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On November 10, 1998, the Honorable Pierre S. Pettigrew, Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, announced the establishment of a Small Weeks Pilot Project in 31 high unemployment Employment Insurance (EI) economic regions. This new Project replaced the Small Weeks Adjustment Projects that ended on November 14, 1998. The Project started on November 15, 1998 and will terminate in November 2001.

This study evaluates the current Small Weeks Pilot Project. Its objectives are:

• to investigate the effectiveness of the Project in encouraging program participants to accept small weeks of work during the Rate Calculation Period (RCP, i.e., the twenty-six weeks preceding the last day of employment);
• to determine the Project's impact on program participants' earnings and weeks of work; and
• to assess the Project's impacts on male and female EI benefits claimants separately.

This report highlights the findings of the study available to date. The results presented here consist of observations from the “November 1998-August 2000” data, descriptive statistics, and calculations from our econometric evaluation model.

Based on the evidence available to date, we would have to conclude that the Project has accomplished its mission. In the 31 Small Weeks regions, a large number of EI claimants benefited from the Project. Nine percent of the male claimants and 17.8 percent of the female claimants were beneficiaries of the Project. These claimants increased their total weeks of work in the 26 weeks prior to their job separations significantly (2.1 weeks for male claimants and 2.4 weeks for female claimants, respectively). Econometric evidence shows that the Project was largely, if not entirely, responsible for the increased small weeks of work observed in the 31 Small Weeks regions. The additional weeks of work, along with their earnings, in the RCP were not the only benefits to these claimants. When they became unemployed, their benefit rates were higher and the number of weeks of benefit entitlements were greater. We estimate that the Project increased the total income (additional employment earnings plus additional EI benefits) of an average female program participant by $658, and of an average male program participant by $820. This gender difference was mainly due to the gender difference in average earnings.

Our results are consistent with the findings of Professor Friesen's evaluation of the 1997-1998 Small Weeks Adjustment Pilot Projects. This is not surprising, since the designs of the two consecutive Small Weeks Projects are almost identical.