The federal government is extending sickness benefits to 26 weeks from 15 weeks, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrow announced on Friday.
Workers who apply for EI will be eligible for the more generous benefits starting December 18. Advocates praised the move but called on the government to deliver on its promise of a much more sweeping overhaul of the system.
Qualtrow made the announcement while visiting the Canadian Cancer Society’s regional care center in Vancouver.
“Too many workers pay into EI, but when they get seriously ill, when they have to recover from injuries, the 15 weeks doesn’t cover the length of their injury,” Qualtrough said.
“We know that. And organizations like yours have been advocating for increased EI sick weeks for a very long time.”
The maximum length of unpaid medical leave available to federally regulated private sector workers is also being extended to 27 weeks from 17, effective the same date.
This change will ensure that such workers can take enough unpaid leave from their jobs to receive extended EI sickness benefits.
In September, Qualtrough met with union leaders and pledged to extend EI sick pay from 15 to 26 weeks by the end of the year, a change that was telegraphed in the 2022 budget.
On Friday, a spokesman for the National Council of the Unemployed called the announcement “a big step forward.”
“But this is nothing new and this announcement in no way replaces the long-awaited EI reform, which is expected to be introduced in early December,” Pierre Cere said in a statement.
Alexandre Bouleris, the NDP’s labor critic, said the extension doesn’t go far enough.
“The cost of everything is skyrocketing, and employment insurance must be maintained so that laid-off workers don’t lose their dignity or their health,” Bouleris said in a statement.
“We are calling for EI to be extended to 50 weeks and for this change to be the first step in a comprehensive overhaul that provides real respect and security for millions of workers.”
NDP MP Alexander Bouleris speaks to reporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. Bouleris, the NDP’s labor critic, said the party wants job security benefits extended to 50 weeks. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
In 2021, the Liberals campaigned on a promise to modernize EI and pledged to expand the program to include the self-employed and close gaps, including those highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employment and Social Development Canada held a series of public consultations on EI reform that concluded over the summer.
Qualtrow said the government would present its plan by the end of the year. She added on Friday that the government “will have a lot more to say” about the modernization.
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