Make EI work for workers! Send an email to your elected reps

At the start of COVID, the federal government relaxed Employment Insurance eligibility to improve access to emergency support for those most in need. Without these supports, it would have been much worse for workers and their families due to the COVID closures, lockdowns and layoffs. Statistics Canada has verified the dramatic, positive impact these changes had on improving workers' access to EI.

Shamefully, the federal government allowed these rules to expire without implementing the permanent changes needed to make EI work for workers. As a result, workers have faced a huge jump in the qualifying hours required for both Regular and Special Benefits (parental, sickness, etc), and the allocation/clawback of separation payments.

Women, workers of colour, and others in precarious jobs have been disproportionately harmed by the government's inaction.

With a recession looming, an inaccessible and inadequate EI program will be another disaster for workers who need access to EI now and when the next crisis hits.

Send an email now to:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Employment and Workforce Development Minister Randy Boissonnault
Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland
Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan

Tell them you're counting on them to:

Extend the temporary EI measures as a bridge to permanent improvements
Set a universal 360-hour or 12-week qualifying rule for 50 weeks of income support
Ensure migrant workers have access to EI
End harsh disqualification rules that cut off EI access to vulnerable workers
End misclassifications that leave employees wrongly called self-employed independent contractors with no EI access
Improve the weekly benefit rate and include a guaranteed weekly minimum
Provide income benefits so long as workers are in approved training
Fund a new, annual federal government contribution to pay for improvements, and staffing & ensure EI acts as an economic stabilizer at times of crisis