New measures build on Helping Families in Need Act
October 10, 2014 – Gatineau, Quebec– Employment and Social Development Canada
The Honourable Candice Bergen, Minister of State (Social Development), on behalf of the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, today announced enhanced access to Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits for parents of critically ill children (PCIC) and claimants receiving Compassionate Care benefits (CCB) if they themselves fall ill or are injured while caring for a family member. The amendments, proposed in Economic Action Plan 2014, take effect on October 12, 2014.
Claimants in receipt of PCIC benefits and CCB will now be able to shift to EI sickness benefits and resume collecting the balance of PCIC benefits and CCB thereafter, if needed. This change builds on the flexibility offered to EI parental benefit claimants through the Helping Families in Need Act.
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Economic Action Plan 2014 (EAP 2014) proposed enhancing access to sickness benefits for claimants who receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits for Parents of Critically Ill Children (PCIC) or Compassionate Care Benefits (CCB).
These changes will be implemented on October 12, 2014, and will allow claimants who are temporarily away from work to take care of a critically ill or injured child or a gravely ill family member with a significant risk of death to convert their claims in order to access sickness benefits, should they themselves fall sick or become injured.
Until now, EI claimants have not been able to access sickness benefits during a claim for PCIC or CCB because of the requirement to be “otherwise available for work” or, for self-employed persons, to be “otherwise working” and have ceased work because of their illness.
The amendments will waive these requirements for claimants receiving PCIC or CCB, facilitating access to sickness benefits. This change will ensure that the EI program continues to be fair and flexible to better respond to the needs of Canadians.
PCIC benefits provide up to 35 weeks of support for parents or legal guardians of minor children with a life-threatening illness or injury. CCB provide up to six weeks of benefits for the care of a gravely ill family member with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks. These changes mean that combined with up to 15 weeks of sickness benefits, recipients of PCIC could receive up to 50 weeks of total special benefits and recipients of CCB could receive up to 21 weeks of total special benefits.
Under EAP 2014, the Government also introduced amendments to Part III of the Canada Labour Code to expand existing leave provisions, particularly those regarding compassionate care leave, leave related to critical illness of a child, and leave related to death or disappearance of a child, and fully align these leaves with associated EI special benefits. The amendments will allow employees working for federally regulated employers to interrupt these leaves to take sick leave or work-related illness and injury leave while maintaining their job protection.
