Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Benoit Cadieux. I am the director for employment insurance special benefits at ESDC. I am joined today by Catherine Demers, who is the director general of EI policy at ESDC.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada has introduced temporary measures that increase the generosity of the EI program and make it easier to access EI benefits, including maternity and parental benefits. These measures include a minimum weekly benefit rate of $500 and a reduced eligibility requirement of 120 hours of work to qualify for benefits.
Expectant parents in Quebec are covered by the Quebec parental insurance plan, QPIP. This replaces EI maternity and parental benefits in that province.
Without corresponding changes to align QPIP with EI, some parents in Quebec could have been in a situation where they could have qualified for maternity or parental benefits under EI but not under QPIP, or they could have received a higher benefit rate under EI than they would have under QPIP.
Provisions under division 25 authorize the Minister of Employment and Social Development to make a one-time payment to Quebec for the purpose of offsetting some of the costs of aligning the Quebec parental insurance plan with the temporary measures set out in part VIII.5 of the Employment Insurance Act, ensuring that parents in Quebec receive the same level of support as parents in the rest of Canada.
The minister is also authorized to enter into an agreement with Quebec to set out the time and manner of the payment.
Thank you. With that, I am happy to take any questions.