Canada – Northwest Territories Amending Agreement No. 2

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 (herein referred to as “Canada”), as represented by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission

and

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

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

Whereas the Agreement was amended by an Amending Agreement (Amending Agreement N^o. 1) entered into between the parties on [date] as a result of the division of the Northwest Territories into the Northwest Territories and the new territory of Nunavut on April 1, 1999 and which necessitated the review, renegotiation and amendment of some of the terms of the Agreement, 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;

Whereas sections 13.1 to 13.9 of the Agreement, as amended by Amending Agreement N^o. 1, provided for the payment each year by Canada of a maximum annual contribution towards the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures incurred by the Northwest Territories in that year of an amount that was to be determined in accordance with the methodology established by Canada for allocating among provinces and territories the funding approved for these costs each year by Canada's Treasury Board in the annual expenditure plan under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act;

Whereas the level of funding approved in the annual expenditure plans by Canada’s Treasury Board for allocation among provinces and territories for payments for costs referred to in the second recital above for purposes of implementing labour market development agreements entered into with provinces and territories under Part II of the Act has remained fixed at $1.95B since fiscal year 2001/02;

Whereas the recent economic downturn has given rise to concerns about an increase in unemployment in Canada and the need to provide assistance to the significant number of workers expected to be laid off, who will have worked for extended periods of time, and who will require assistance to change occupations or industries as a result of structural adjustment;

Whereas it is expected that there will be an increased demand for support for the unemployed under labour market programs provided by provinces and territories that are funded under labour market development agreements entered into under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act;

Whereas in response to the concerns referred to above, the Government of Canada has agreed to provide a two-year temporary annual increase in funding, over the global level of funding referred to in the second recital above, of $500M per year for fiscal years 2009/10 and 2010/11, to be allocated among provinces and territories for costs referred to in the third recital above to address new demand for labour market programming;

Whereas Northwest Territories and Canada have agreed that the additional $500 M per year will be segregated in a special, temporary allocation within Canada’s annual expenditure plan under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act and shall be allocated among provinces and territories in accordance with a methodology based on each province or territory’s share of the unemployed;

Whereas to access this additional funding, it is necessary for the parties to amend the financial provisions of the Agreement, as amended by Amending Agreement N^o. 1, to provide for a temporary increase in Canada’s current maximum contributions towards the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures in fiscal years 2009/10 and 2010/11;

Now, therefore, Canada and Northwest Territories agree as follows:

1. The Agreement, as amended by Amending Agreement N^o. 1, is further amended by adding after section 13 the following heading and section:

   Targeted Two Year Increase in Contribution to Costs of Territorial Benefits and Measures.

   13A. Notwithstanding anything in section 13, in each of fiscal years 2009/10 and 2010/11, Canada agrees to increase the maximum contribution payable under section 13 towards the costs of the Territorial benefits and measures by an amount not exceeding the amount, rounded to the nearest thousand, determined by the formula.

   C x (A/B)

   where

   C is $500 million;

A is the average number of unemployed persons in Northwest Territories calculated by averaging,

• (a) for fiscal year 2009/10, the number of unemployed persons in Northwest Territories each month during the months of August 2008 to, and including January 2009 as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months; and
• (b) for fiscal year 2010/11, the number of unemployed persons in Northwest Territories each month during the months of August 2009 to, and including January 2010, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months; and

B is the average of the total number of unemployed persons in Canada calculated by averaging,

• (a) for fiscal year 2009/10, the total number of unemployed persons in Canada in each month during the months of August 2008 to, and including, January 2009, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months, and
• (b) for fiscal year 2010/11, the total number of unemployed persons in Canada each month during the months of August 2009 to, and including, January 2010, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months.

The Agreement in all other respects shall remain the same.

This Amending Agreement N^o. 2 shall be read together with the Agreement and Amending Agreement N^o. 1 as if its provisions were contained in the Agreement.

Signed on behalf of Canada by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission,

at this 8 day of July, 2009.

________________________

The Honourable Diane Finley,

Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

________________________

Janice Charette

Chairperson,

Canada Employment Insurance Commission

Signed on behalf of Northwest Territories this 17 day of June 2009.

________________________

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment