OTTAWA, ONTARIO, September 5, 2008 - The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, today announced that the Government is continuing three Employment Insurance (EI) pilot projects to further assess t their effects. Minister Solberg also announced that the current EI regional boundaries will remain in place following the conclusion of the boundaries review process.
"Our government recognizes that not all regions are seeing the same growth, an d that individuals employed in traditional, seasonal work face challenges," said Minister Solberg. "Therefore, we are continuing, with modifications, three EI pilot projects to examine their effects on claimants and the labour market."
The purpo se of an EI pilot project is to conduct a test for a defined period, and to allow the Government to assess the labour market impacts and effectiveness of new approaches that are designed to assist the unemployed. The scope of these pilot projects has been modified to ensure that they better align with the current economic conditions and the labour market situation.
The Working while on Claim EI pilot project will continue to test whether an increased earnings threshold will prov ide a greater incentive for individuals to accept all available work while receiving EI benefits. This pilot project will be expanded nationally to all EI regions.
The New Entrant/Re-entrant EI pilot project will continue to tes t whether enabling individuals new to the labour market, or returning after an extended absence to gain access to EI benefits after 840 hours of work rather than 910 hours, and informing them of EI employment programs will improve their employability and help reduce future reliance on EI benefits.
The Best 14 Weeks pilot project will continue to test a method to make EI benefit levels more reflective of full-time work earnings for those with sporadic work patterns, and to enc ourage claimants to accept all available work by calculating EI benefits based on the "best 14 weeks" of earnings over the 52 weeks preceding a claim.
"A priority of this government is helping Canadians participate in the labour market, which i s performing well overall. The actions we are taking demonstrate our record of measured improvements to the EI program to be more responsive to changing economic conditions," added Minister Solberg. "The continuation of these pilots will allow the Governm ent to fully assess the effectiveness of these approaches."
This government has previously made important changes to the Employment Insurance program by:
- continuing the Extended EI Benefits pilot project that provides additional w eeks of EI benefits to claimants in high unemployment regions to test a mechanism for helping seasonal workers who experience an annual income gap due to limited work alternatives in their regions;
- increasing eligibility for compassionate care b enefits to allow more family members and friends to claim the benefit; and
- improving the governance and management of the EI Account by establishing the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board through Budget 2008. The Board will be responsib le for the following:
- implementing an improved EI premium rate-setting mechanism that will ensure that EI revenues and expenditures break even over time;
- managing a separate EI Account where any excess premiums from a given year will be held and invested until they are needed for EI program costs; and
- maintaining a $2-billion cash reserve as a contingency fund that will support relative premium rate stability.
The Government has also confirmed that a review of geographical and labour force data from Statistics Canada demonstrates that the current EI regional boundaries are working well overall, and confirmed that they will remain unchanged.
Finally, the EI transitional measures in the EI economic regions of Madawaska-Charlotte, New Brunswick, and Lower St. Lawrence and North Shore, Quebec, will be extended for an additional 18 months.
Details on the pilot projects and EI regional boundaries are available in the attached fact sheets.
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This news release is available in alternative formats upon request.
For further information (media only):
Pema Lhalungpa
Press Secretary
Office of Minister Solberg
819-994-2482
Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
Employment Insurance Pilot Projects
September 5, 2008
The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, has announced that the Government is continuing, with some modifications, three Employment Insurance (EI) pilot projects to better asse ss their effectiveness.
The purpose of an EI pilot project is to conduct a test for a defined period, and to allow the Government to assess the labour market impacts of new approaches that are designed to assist the unemployed.
The sc ope of these pilot projects has been modified to be more responsive to current economic conditions and the labour market situation.
The Working while on Claim EI pilot project will be expanded nationally. This pilot project incr eases the working while on claim threshold to allow individuals to earn the greater of $75 or 40 per cent of benefits, and tests whether this increased threshold will provide a greater incentive for individuals to accept all available work while receiving EI benefits. This pilot project will run until December 4, 2010.
The New Entrant/Re-entrant EI pilot project will be tested in EI economic regions where the unemployment rate is currently 8 per cent and above. This pilot projec t is enabling individuals new to the labour market or returning after an extended absence to gain access to EI benefits after 840 hours of work rather than 910 hours, and informs them of EI employment programs to test whether this will improve their emplo yability and help reduce future reliance on EI benefits. This pilot project will run until December 4, 2010.
