Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne.
I am pleased to rise today to participate in debate on the motion, but before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we are gathered on traditional unceded Algonquin territory.
When the pandemic first shattered our economy last spring, our government was there to support workers and their families. We created the Canada emergency response benefit during a time in the pandemic when we were telling people to stay home in order to flatten the curve and to keep Canadians safe. We swiftly followed the CERB with the Canada emergency student benefit as we saw students struggling when their summer jobs and training opportunities dried up. We created thousands of jobs and training opportunities for youth, and ensured that the not-for-profit sector received support so that these organizations could continue to help their communities. To provide certainty and continuity, we recently extended the CERB by an additional four weeks, from 24 to 28 weeks. In addition to this extension, we made changes to the EI program so that more people could access benefits.
We are here today discussing measures that would create new benefits: the Canada recovery benefit, the Canada recovery sickness benefit and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit. Before diving into these new benefits, I would like to say a few words about the employment insurance program and the recent measures that were put in place to help Canadians.
On August 20, our government announced temporary changes to the EI program that would help millions of Canadians meet the eligibility requirements in three ways. First, people can qualify for EI with as few as 120 hours of work. To do this, we are providing all EI claimants with a one-time credit of insurable hours, that is, 300 hours for regular benefit claimants and 480 hours for special benefit claimants. Second, we are helping to meet EI eligibility requirements by setting a national unemployment rate of 13.1% across all regions of the country. This is providing a uniform requirement for 420 hours for people to qualify for EI. I also want to assure Canadians in EI regions with a rate higher than 13.1% that they would keep the higher rate. The third measure we are undertaking with the EI system is to freeze the EI premium for two years, which would help both employees and employers.
Our changes are allowing more Canadians to access employment insurance and its associated tools and resources. That being said, we understand that many workers still may not be eligible for EI, even with these changes. That is why our government is proposing to introduce a suite of three new benefits via the legislation before us now. The Canada recovery benefit would help those who are looking for work, but do not qualify for EI. It would provide eligible Canadians with $500 per week for up to 26 weeks, and the eligibility period would run from September 27, 2020 to September 25, 2021. This benefit would be for the workers who have had to stop working due to COVID-19 or have had their income reduced by at least 50% relative to their pre-COVID-19 income. Additionally, as with EI, they must be actively looking for work. Just like the EI system, this new benefit would also allow people to earn an income from employment and/or self-employment while still receiving the benefit.
The new Canada recovery sickness benefit would prevent workers from having to choose between their health and paying their bills. It would provide $500 per week for up to two weeks if workers were ill or had to self-isolate for reasons related to COVID-19.
Finally, the Canada recovery caregiving benefit would provide $500 per week per household for up to 26 weeks for a worker who needs to take unpaid leave to care for a loved one due to a school, day care or day program closure.
The benefit would also be available to workers if someone needed supervised care and needed to stay home because they were deemed high risk by a health professional or if their regular caregiver was not available because of COVID-19.
The benefit would also support workers who could not make at least 50% of their income because their child or family member was sick, in quarantine or at high risk of serious health implications due to COVID-19.
In order to ensure that federally regulated employees have access to job protected leave, our government is moving forward with amendments to the Canada Labour Code so employees can access the Canada recovery sickness benefit and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit.
As laid out in the throne speech, we have an opportunity not just to support Canadians but to grow their potential. That means making historic investments in training, and working with provinces and territories to ensure that Canadians across the country have access to the tools and the skills training they need to succeed.
As a first step, this bill would continue with an investment of $1.5 billion to the provinces and territories to support on-the-ground training services for Canadians.
We are making sure we continue to support the people who need it most because we are still in a crisis. I encourage hon. members to support these benefits and to help provide that much-needed solid foundation for Canadians.