Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the costs are as follows: salary, $1,607,417; non-salary, $207,352.
With regard to (b), the estimated expenditures for the EI processing unit in St. John’s are as follows: salary, $3,046,616; non-salary, $636,604.
With regard to (c), itemized costs related to the consolidation of EI processing sites are not yet available. Service Canada is working with regions to determine relocation, accommodation and other associated costs. The overall transition, including the allocation of resources, will be business-driven, aligned with Service Canada’s automation agenda.
With regard to (d), please refer to the response provided above for (c).
With regard to (e), as of September 20, 2011, Gander had 32 employees; Grand Falls-Windsor is not a designated EI processing site; St. John’s had 58 employees; Corner Brook had 12 employees; and Happy Valley-Goose Bay had 9 employees.
With regard to (f), Service Canada has made considerable progress in modernizing how EI is processed, resulting in significant savings.
Processing costs have been reduced as a result of our automation agenda by almost 30% since 2003. Current EI modernization plans will yield over 15% in further cost savings over the next three years.
Specific itemized cost savings realized by consolidating all NL EI processing sites to St. John’s are not yet available. These savings will be confirmed as site-specific decisions related to workforce, accommodation and timing have been determined.
With regard to (g), each of the 22 sites was chosen following a careful review in which both national and regional perspectives were taken into consideration. This is a national program, and many factors were considered, such as, among others, existing labour force, skill availability, bilingual capability, and real estate.
With regard to (h), no dates have been set to formally close the existing EI processing centres. The transition from 120 to 22 sites will happen gradually over the next three years.
The overall transition will be business-driven, aligned with Service Canada’s automation agenda.
A workforce management strategy is in effect to assist with planned personnel changes, which will include anticipated attrition, retirement, reassignments and training.
Opportunities for transitioning into other business lines will also be available for some EI employees currently working in sites with other lines of business.
This will mean that positions in the consolidated centres will be filled as vacancies are created in the sites that will not be EI processing centres.