Finance committee  What we are seeing with the transition, with this more targeted suite of supports for workers impacted by the pandemic, is a recognition of two things. One is the movement into a next phase of the recovery where we're seeing employment levels back to pre-pandemic levels, where we're seeing an increase in job vacancy rates and where we're seeing a return of the economy across sectors, really leading to therefore the provision of additional supports that are really much more targeted in the context of providing the supports that are needed in the context of public health restrictions, and really leading to public health-related support versus addressing broad-based, generalized economic impacts of the pandemic.

Finance committee  I'm sorry, I did not hear the question very well. If they are deemed to be ineligible, they would be in a situation where they would need to repay. That's correct.

Finance committee  I'm not sure if my colleagues could provide an answer to that. What we can say is that the estimated use and volume are difficult to estimate because it depends on whether there will be the occurrence of regional lockdowns.

Finance committee  Yes, for the ensemble of the measures. I think this is something that perhaps.... I'm not sure if I would turn to my colleagues at Finance, but certainly for the lockdown benefit we know that the estimated volume is a number that is difficult to predict. That said—

Finance committee  Perhaps, if I'm not seeing anyone from Finance, we can take this question back, if that's okay with you.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. We've seen the use of economic recovery benefits, sickness benefits and family caregiver benefits change along with the waves of the pandemic. Each time more severe restrictions have been implemented, the use of these benefits has increased. People use the benefits when there's a need for them.

Finance committee  This would need to be a recommendation by the minister and a decision of the Governor in Council.

Finance committee  Whether a region is a lockdown region for the purposes of the benefit will be a determination of the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister of ESDC once the legislation is passed. In the meantime, the department is monitoring situations across Canada.

Finance committee  That will need to be determined. This is something that we are tracking and this will need to be determined by a decision from the Governor—

Finance committee  This assessment is ongoing. Public health restrictions are being assessed, are being tracked, and this assessment, this tracking, is ongoing at the moment.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. The current duration of the sickness benefit is a maximum of four weeks, and it is proposed that it be extended by an additional two weeks to six weeks in total. For the caregiving benefit, currently the maximum duration is 42 weeks, and the proposal is to extend it to 44 weeks.

Finance committee  That's correct—an additional two weeks.

Finance committee  The same parameters would apply. That is correct.

Finance committee  The same eligibility requirements would apply. It is attestation based. If you agree, I would like to ask my colleague, Benoit Cadieux, to provide the details on those requirements.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. Let me add some clarifications. Many of these workers have benefited from temporary measures offered by employment insurance. If they were affected by the pandemic, if they experienced job loss or reduced hours, they may have been able to access EI benefits over the past year or the Canada recovery benefit.