Question Period Note: EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND WORKERS IN SEASONAL EMPLOYMENT

How is the Government of Canada supporting workers in seasonal employment?

• Seasonal workers are an important part of Canada’s economy and many of them rely on Employment Insurance (EI) for the support they need between work seasons.
• Since 2018, our Government has supported workers in seasonal industries through temporary rules to provide up to five additional weeks of EI regular benefits to eligible seasonal workers in targeted regions.
• Budget 2024 extended this important support for seasonal workers from October 2024 to October 2026.
• In addition, a one-year measure was introduced last year in response to atypical labour market conditions, providing up to four additional weeks of EI regular benefits to eligible seasonal claimants in targeted regions. The measure ended as planned on September 7, 2024.
• The Government is committed to improving the EI program, including finding a permanent approach to support seasonal industries and their workforce.

• The issue of seasonal workers experiencing an income gap or “trou noir” is not a new phenomenon.

• The trou noir represents the period when some workers in seasonal employment have exhausted their Employment Insurance (EI) benefits but continue to await recall to their seasonal job and are unable to find other employment. In other words, these claimants do not receive either employment income or EI benefits during this period.

• As the duration of EI benefits may vary from year to year in each region, this can cause disruption for workers whose main jobs are seasonal.

• In 2018, a pilot project was introduced to provide up to five additional weeks of EI regular benefits (up to a maximum of 45 weeks of entitlement) to eligible seasonal claimants in 13 targeted EI regions.

• Through Budget 2021, the Government made legislative changes to the Employment Insurance Act to replicate the rules of the seasonal pilot project as a temporary measure until October 2022. Budget 2022 and 2023 further extended the temporary measure until October 2023 and again until October 2024. Most recently, Budget 2024 extended these temporary rules for two additional years, until October 2026; the cost of this support is estimated at $263.5 million over four years, starting in 2024-25, which is estimated to benefit 62,000 seasonal workers annually.

• This measure provides up to five additional weeks of EI regular benefits to seasonal claimants in the 13 regions of Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Yukon originally targeted in the pilot project:

o Newfoundland / Labrador (excludes St. John’s)

o Eastern Nova Scotia

o Western Nova Scotia

o Prince Edward Island (excludes Charlottetown)

o Charlottetown

o Madawaska–Charlotte

o Restigouche–Albert

o Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine

o Lower Saint Lawrence and North Shore

o Central Québec

o Chicoutimi–Jonquière

o North Western Québec

o Yukon (excludes Whitehorse)

• In order to be eligible for the additional weeks of EI regular benefits, claimants must:

(1) Meet all of the eligibility conditions for EI regular benefits;

(2) Demonstrate a seasonal claiming pattern;

(3) Reside in one of the 13 targeted EI economic regions; and

(4) Establish a benefit period between September 26, 2021 and October 24, 2026.

• The legislative fix introduced in 2022 will continue to apply for the duration of the extension to October 2026. The legislative fix ensures claimants whose seasonal claim pattern was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but who meet the other eligibility conditions, can continue to access up to five additional weeks of EI regular benefits.

• In response to specific and atypical economic circumstances that occurred in Summer and Fall 2023, including sudden declines in unemployment rates and multiple disruptions to the work season in many EI regions, a temporary one-year measure was put in place (Pilot Project No. 22) to help seasonal workers who may not have qualified for enough weeks of benefits to cover the period of unemployment until their next work season. The temporary measure provided up to four additional weeks of EI regular benefits to eligible seasonal claimants in the same 13 targeted EI regions who established an EI claim between September 10, 2023 and September 7, 2024, on top of the five additional weeks of EI regular benefits provided under the legislated measure. Eligible claims established when the measure was available will continue to have access to the up to four additional weeks of benefits until the end of their claim.

• Eligibility for EI fishing benefits is based on insurable earnings from fishing, not insurable hours. To receive these benefits, self-employed fishers must be unable to qualify for EI regular benefits; they must also have between $2,500 and $4,200 in earnings from fishing in the qualifying period. The required amount of earnings is determined by the unemployment rate in the EI region where the claimant resides. The five additional weeks under the temporary measure are not available to self-employed fishers claiming fishing benefits. The maximum number of weeks per season (summer or winter) of EI fishing benefits payable to self-employed fishers who qualify to receive them is 26. The number of weeks is not affected by the unemployment rate.

“This year’s budget contained no transformative EI changes. In fact, it only contained one major reference to EI in relation to an extension to the flawed seasonal worker pilot program. The budget provides an additional five weeks of benefits to seasonal workers, which fell short of Unifor’s recommendation to further expand and make the program permanent.” Jenny Yuen, National Communications Representative, UNIFOR.