communities set out in section 2.3 of the Annex:

Iqualuit

Rankin Inlet

5. General

5.1 The amendments to the LMDA contained in this Amending Agreement shall be effective as of April 1, 2000.

5.2 The LMDA in all other respects shall remain the same.

5.3 This Amending Agreement shall be read together with the LMDA and take effect as if its provisions and the provisions of the LMDA were contained in one instrument.

Signed on behalf of Canada this ____________ day of ____________________ 2000.

____________________________________

Witness

____________________________________

Minister of Human

Resources Development

____________________________________

Witness

____________________________________

Chairperson, Canada Employment

Insurance Commission

Signed on behalf of the Northwest Territories this 15th day of June 2000

____________________________________

Witness

____________________________________

Minister Education, Culture and Employment

Page details

Date modified: