Liberals eye easing access to maternity, parental leave in EI review: minister

That means a new mother who has lost her job and files a claim for regular EI benefits has to work the necessary hours anew to get their full parental leave entitlements. Qualtrough says not being able to stack unemployment and parental benefits into one EI claim creates an equity issue in the system, particularly for new mothers.

Read: More Canadian employers topping up maternity leave benefits than parental leave benefits: survey

It’s one of several issues she says is being looked at as part of a review of ways to modernize EI, a system whose shortcomings were exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Before the pandemic, the criteria to qualify for EI maternity and parental leave benefits left out about a third of new mothers.

Over the last year, many other mothers have found themselves without their full leave. Their circumstances are largely similar — they lost their job because of the pandemic and couldn’t find work to get the required hours because of coronavirus-related restrictions and closures.

Qualtrough says she’s looking for ways to make the system less clunky to eliminate inequities. “Figuring that out would be a massive step forward in terms of making EI accessible for so many more people and, actually, people being able to access their maximum entitlements. It’s something I’m super keen to figure out how to address. I’m not quite sure yet how it will be addressed or in what order we’re going to tackle these things — I’m working on that — but it’s definitely top of mind.”

Read: Women’s participation in labour force reaches lowest level in three decades: study

Revamping the EI system is one of the biggest issues the federal employment minister is being asked to tackle in 2022. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s marching orders to Qualtrough are that she come up with a plan and start overhauling the system starting this summer, which follows online consultations that wrapped up late last year.

Qualtrough is also being asked to ensure the revamped system covers gig and cultural workers, includes a 26-week benefit for self-employed Canadians, a new 15-week benefit for adoptive parents and extra help for older workers who lose a job and need more time to find a new position.

Qualtrough says she’s confident she’ll meet the timelines, but is also realistic that the system can’t change overnight. Along with time to institute new rules and benefits, the government is going to have to update the technology underpinning the EI system, parts of which run on code from the 1960s.

Read: Government extending deadline for consultations on modernizing EI program

It’s why Qualtrough is also keeping an eye on what happens to the labour market in the run up to September 2022. By then, temporary measures setting a $300-a-week floor on benefits and easier access into the system are set to expire. Questions about what to do post-September are part of federal consultations on EI to see if the temporary measures may need to be extended or become permanent while broader changes make their way through the legislative process.

In the meantime, the conversation about the future of EI has changed with a shifting labour market marked by widespread reports of labour shortages. Businesses are nervous that a modernized system may disincentivize work, adding a layer of concern to any possible changes to EI that Qualtrough says wasn’t part of talks a few months ago.

“Businesses are feeling like they can’t grow because of a lack of people and I want to talk to them about how to support people who aren’t working. It’s a really interesting tension I would say that wasn’t there six months ago.”

Qualtrough says potential reforms could include more options for skills training and development inside the EI system that could merge what she says were “these two complicated realities that Canadians and businesses are facing.”

Read: Employers offering mix of incentives, upskilling amid labour shortage: survey