Evidence of meeting #139 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was jobs.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Julie Brassard  Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix
Catherine Adam  Senior Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Results and Delivery Officer, Strategic and Service Policy Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development

Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB

Thank you, Chair.

Good morning to my colleagues and thank you to our witness.

I want to talk to you about the additional weeks of employment insurance for seasonal workers in targeted regions. The 13 regions are Newfoundland and Labrador, eastern Nova Scotia, western Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Madawaska-Charlotte, Restigouche-Albert, Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, lower Saint Lawrence and north shore, central Quebec, Chicoutimi-Jonquière, northwestern Quebec, and Yukon. Obviously, if you're a seasonal worker, you can claim five weeks and up to nine weeks, depending on the conditions.

Do you think a lower number of hours to qualify for EI should be implemented? What would that number be?

The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey

There seems to be a problem with the interpretation. Can you repeat your question, please?

Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB

Did I read that too quickly?

I want to talk to you about the additional weeks of employment insurance—the five weeks and four weeks—that are available for seasonal workers who work in the 13 EI economic regions. They go from Newfoundland and Labrador right down to Yukon. Obviously, you can get five or nine additional weeks of regular benefits.

Do you think there should be a lower number of hours to qualify for EI, and if so, what would that number be?

11:50 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

Is the question for me?

The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey

Yes.

11:50 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

Okay, I'm sorry.

The four additional weeks of benefits no longer exist. That measure ended in September. So the people who are eligible this year will not benefit from those four additional weeks, but only from the five additional weeks provided at the base.

As for the number of hours of work required, it should be reduced to 420 hours to meet the needs. That would enable everyone to qualify for employment insurance and receive a sufficient number of weeks of benefits.

Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB

Do you think the divisor is a problem, if the divisor is 18 compared to 14?

11:50 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

Yes, the divisor is a problem. For the past two years, it has been set at 22 weeks for our region. The divisor is the number of best weeks by which the total insurable earnings are divided to determine the benefit rate. When people work only 15 weeks, but you still divide their total compensation for those 15 weeks by 22, you don't get a fair average.

Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB

I have a scenario for you, and I'm just going to read it slowly.

Let's say that somebody's working in the the tourism sector from May to October. After the season is over, she wants to continue to work and goes to work at, say, a grocery store. Then when the next May comes, if she leaves the grocery store job to return to the tourism sector because they need her back, she gets penalized with a voluntary departure. She then loses all the hours she made at the grocery store; thus, it's harder to qualify.

Do you feel that this rule should be changed so that they're not—

December 3rd, 2024 / 11:50 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

Of course, that rule is very strict.

Many people work two or three jobs precisely because they want to accumulate more hours of work, but one of those jobs may end up causing them a problem. People often try to take a new job to get more hours of work. However, when they leave the new job to return to their previous job, Service Canada considers it a voluntary departure. Unless Service Canada accepts otherwise, those people automatically lose all hours of work that could qualify them for employment insurance. If someone has three jobs and leaves one, they lose the accumulated hours for the other two jobs. The person loses all the hours of work from all the jobs they have held. That's a very strict rule.

The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey

Thank you, Ms. Brassard.

Thank you, Mr. Long.

Madame Chabot, you have two and a half minutes.

Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good questions are being asked. I want to say that I take some exception to the fact that, even though the employment insurance program is supposed to protect workers in the event of job loss, they are struggling to accumulate enough hours to be eligible.

We're talking about seasonal workers here. Ms. Brassard, you are very familiar with their situation. As you said, it's not the workers who are seasonal; it's the industry and the jobs it provides that are seasonal. We rely on this industry to provide quality jobs to the people who live in the area.

We have to report this study back to the House, Ms. Brassard. In order for the situation to change and for the importance of the seasonal industry and its workers to be recognized once and for all, I'd like you to tell us what changes can and must be made to employment insurance, in the short term, so that situations like the ones workers are currently experiencing don't happen again.

11:55 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

Obviously, every hour of work for which a worker earns an income is important to enable them to qualify for employment insurance. It's the number of hours of work that enables a person to qualify. Lowering the required number of hours to 420 would make it easier for workers to qualify and receive benefits during the winter period while they wait to return to work. So 420 hours is the minimum.

Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC

In terms of the number of weeks of benefits, what should the minimum be?

11:55 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

It should be at least 15 weeks.

Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC

Okay.

I still have a little time left. Do you want to take this opportunity to add something, Ms. Brassard?

11:55 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

We've been working on this issue for a number of years and we've been asking the government to make changes to the employment insurance system. We were under the impression that the government would move forward this year so that this system could once again become adequate and enable workers to live comfortably. However, that is not the case, and it's unfortunate.

I think of the seasonal workers who have started receiving EI benefits again. I wonder what will happen to them again this winter. I find their situation to be very difficult. When they call us to try to get news, we tell them all the time that we are working hard for them.

