Lead Department: Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Start Date of the Horizontal Initiative: First provincial agreement
was signed in December 1996
End Date of the Horizontal Initiative:
Ongoing
Total Federal Funding Allocation: $1.95 billion per
year
Description
Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) are designed to assist
unemployed Canadians prepare for, find and maintain employment. These
agreements seek to achieve labour market program objectives such as improving
client labour market outcomes, ensuring better coordination of
federal/provincial programs to reduce duplication, and to more effectively meet
the needs of regional and local labour markets.
Pursuant to sections 57 and 63 of the Employment Insurance (EI) Act, LMDAs
have been signed with all of the provinces/territories, in the form of either a
co-managed or transfer agreement. A transfer agreement was signed with Ontario
in November 2005. It will come into effect on January 1st, 2007.
LMDAs are indeterminate agreements and are not subject to renewal, however, each
agreement contains certain provisions for either party to give notice of
termination. Part II of the EI Act requires the federal government to
"work in concert" with provinces and territories in designing,
implementing and evaluating Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSMs).
EBSMs reduce dependency on insurance benefits and social assistance by helping
individuals obtain and maintain employment. For further information on EBSM
spending, please refer to the Monitoring and Assessment Report (MAR) at the
following URL: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/ei/reports/eimar_2005.shtml
The Employment Insurance Commission is mandated in section 3(1) of the Employment
Insurance Act to provide the Minister responsible for the Employment
Insurance (EI) program with an annual report on the usage, impact and
effectiveness of the program. The 2005 EI Monitoring and Assessment
Report continues an annual examination of EI from the perspective of the
economy, communities and individual workers. The report examines the use of
the program, the program’s impacts and effectiveness, the use of active
re-employment measures, and the interaction between EI and the workplace for the
fiscal year April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2005.
The Employment Benefits and similar provincial-territorial programs delivered
under the LMDAs help unemployed EI insured Canadians gain work experience,
improve job skills or start new businesses, as well as encourage employers to
provide opportunities for work experience. The first of four employment benefits
is the Skills Development (SD) benefit which provides financial assistance to
help eligible individuals pay for the cost of skills training and related
expenses, while they are enrolled in a training program. The second is the
Self-Employment (SE) benefit which provides eligible individuals with financial
support and assistance in business planning while they begin to establish and
operate their businesses. Thirdly, the Job Creation Partnerships (JCP) benefit
provides eligible individuals with opportunities to gain valuable work
experience on projects developed in conjunction with industry, other levels of
government, and/or community groups. Finally, Targeted Wage Subsidies (TWS)
helps eligible individuals who are experiencing difficulty accessing employment
due to employment barriers. Employers receive a temporary wage subsidy as an
incentive to hire individuals they would not normally hire in the absence of a
subsidy.
The Support Measures and similar provincial-territorial programs delivered
under the LMDAs, provide funding to organizations, businesses and communities
for three types of activities: The first measure, Employment Assistance Services
(EAS) helps unemployed individuals prepare for, obtain and maintain employment
by providing them with services such as counselling, job search techniques,
action planning, job placement, and labour market information. The second
support measure is Labour Market Partnerships (LMP) which provides funding to
assist employers, employee and/or employer associations and communities, to
improve their capacity to deal with human resource requirements and to implement
labour force adjustments. Finally, Research and Innovation (R&I) helps
support experimental activities which identify improved methods of helping
Canadians prepare for and maintain employment, as well as be productive
participants in the labour force.
Summative evaluations of EBSMs, which are aimed at providing information on
the impact of active measures in helping participants prepare for, obtain and
maintain employment, are currently underway in several jurisdictions. Final
results from the British Columbia, Quebec Alberta, Ontario, Nunavut and
Newfoundland and Labrador summative evaluations are discussed in the 2005
Monitoring and Assessment Report. This report has been tabled in Parliament and
is available from the above link to the MAR website. Other summative evaluations
are currently underway and where available, findings will be presented in the
2006 Monitoring and Assessment Report.
Shared Outcome(s)
The shared outcomes of partners are to help unemployed EI insured
Canadians gain work experience, improve job skills or start new
businesses, and to provide funding to organizations, businesses and
communities that provide employment services to unemployed Canadians.
Three measurement indicators will be used to assess the performance of
these programs:
- EI Clients Served: Represents active claimants and former Quebec claimants.
- Returns to Work: Represents those insured participants (active and former Part I
claimants) who have been referred to and participated in an EI Act
Part II activity and who have subsequently returned to employment.
- Unpaid Benefits: Measures the difference between the individual's entitlement to regular
EI Act Part I benefits and the actual benefits paid out as the
result of EI Active claimants who have been referred and participated in
an EI Act Part II activity and who have returned to employment
before exhausting their employment insurance entitlement.
Governance Structures
- Under the co-managed arrangement, HRSDC and the respective
province/territory share responsibility for the design of labour market
development programs and services, while HRSDC (through Service Canada)
continues to be responsible for the management and delivery of the EBSMs
through its network of local offices. Each provincial/territorial government
of co-managed agreements has assumed joint responsibility for the planning
and evaluation of active employment measures through a Joint Management
Committee, and Joint Evaluation Committee.
- Under transfer agreements, the delivery of similar benefits and measures
is the responsibility of the respective province/territory.
- A formula based on socio-economic indicators allocates EI funds to
co-managed regions and Ontario for EBSMs, and to transfer
provinces/territories for similar benefits and measures.
- Under the agreements with transfer provinces/territories, the Government
of Canada also provides an annual contribution towards the administration
costs incurred by the province or territory.
- Joint Management Committees, and/or Joint Implementation Committees are
used by various regions and provinces, while all save Quebec have Joint
Evaluation Committees. In Quebec, the province conducts the evaluations.
- Provinces/Territories and the Government of Canada agree on the importance
of ensuring that the public be notified of their respective roles, and
particularly the financial contribution of the Government of Canada and the
responsibility of the provinces/territories with regard to active employment
measures under these Agreements.
- HRSDC remains responsible for the implementation of activities under its
employment benefits and support measures that are pan-Canadian in scope and
not covered by LMDAs, such as activities in support of inter-provincial
labour mobility and national sectoral partnerships, but will consult with
provinces/territories regarding the implementation of these activities that
impact the citizens of the provinces/territory.
- HRSDC may also intervene in response to economic crises using funding that
is incremental to funding commitments that have been made within the context
of the Labour Market Development Agreement.
- HRSDC retains responsibility for EI benefits under EI Act Part I
(passive support).
Partners
HRSDC
Co-Managed LMDAs and Ontario
HRSDC and co-managed provinces and territories (NL, PEI, NS, BC, and YK)
share responsibility for the design of labour market development programs and
services. HRSDC, through Service Canada continues to be responsible for the
management and delivery of the EBSMs through its network of local offices.
In the case of Ontario where there was until recently no signed agreement,
HRSDC is responsible for the design of programs, while HRSDC, through Service
Canada is responsible for program management and delivery). Ontario will
assume responsibility for design, management and delivery under the terms of the
Canada-Ontario LMDA which will come into effect in January 2007.
Contact
John Atherton
Director General
Labour Market and Official Language Minority Communities
Employment Programs Policy & Design
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