Thank you.
Minister, I would like to begin by saying how much I appreciate your appearance here today and giving you some feedback from the constituents in my riding.
There has been a tremendous amount of positive feedback on the government's budget, which is delivering on our commitment to jobs, growth, and long-term prosperity. I am pleased to note that in your budget there are several measures to improve the employment insurance system to help Canadians connect with local jobs in their local economy.
As part of the budget, it was announced that a new national “working while on claim” pilot project is being put in place that will help Canadians keep more of what they earn while collecting EI. I think this is a great initiative that will ensure that EI claimants take all available work while they are receiving benefits. Any time you encourage people to get back to the labour force and work, it is a good thing.
Would you be able to update this committee on what the working while on claim pilot project is, and how it will ensure that Canadians always get better off while accepting all available work?