The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey

Thank you.

Madam Zarrillo, you can run the clock out until 12.

Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC

I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Witness Brassard, I really appreciate that you're looking at the systems and that you're sharing today how the systems are broken. This is not personal. It is a fact that the systems are broken and that there are external factors that require the modernization of many things the government does, but definitely EI.

I want to go back to climate change, because you did raise it. I think climate change is an important factor for seasonal workers. We heard from many witnesses that the way businesses used to be run and the way employment used to be done have been affected by climate change.

Could you share what the government needs to do in relation to EI to consider climate change and seasonal workers?

11:55 a.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

Climate change is unpredictable. One year, everything may be fine; the next year, they may have major consequences. We saw this with the flooding in Baie-Saint-Paul, where a number of homes were flooded. That's a good example. Many of the people affected no longer had a home and could, therefore, no longer go to work. However, they were not entitled to employment insurance because their employer had not been affected. How can you go to work when your house is flooded and uninhabitable and you have to reorganize and find a new place to live?

Workers' situation is made worse when they are prevented from accessing employment insurance because their employer was not affected by the floods. These are situations we experienced this year. People called us because their homes were flooded and they were in no condition to go to work. They were left with no resources, as EI did not help them.

Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC

I'll just close out with a question. You have a campaign called “Employment insurance must protect us”. I thank you for that work. I know there are letters going to the Prime Minister. I wonder if you could tell this committee about your campaign and share why you decided to bring the campaign forward and why it's so important to unemployed workers.

Noon

Chief Executive Officer, Mouvement Action-Chômage de Charlevoix

Julie Brassard

The campaign called for seasonal workers to be eligible for employment insurance and to receive enough weeks of benefits to be able to wait until they return to work. The campaign is being conducted with a number of unions and businesses that have signed letters. We hope that the government will listen to us this time. The campaign is almost over. We're hoping that will make a difference. It is important to put an end to this problem for seasonal workers. We've been asking the government to make changes to the program and fix this problem for too long.

Noon

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey

Thank you, Madam Zarrillo.

Ms. Brassard, thank you very much for your testimony.

The committee will suspend while we transition to the second hour.

Noon

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey

Committee members, we are ready to begin the second hour of today's meeting.

I would like to now welcome the Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. The minister is joined by the following officials from the Department of Employment and Social Development: Mr. Wojo Zielonka, chief financial officer; Ms. Karen Hall, associate assistant deputy minister, income security and social development branch; and Ms. Catherine Adam, senior assistant deputy minister of the department.

Welcome, Madam Minister. You can begin with a five-minute opening statement. The floor is yours.

12:05 p.m.

Kanata—Carleton Ontario

Liberal

Jenna Sudds LiberalMinister of Families

Thank you very much, Chair.

It's really great to be here, and obviously accompanied by the incredible team here with me.

Since 2015, the Government of Canada has been focused on making life affordable.

The national school food program, the Canada-wide early learning and child care plan and the Canada child benefit are three incredible examples of programs designed to support Canadians.

Many Canadians identify food costs as a significant challenge.

Food insecurity in Canada is high, especially among indigenous, Black and other racialized children, as well as those living in immigrant, lone-parent and low-income households.

The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that children and youth receive the best possible start in life. School food programs can boost our children's health and can help them reach their full potential. So far, four provinces have signed on to the national school food program, and more are expected soon. It helps families with two children in school save up to $800 in groceries annually.

In regard to child care, eight provinces and territories are delivering for $10-a-day or less regulated child care. All other jurisdictions have reduced parent fees by at least 50%. For some families, this means savings of up to $14,000 per child, per year.

Provinces and territories have announced measures to create over 125,000 new child care spaces, representing half of the 250,000 regulated spaces that we aim to have created by March 2026. This milestone means that we are well on our way to reaching that goal, ensuring that families across the country have access to affordable, high-quality child care.

The child care expansion loan program from budget 2024 will enable more spaces to be built in the not-for-profit and public sectors. Additionally, the early learning and child care infrastructure agreements will support provinces and territories to build more inclusive child care spaces across the country.

Budget 2024 also proposed $10 million to train more early childhood educators and student loan forgiveness for those working in rural and remote communities.

We're also helping families afford essentials with the Canada child benefit, which recently marked its eighth anniversary. This tax-free benefit is given to 3.5 million low- to middle-income families. It gives them more money to help pay for food, clothing and whatever their family requires. Most families receiving the maximum Canada child benefit amounts are single-parent families, with approximately 80% being single moms. This is making a real difference. There are approximately 380,000 fewer children living in poverty than in 2015, a 39% decrease.

In closing, we've made some great progress, some important progress, but we remain committed to future investments that support families, which are truly the foundation of Canada's future.

I look forward to your questions here today. Thank you very much.