Reforming Canada's employment insurance (EI) program : Remaniement du régime d'assurance-emploi (AE) du Canada

July 2009 Reforming Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) Program Introduction Canada’s economy contracted at an annualized rate of 3.7 percent in the final quarter of 2008, marking the start of the recession, the first in 17 years. [...] A measure to improve the equity of the EI system that would be consistent with longer-term smart policy aimed at improving labour mobility and flexibility would be to immediately and permanently make the duration of, and access to, benefits the same where the unemployment rate is 10 percent or less. [...] The federal government must take into account the cost of this measure and whether the money can be better utilized to improve the equity of the system. [...] To summarize, the two-week waiting period serves to enhance the efficiency of the EI Program and should be retained over the long-term. [...] During the September 2008 federal election campaign, the Conservative Party promised to give self-employed Canadians the chance to voluntarily opt-in to the EI system for at least six months prior to making a claim, to provide access to maternity and parental benefits.