Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Mégantic—L'Érable for his advocacy on this issue. We both have workers in our ridings that have been affected and that is why I appreciate his efforts. I appreciate the opportunity to work with him to see that this matter is resolved as quickly as possible. We both have one goal and one goal only, and that is to see that the workers in Mégantic—L'Érable and Windsor—Tecumseh receive the pay they are rightfully owed.
Before I begin to respond, I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on unceded Algonquin territory.
I would also like to make it clear that the Government of Canada is committed to supporting Canadian workers during this crisis.
As I stated on October 7, the workers in Princeville, Thetford Mines and Plessisville deserve our support. They expected our support when they applied for the work-sharing program last spring, and they will get our support.
The work-sharing program is very popular. It makes it possible for the Government of Canada to support employers and employees when there is a reduction in business activity like the one we are currently experiencing because of the pandemic.
The program not only allows employers to retain valued and skilled workers, but also allows employees to maintain their work skills. Employees who are eligible for EI are also eligible for work sharing.
When COVID-19 hit, we knew that the work-sharing program could be used to help people get through the pandemic. We worked quickly to make it available to more employers and workers by creating temporary special measures, and we started by doubling the maximum duration of an agreement to a year and a half. We also cut the time needed to set up work-sharing agreements, from six weeks to two weeks. We simplified the mandatory paperwork for employers, which included taking away the need for employers to submit financial documents along with their applications. Finally, to be more responsive to the COVID crisis, we extended the work-sharing program to workers considered essential to the boosting businesses, like those engaged in product development and marketing.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the work-sharing program has been very popular. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns in Canada, demand for agreements has risen nearly 4,000% compared with the last period of last year. As of October 20, 2020, Canada had over 3,500 work-sharing agreements in play involving over 115,000 workers. While the vast majority of these workers are receiving their work-sharing benefits without a hitch, some are unfortunately experiencing problems, as we heard from the member for Mégantic—L'Érable.
I want to state this for the record. As I stated on October 7, we are working very hard to fix that. Department officials are working day and night to get this job done. The workers from Princeville, Thetford Mines and Plessisville will get their due. They will not lose benefits as a result of this delay.