Question Period Note: END OF THE TEMPORARY MEASURE FOR SEASONAL WORKERS IMPACTED BY DECLINING UNEMPLOYMENT RATES

The temporary one-year measure that provided up to four more weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits to eligible seasonal claimants in 13 targeted EI regions to mitigate the increased risk or duration of an income gap between work seasons due to low unemployment rates combined with shorter than usual work seasons, ended September 7, 2024.

• The government recognizes that seasonal workers are an important part of many regional economies. This is why this government provides supports for seasonal workers who face recurring periods of unemployment.

• For example, in response to atypical labour market conditions in the summer and fall of 2023, this government introduced a temporary one-year measure 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. Eligible claims established up to that date continue to have access to the additional four weeks of benefits until the end of their claim.
• Eligible seasonal workers in targeted regions continue to have access to up to five additional weeks of EI regular benefits through a temporary legislated measure that Budget 2024 extended by two years, or until October 2026.

• The Government is committed to improving the EI program, including finding a permanent approach to support seasonal industries and their workforce.

Unemployment Rate Fluctuations and the “Trou Noir”
• The EI program is designed to respond automatically to changes in economic conditions that affect local labour markets by dividing the country into 62 economic regions, for which the monthly unemployment rates determine EI eligibility and entitlement:
o First, the number of hours of insurable employment needed to qualify for EI regular benefits depends on the monthly unemployment rate in the EI economic region in which the individual lives.
o Second, the number of weeks of entitlement varies depending on regional unemployment rates and the number of hours of insurable employment an individual worked in their qualifying period.
o Third, the number of weeks used for calculating the weekly benefit rate depends on the monthly unemployment rate in a claimant’s EI economic region.
When a region’s unemployment rate changes, the entrance requirement, the maximum duration of benefits, and the number of weeks of insurable earnings used to calculate the benefit rate may adjust in response.
• Because fluctuations in regional unemployment rates can affect the number of weeks of regular benefits that EI claimants are entitled to receive, seasonal claimants who receive fewer weeks of income support due to declining unemployment rates may be at greater risk of a “trou noir”.

o The “trou noir” represents the period when some workers in seasonal employment have exhausted their EI benefits but continue to wait to be called back to their seasonal job and are unable to find other employment. As a result, these workers have neither employment income nor EI benefits during this period.
Existing Support for Seasonal Claimants
• 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, which, after several successive extensions, is in place until October 2026. The most recent two-year extension is estimated to cost $263.5 million over four years, starting in 2024-25, and to benefit 62,000 seasonal workers annually.

• This measure provides up to five additional weeks of EI regular benefits to seasonal claimants in 13 regions in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Yukon:
o Newfoundland and 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.

• A legislative fix was introduced in 2022 that ensures claimants whose seasonal claim pattern was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but who meet the other eligibility conditions and qualified for the previous seasonal pilot project between August 5, 2018, and September 25, 2021, are able to continue to access up to five additional weeks of EI regular benefits.
One-year Temporary Measure for Seasonal Workers Providing Up to 4 Additional Weeks
• The Summer and Fall 2023 decline in unemployment rates in many of the 13 targeted regions combined with shorter work seasons in some seasonal industries, reduced the number of weeks of EI regular benefits that claimants could qualify for. For seasonal claimants who rely on EI support during the off-season, this increased the likelihood of them experiencing a period during which they receive neither EI benefits nor employment income before their return to seasonal employment or increased the duration of that period.

• The one-year temporary measure was announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement in response to atypical economic circumstances that occurred in Summer and Fall 2023. The measure provided up to an additional four weeks of EI regular benefits claimants (on top of the up to five additional weeks already provided by the existing temporary legislated seasonal measure) to claimants who met all the criteria of the existing legislated measure and established a claim between September 10, 2023, and September 7, 2024. The maximum number of weeks for regular benefits was maintained at 45 weeks.
• The one-year temporary measure ended on September 7, 2024. Additional weeks under the one-year temporary measure remain available to eligible claims that were established up to September 7, 2024, until the completion of their claim.

• An estimated 42,000 seasonal claimants in the 13 targeted EI regions are expected to access at least one of the four additional weeks of benefits available under the measure. These workers are part of the 62,000 claimants who are expected to use at least one additional week of the five weeks of benefits available under the existing legislated seasonal measure.
EI Fishing Benefits

• 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 additional weeks of benefits provided by the temporary measures for seasonal claimants 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.

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