Question Period Note: ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE (EI) REGULAR BENEFITS FOR PARENTS WHO LOST THEIR JOB BEFORE, DURING OR AFTER THEIR MATERNITY AND/OR PARENTAL LEAVE (COMBINING OR STACKING OF BENEFITS)

Why is the Government not supporting EI access for women laid off before, during or after receiving maternity and/or parental benefits from the EI program or the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, an issue that is the subject of an ongoing Charter challenge before Federal Court of Appeal by six women in Québec?

• The Government recognizes that balancing family, work, and financial considerations is a challenging task for Canadians raising young children, and that each family has its own needs.

• A number of changes were made to the EI program to give working parents more flexibility. These include allowing EI maternity benefits to be claimed up to 12 weeks before childbirth, new options for standard and extended parental benefits, and encouraging greater sharing of parental benefits by all parents.

• In June 2024, Parliament passed legislation introducing a new, 15-week EI adoption benefit for parents through adoption or surrogacy, as well as a corresponding job-protected leave under the Canada Labour Code for employees in federally regulated workplaces. Implementation is ongoing.

• Our Government is committed to enhancing the Employment Insurance system to better reflect the modern workforce with flexible, reliable support.

EI Maternity and Parental Benefits

EI maternity benefits are provided for up to 15 weeks to eligible persons who are pregnant or who have recently given birth in order to support their recovery.

Parental benefits provide temporary income support to parents who take a leave from work to care for their newborn or newly adopted child or children. Eligible parents, including adoptive parents, can choose between standard or extended parental benefits. Parental benefits can be shared among EI eligible parents.

Access and combining of benefits

A basic design feature to qualify for EI benefits is to demonstrate labour market attachment. To qualify for EI, workers are required to have accumulated a certain number of hours of insurable employment in the 52-week period preceding their claim (or since their last claim, whichever is shorter). To access regular benefits, between 420 and 700 hours of insurable employment are required, depending on the unemployment rate of the region in which the individual resides, whereas 600 hours of insurable employment are required to access special benefits, regardless of where the individual lives in Canada.

Also, self-employed persons can voluntarily opt-in the EI program and pay premiums to access 6 types of special benefits, including parental and maternity benefits. To be eligible they need to have made a minimum amount in net earnings during the calendar year preceding the year in which their claim for benefits begins. For claims in 2025, they must have made $8,826 in net self-employment earnings in 2024. Note that regular benefits aren’t available through this program. Self-employed fishers may also access special benefits if they have accumulated $3,760 in earnings from self-employment as a fisher in their qualifying period.

EI rules provide that a claimant may combine different types of EI benefits during their claim if they meet the qualifying and entitlement conditions for each type of benefit. When regular and special benefits (such as maternity and parental benefits) are combined, the EI Act specifies that a maximum of 50 weeks may be paid (an adjustment is made when extended parental benefits are claimed to account for the lower income replacement rate of 33%). These benefits must be claimed within 52 weeks following the start of the claim. After an EI claim ends, workers must re-establish their eligibility to qualify for additional benefits.

If someone works while receiving benefits, these hours may help them establish a new benefit period.

Quebec Parental Insurance Plan

Since January 1, 2006, the Province of Quebec has been providing benefits to workers who are temporarily away from work due to pregnancy or the birth or adoption of a child(ren) through the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP). New parents residing in Quebec seeking to access QPIP benefits are subject to the rules that apply to that program and, when they are combining QPIP and EI benefits, are subject to the EI rules. The Government of Canada works with the Government of Quebec to ensure continuing coordination between the two programs.

Social Security Tribunal and the Charter challenge

The Social Security Tribunal (SST) is an independent administrative tribunal that makes decisions on social security appeals, including appeals related to EI regular benefits, sickness benefits, maternity and parental benefits, caregiving benefits, benefits for the self-employed, and fishing benefits.

On January 10, 2022, the SST-General Division rendered a decision regarding a Charter challenge to the provisions of the EI Act. Six women were denied EI regular benefits after their maternity and parental benefits ended because they had not accumulated enough hours of insurable employment during their qualifying period upon their return to work or could not extend their benefit period. The six women lost their jobs before, while on, or shortly after their maternity and parental benefits. The General Division ruled in favour of the appellants and declared that provisions of the Act discriminate against women on the basis of their sex and pregnancy and violate their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

On March 11, 2022, the SST Appeal Division granted the Canada Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC) leave to appeal.

On January 9, 2024, the Appeals Division of the SST ruled in favour of the CEIC and found that the disputed provisions of the EI Act were constitutional. Those who challenged them are therefore not eligible for regular EI benefits.

On February 8, 2024, legal representatives for the applicants filed a leave to appeal with the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) which was accepted. As a result, both parties filed all appropriate documents to the FCA in July 2024. Parties are presently awaiting a court date.

The case has garnered media attention, particularly in Quebec, given the involvement of Mouvement Action Chomage (MAC) in the case. This organization is a group that defends the rights of the unemployed which also informs and defends people while working to safeguard and improve the unemployment insurance system. On September 10, 2024, the MAC held a rally in Montreal to pressure the government to amend the Employment Insurance Act so that all working women are entitled to protection in the event of unemployment, regardless of any absence from the labour market related to pregnancy, maternity or family responsibilities

If Pressed on the Charter challenges from women in Quebec

• The Government does not comment on ongoing cases before the courts or discuss an individual’s personal circumstances.

• The Department is monitoring ongoing litigation related to the combining of benefits.