FEWO Committee Report
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The Honourable Hedy Fry Dear Ms. Fry: Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, I am pleased to respond on behalf of the Government of Canada to the recommendations made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women in its Report, Towards Improving Access to EI Benefits for Women in Canada, tabled in the House of Commons on June 9, 2009. I would like to thank the members of the Committee for their valuable work in studying the effects and consequences of the Employment Insurance (EI) program on women, as well as for the recommendations that target women’s specific labour market engagement, caregiving and family responsibilities. The Government of Canada recognizes the vital role that women play in contributing to the Canadian economy, and as such appreciates and acknowledges the important work being done by the Committee. As noted by the Committee, over the past three decades Canadian women have made remarkable progress, both in education and in the labour market. Women have increased their participation in post-secondary education, and in 2006 represented 60 per cent of all university graduates. Canadian women’s labour force participation and employment rates are now converging towards those of men, and rising educational attainment among women is a key contributor. In 2008, the labour force participation rate for Canadian women aged 15-64 was over 74 per cent, the highest among G7 countries. And the unemployment rate for women aged 15-64 stood at 7.7 per cent in August 2009 – much lower than that of men, at 9.9 per cent. Through the EI program, as well as other important programs, the Government of Canada is committed to continue assisting Canadian women. As the Committee is aware, the EI program is a federal program designed to provide temporary income support and assistance to Canadian workers – including women – through periods of unemployment due to a layoff, a quit with just cause or absences due to childbirth, caring for a newborn or newly adopted child, illness, or caring for a gravely ill family member. And the EI program does indeed help women. For instance, women represent the majority of individuals filing claims for special benefits, including parental claims, and represent the majority of those who benefit from top-ups associated with the Family Supplement. Women's access to EI regular benefits is quite high, as 78 per cent of unemployed women who had been paying premiums and then were laid off or quit with cause are eligible for regular benefits. Women's access to EI special benefits is also high, as 91 per cent of women have sufficient hours of work to qualify for special benefits. Overall, women are net beneficiaries of the EI program. When combining regular and special benefits, women receive more in benefits than they contribute in premiums. In addition, women's participation in Employment Benefits and Support Measures offered under Part II of the EI Act (48 per cent) matches their labour force representation (47 per cent). Clearly, women are benefiting significantly through the EI program. Our Government knows the global economic recession is affecting workers across Canada. We are taking concrete action to help Canadians through the EI program. We made timely improvements to help Canadians by providing five extra weeks of EI benefits, freezing EI premiums for 2010 at the same rate as 2009 to provide economic stimulus, making the EI application process easier, faster and better for businesses and workers, and increasing opportunities for unemployed Canadians to upgrade their skills and get back to work. Canadians are benefiting from these improvements to the EI program. More than 240,000 Canadians have received additional weeks of benefits thanks to the extra five weeks of benefits included in Canada’s Economic Action Plan. We are assisting businesses, and their workers, experiencing temporary slowdowns through improved and more accessible work-sharing agreements. More than 160,000 Canadians are benefiting from work-sharing agreements that are in place with almost 5,000 employers across Canada. We believe it is important to ensure Canada’s workforce is in position to get good jobs and bounce back from the recession. Career Transition Assistance (CTA) is a new initiative that will help long-term workers who need additional support for retraining to find a new job. Through this initiative, we have extended the duration of EI regular income benefits for eligible workers for up to two years who choose to participate in longer-term training, and we are allowing earlier access to EI for eligible workers investing in their training by using all or part of their severance package. This initiative is being implemented in partnership with provinces and territories. The federal government provides income support through the EI program, and the provinces and territories are responsible for providing training support. By working with the provinces and the territories through this and other programs, we’re providing Canadians easier access to training that is tailored to the needs of workers in our country’s different regions. Our Government is focused on what matters to Canadians:
In addition to these measures introduced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Government continues to respond to the needs of Canadian workers. For instance, our Government very recently tabled legislation which will temporarily provide additional EI regular benefits, of up to 20 weeks, to unemployed workers who have paid EI premiums for years and made limited use of the program. Eligibility for this measure takes into account the circumstances of women. This new measure ensures that women who have been temporarily absent from the labour market are able to access the additional weeks of benefits, as individuals are only required to have paid premiums for seven of the last ten years. While eligibility is limited to those making limited use of EI, special benefits are not included in this requirement. The Government also understands that in order to provide real results to Canadians there must be a solid evidence base to support policies and programs. The Committee made a number of recommendations regarding the improvement and expansion of data collection, monitoring and reporting on labour market trends and EI statistics. This Government is committed to the collection and dissemination of sound data and research in order to inform evidence-based policy development and decision-making. In this regard, the EI Monitoring and Assessment Report is produced annually and provides useful information on the impacts of the EI program on the economy as well as for employers and workers. There are also various research publications available through the Labour Market section of Statistics Canada’s website. While a great deal is already being done, the Government recognizes that more work could be undertaken, and as such, will explore ways of improving the acquisition, reporting and dissemination of data. In particular, through the Forum of Labour Market Ministers’ (FLMM) Labour Market Information Working Group, the Government of Canada is engaged in ongoing collaboration with provinces and territories to explore ways of improving the development and delivery of data and statistics on the labour market. The FLMM is also examining recommendations of the Labour Market Information Advisory Panel (2009). The Committee has suggested several policy recommendations that the Government is not supporting at this time. However, ongoing EI pilot projects and temporary measures associated with Canada’s Economic Action Plan allow the Government to assess the labour market impacts of new approaches before permanent changes to the program are considered. The Government will continue to assess other aspects of the EI program, which includes considering the challenges faced by caregivers who require time away from their jobs to take care of gravely ill family members. Recognizing the importance of this, the Government made changes to the Compassionate Care Benefit (CCB) in 2006, that expanded the definition of “family member” to allow any individuals considered by the gravely ill person (or his or her representative) to be family members, and therefore eligible for the CCB. As the CCB is a targeted program, the Government has taken steps to ensure that the appropriate individuals are aware of the benefit. Since its inception, there have been various communication efforts, including an advertising campaign when the benefit was first introduced. Further communication efforts since the benefit was expanded in 2006 include new brochures, which have been made available and strategically marketed at locations pertinent to individuals who would benefit from the CCB, such as over 3000 health care institutions and organizations, including hospices and palliative care facilities. The Government will continue to look into ways to increase awareness of the benefits, to ensure we reach out to the right individuals so they may have access to benefits during their time of need. In closing, I would like to thank the Committee once again for its work on the issue of women in the labour market and their access to the EI program. The Government appreciates this work, which has served to inform policy discussions on how the Government can best address the needs of women in the labour market – both through the EI program, and more broadly. I look forward to working with members of your Committee on other issues as they relate to the well-being of women. Yours sincerely, Diane Finley, P.C., M.P. Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development |