INTRODUCTION

Since 1940, employment insurance (EI) has been part of Canada’s social safety net. The EI program (formerly known as Unemployment Insurance) is complex and has undergone significant changes over the years. Recent changes, as well as the relatively low proportion of unemployed people who qualify to receive EI benefits, have raised questions about the program’s ability to adequately protect workers who lose their jobs.

On 24 February 2016, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee) adopted the following motion:

That the Committee conduct, as its first priority, a study of the impact of recent reforms to the Employment Insurance Program and to Employment Insurance appeals; that the study include an examination of the current low rates of access to Employment Insurance and their causes; and that the Government provide an answer to the recommendations made by the Committee.[1]

The Committee held four meetings as part of this study between March and May 2016. During this period 21 witnesses appeared before the Committee, including representatives from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Statistics Canada. In addition to these public hearings, 19 briefs were submitted to the Committee.

The various witnesses and briefs represented the views of workers, unemployed individuals, employers, and taxpayers on the Employment Insurance program. In particular, they made comments on the level of access to EI as well as on many of the program’s parameters that can affect access. While many made observations regarding the changes to the EI program that were introduced in 2012-2013, some also commented on the 1990s EI reform, as well as the more recent commitments made by the federal government in Budget 2016, tabled after this study had begun.

Several witnesses said they were generally pleased with the measures announced in Budget 2016, including eliminating the stricter eligibility criteria for new entrants and re-entrants to the labour market, reducing the waiting period for EI benefits from two weeks to one week, and cancelling the stricter job search requirements introduced in 2012-2013. In addition to these measures, many highlighted the need for other actions to improve accessibility to the EI program and its overall management. On the other hand, other witnesses cautioned the Committee about the implications that increasing access to EI could have on incentives to work and labour mobility.

Committee members would like to sincerely thank everyone who appeared before the Committee or submitted briefs; without them, this study would not have been possible.

In this report, the Committee provides an overview of what it heard and reports on its findings.