HUMA Committee Report

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board Act be amended to explicitly state that the Board is not permitted to undertake analysis for or make recommendations to the federal government regarding Employment Insurance program policy, including benefits, and program delivery.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that the federal government amend the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board Act to ensure that the board of directors of the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board include two directors representing employees and two directors representing employers.

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends that the federal government amend the Employment Insurance Act to provide the Board with more flexibility in terms of the information that it may use to determine the premium rate. At the very least, the Board should have the same degree of flexibility regarding the information to be used as that afforded to the Chief Actuary under the current rate-setting process.

Recommendation 4

The Committee recommends that, if necessary, the federal government amend the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board Act to ensure that the operating costs of the proposed Crown corporation and its governance structure are commensurate with its focused mandate.

Recommendation 5

The Committee recommends that the federal government enhance premium rate stability under its rate-setting proposal by increasing the size of the proposed reserve and amending the Employment Insurance Act to establish a forward-looking, rate-setting reference period of five years.

Recommendation 6

The Committee recommends that the federal government amend the Employment Insurance Act by substituting the word “shall” for the word “may” in subsection 80(1) of the Act.