Madam Speaker, we recognize the disproportionate impact this pandemic has had on women.
When we transitioned from CERB to EI and the recovery benefits last September, we provided an EI hours credit retroactive to March 2020. This was in recognition that individuals may not have been able to accumulate enough hours to be eligible for EI.
Women benefited from the hours credit as they could retroactively claim EI maternity benefits. We have worked hard to ensure equity for EI claimants, and members in this House can be assured that new mothers are receiving the benefits to which they are entitled.