Canada’s EI system is ‘unfair’ for new parents, NDP and labour unions say

The New Democratic Party and a group of labour unions are calling on the federal government to change Canada’s employment insurance rules so that new parents, especially new mothers, are not denied regular EI benefits if they get laid off.

In a letter sent Thursday to Randy Boissonault, Canada’s employment minister, and NDP MP Daniel Blaikie, along with the Canadian Labour Congress, Unifor and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, are demanding an end to “gender discrimination” in the program.

A copy of the letter shared with Global News stated: “Under the current EI Act, special and regular benefits can be combined up to a 50-week maximum. Using qualifying hours for regular benefits reduces what you can claim in maternity and parental benefits, and vice-versa.

“This means that women who have a baby and access maternity benefits lose their protection in the event of a lay-off,” the letter to Boissonnault reads.

“Parents who access parental benefits also lose out.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees estimates that as many as 3,000 workers are laid off before, during or after they take maternity leave.

“By denying women these EI regular benefits because they’ve received EI maternity and parental benefits, these women are experiencing blatant discrimination and being forced into economically precarious situations,” said Angella MacEwan, a senior economist at the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Speaking at press conference in Ottawa Thursday, MacEwan and other labour leaders called on the federal government to remove the current 50-week restriction on combining maternity, parental and regular benefits and instead allowing workers to use their qualifying hours for both regular and parental benefits up to a maximum period