Who is eligible

On this page

• Special measures: Expanded eligibility for employers and employees
• Eligible employers
  • Ineligible employers
• Eligible employees
  • Ineligible employees

Special measures: Expanded eligibility for employers and employees

The Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing may introduce temporary special measures at any time to provide additional support for affected businesses during a period of economic downturn, natural disaster or if a national emergency is declared. The special measures provide targeted support for businesses impacted to recover and avoid layoffs for a specific period of time.

Tariffs

Employers experiencing a decline in business activity attributable to the threat or potential realization of tariffs may be eligible for Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing special measures if they:

• are operating in Canada for a minimum of 1 year
• have a minimum of 2 EI eligible employees who agree to a reduction in hours and to share any available work

Affected businesses may benefit from the Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing special measures if they are:

• new to Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing
• have an existing Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing agreement
• are serving a mandatory cooling-off period

Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing agreements approved under tariffs special measures:

• must have a minimum duration of 4 weeks, and
• may be extended, to a maximum total of 152 weeks, if required New
• after cumulative 152 weeks have elapsed, a 38-week mandatory cooling-off period must be served

Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing tariffs special measures flexibilities include:

• focusing recovery measures on supporting the business' ability to maintain its viability related to the threat or potential realization of tariffs

Expanded employer eligibility:

• to businesses that have been in operation in Canada for 1 year
• to include non-profit and charitable organizations experiencing a reduction in revenue levels as a direct or indirect result of the tariffs
• to include cyclical or seasonal employers
• to employers experiencing a decrease in work activity over the past six months of less than 10% and allowing utilization of Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing to exceed 60%
• to include businesses that need to transform, retool or diversify, even if they do not already have reduced business activity New
• to allow for work hours to be shared in different proportions among employees, to accommodate a wider range of business needs New

Expanded employee eligibility:

• to employees who are not year-round, permanent, full-time or part-time employees, specifically seasonal or cyclical employees
• employees assisting the employer recovery efforts

If you have any questions regarding the Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing tariffs special measures, please contact our Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing Employer Inquiry Unit at EDSC.DGOP.DMPJ.PMERMO-WRRP.WDY.POB.ESDC@servicecanada.gc.ca.

Eligible employers

To be eligible for a Work-Sharing agreement, your business or organization must:

• be a year-round business operating in Canada for at least 2 years
  • the 2-year requirement ensures sufficient evidence to identify the business regular work patterns, employment levels and schedules to establish the employer’s normal level of business activity
• be a private business, a publicly held company or a certain type of non-for-profit
  • a publicly held company is a for-profit company whereby its shares/stocks are owned by the general public. Public sector employers, including government or publicly owned corporations, such as crown corporations, are not eligible an agreement
  • non-profit organizations are eligible if they engage in activities where they retain the profit to support the goals of the organization. Temporary layoffs in a non-profit organization resulting from a reduction in revenue levels alone (such as reduced grants, donations, memberships, investment income or other disruptions in funding streams) do not meet the Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing eligibility criteria
• have experienced a decrease in overall work activities of at least 10% in the last 6 months to qualify for the Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing
  • this decrease cannot be limited to financial factors such as sales or revenues; it must also show that there is less work available for employees participating in Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing
  • employers must demonstrate this decrease by specifying how many hours of work were lost, comparing factors such as sales, production levels, hours worked, stock levels, new orders, etc. with those from the previous quarter or year
  • the decrease in work activities must be caused by factors beyond employer control, such as lost contracts, unexpected market changes, decreased sales, issues with the supply of raw materials, etc.
• have recovery measures in place to return employees back to normal staffing levels and regular work hours by the end of an agreement
• have at least two eligible employees in the Work Sharing unit that must share the available work equitably

Ineligible employers

Your business is not eligible for Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing if it is experiencing reduced business activity due to:

• a labour dispute
  • includes work slowdowns, strikes, lockouts and work stoppages
• a cyclical or seasonal shortage of work
• the decrease in available work due to an increase in the number of employees, or
• business decisions (for example, to increase efficiencies or profits by reducing staffing levels)

Employers are not eligible if they are:

• an employer who operates solely for the purpose of carrying out the administration of a government program/activity, such as:
  • municipalities, or
  • Government Agencies
• self-employed

Eligible employees

To be eligible for Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing Employment Benefits, your employees must:

• be year-round, permanent, full-time or part-time employees needed to carry out the day-to-day functions of the business (your “core staff”)
• be eligible to receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits*, and
• agree to reduce their normal working hours by the same percentage and to share the available work equitably

Some employers may have been unable to avoid layoffs prior to applying to participate in Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing. Core staff recently laid off may be included in the Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing unit.

*Please Note: Employees participating in Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing must qualify to receive EI benefits. An employee’s eligibility will be determined after the employee has filed for EI benefits. The employee does not have to inform their employer of the status of their eligibility for EI benefits. Employees may refuse to be part of a Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing agreement or may not be eligible for EI benefits. In either case, they are required to reduce their hours of work on an equitable basis with employees who are members of the Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing agreement.

Ineligible employees

Employees that are not eligible for Workforce Retention and Retraining Program - Work-Sharing include:

• seasonal employees (for example: lifeguards, ski resort employees, etc.)
• students hired for a co-op term
• employees hired on a casual / on-call basis
• contracted temporary help agency workers
• self-employed
• employees needed to generate work should not be included in the Work Sharing unit: for example, senior management, technical employees engaged in product development, marketing and sales agents, and
• those responsible for the direction of the company and who hold more than 40% of the voting shares in the business and/or who are investors