Mr. Andrew Brown at the Status of Women Committee

On February 2nd, 2017. See this statement in context.

February 2nd, 2017 / 10:35 a.m.

Executive Director, Employment Insurance Policy, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development

Andrew Brown

Thanks for the question.

You are absolutely correct that there are 15 weeks available through the EI program for a worker who falls sick, whereas for a caregiver providing care for someone at the end of their life, and only in those end-of-life situations, there is up to 26 weeks of caregiving income support available to the caregiver through the EI program.

This was one of the things that came out of the consultations held at the end of last year on changes to EI parental and caregiving benefits. A key commitment of the government is to provide a more inclusive compassionate care benefit so it would cover more situations than simply the end of life.

Consultations followed budget 2016, and there was a commitment to follow through over the course of the mandate. We're now continuing to analyze the input we receive from various stakeholders and Canadians, to support the government moving forward on that commitment.

See context to find out what was said next.