The Best 14 Weeks pilot project will be tested in EI economic regions where the unemployment rate is currently 8 per ce nt and above. This pilot project calculates EI benefits based on the "best 14 weeks" of earnings over the 52 weeks preceding a claim to test a method to make EI benefit levels more reflective of full-time work earnings for those with sporadic work pattern s, and to encourage claimants to accept all available work. This pilot project will run until October 23, 2010.
The additional regions selected for these pilot projects have all had unemployment rates of 8% or higher for at least one month over the last 6 months.
The Best 14 Weeks and New Entrant/Re-entrant pilots will be available in the following regions while the Working while on Claim pilot project will be available nationally:
- Central Quebec
- Chicoutimi-J onquière
- Eastern Nova Scotia
- Gaspésie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine
- Huron (new)
- Lower Saint Lawrence and North Shore
- Madawaska-Charlotte
- Newfoundland-Labrador
- Niagara (new)
- North Western Quebec
- Northern Alberta
- Northern British Columbia
- Northern Manitoba
- Northern Ontario
- Northern Saskatchewan
- Northwest Territories
- Nunavut
- Oshawa (new)
- Prince Edward Island
- Restigouche-Albert
- St. John's
- Trois-Rivières
- Western Nova Scotia
- Windsor (new)
- Yukon
The following examples show how the EI pilot projects affect indiv idual EI claimants.
New Entrant /Re-entrant
Alice is a worker in Nunavut who is new to the labour market and has accumulated 875 hours of insured employment, or employment where EI premiums have been paid. Without the New Entrant/Re-entrant pilot project, Alice would not be eligible for EI benefits until she had worked 910 insured hours.
With the pilot project, Alice will qualify for 28 weeks of EI income benefits. In addition, Alice would be informed of E I employment programming that could enhance her skills and increase her chances of securing employment.
Working While on Claim
Tom, a fisherman in New Brunswick, receives $400 per week in EI benefits. To help meet hi s living expenses and increase his earnings, Tom works while on claim and earns his maximum allowable. Before the Working While on Claim pilot project, Tom was allowed to earn $100 per week. This means that his maximum combined earnings from EI benefits a nd income from employment was $500.
Under the pilot project measures, Tom is able to earn a maximum of $160 per week while on claim, meaning that his combined weekly earnings from EI benefits and employment income can be as much as $560 - an inc rease of $60.
Best 14 Weeks
Samantha, a seasonal worker in Charlevoix, worked 18 weeks prior to being laid off from her job. Because work does not tend to be full time at the beginning and end of the season, Samanth a had different levels of earnings during these periods though her normal full-time weekly earnings were $800.
Before the Best 14 Weeks pilot project, her earnings would have been averaged over the number of weeks of work and Samantha's averag e weekly earnings for calculating her EI benefits would have been $695, resulting in a weekly benefit of $382.
Under the Best 14 Weeks pilot project, Samantha is able to use her best 14 weeks of earnings of $900 per week to determine the EI bene fit rate, which will result in the maximum weekly EI benefit of $435.
Employment Insurance economic regions
September 5, 2008
The Honourable Monte So lberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, has announced that the current Employment Insurance (EI) regional boundaries will remain in place as a result of the conclusion of the boundaries review process.
Under the EI program, Ca nada is divided into economic regions that ensure that people residing in areas of similar unemployment levels face comparable EI rules, in terms of eligibility and length of benefit entitlement. EI Regulations require that EI regional boundaries be revi ewed every five years to ensure that they reflect current labour market conditions and geographic representation of communities across Canada.
The current 58 EI economic regions came into effect on July 9, 2000, and their boundaries were establ ished based on Statistics Canada's Census data and 1996 Geographical Classification (e.g., Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Divisions), and other labour market information. These regions were confirmed today and will remain in place. The next review will take place in 2013.
Transitional measures intended to allow time for adjustment to the actual EI regional boundaries have also been extended for 18 months for two EI economic regions, Madawaska-Charlotte in New Brunswick and Lower St. Lawr ence and North Shore in Quebec. These transitional measures provide for the application of a higher unemployment rate than would normally be the case under the current EI regional boundaries. The extension will complete the adjustment period and also en sure that the conclusion of the transitional measures does not occur as the work season is ending for many.
For more information on EI regional boundaries, including maps of the EI regions, visit ww w.hrsdc.gc.ca.
