Mr. Speaker, it is the beginning of a new year and I am pleased to be here again and to respond to the member's comments on the subject of employment insurance.
Between July 2009 and March 2012 more than 920,000 net new jobs were created in Canada, resulting in the strongest employment growth among G7 countries.
We know that Canadians want to work, but they often face challenges when they are looking for a job.
What are we going to do to help unemployed Canadians find jobs? We are investing significant funds over the next two years to connect unemployed Canadians with available jobs. We are making it easier for Canadians who are out of work to identify new opportunities in their local communities. One way we are doing this is by sending out enhanced job alerts to Canadians receiving employment insurance regular benefits. These alerts are providing information about job opportunities within the claimant's local area that are within the claimant's occupation and related occupations.
The second part of our plan is to link the temporary foreign workers program with the EI program, helping to ensure Canadian workers are always considered before foreign workers.
We have also defined what is meant by suitable employment and what constitutes a reasonable job search.
We believe that the proposed definition is fair because it takes into account an individual's personal circumstances, working conditions, hours of work and travel time, which would apply as long as benefits are being paid.
We have also adjusted the working while on claim pilot to better encourage Canadians to accept all available work. We will do this by cutting the current clawback rate in half and applying it to all earnings made while on claim.
We will invest significant funds over two years to implement a new permanent national approach to better align the calculation of EI benefit amounts with local labour market conditions, making sure the program is fair for everyone.
It is important to remember that despite all of the opposition's claims, EI will continue to be there for those who need it as it always has been. EI is an important program in Canada and will continue to be. These improvements will introduce new needed common sense efforts to help better connect unemployed Canadians with available jobs.