March 2000

INTRODUCTION

THE FEDERAL COMMITMENT TO THE MOBILITY OF CANADIANS

THE FEDERAL MOBILITY REVIEW PROCESS

THE RESULTS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REVIEW

THE FEDERAL ACTION PLAN ON MOBILITY

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

On February 4, 1999, Prime Minister Chrétien signed the Social Union Framework Agreement with the First Ministers of all provinces and territories, except Quebec. The Agreement commits governments to work better together, and with Canadians, to strengthen Canada's social safety net, involve Canadians in the development of social programs and strengthen partnerships among governments.

It is no longer possible to draw sharp lines between governments, between the economy and society, and between economic and social policy. Globalization and the emerging information economy have increased interdependence among and within all countries. Governments cannot act as though they work in watertight compartments; increasingly, they affect and need each other.

The Social Union Framework represents the commitment of governments to strengthen their partnership with each other and with Canadians. This will mean respect for the Constitution, dialogue and collaboration among governments and, above all, a commitment to serve and engage Canadians.

Mobility is central to the notion of Canadian citizenship. In an increasingly mobile society, as more and more Canadians move to pursue opportunity, governments must work together to ensure that Canadians are not denied access to opportunity or essential services by virtue of residency.

Improving the mobility of Canadians is one of the priorities for governments under the Agreement. The Agreement states that:

"All governments believe that the freedom of movement of Canadians to pursue opportunities anywhere in Canada is an essential element of Canadian citizenship."

More specifically, section 2 of the SUFA commits governments to:

1. Ensure no new barriers to mobility are created in new social policy initiatives.
2. Eliminate existing residency-based barriers in social programs by 2002, unless the barriers are reasonable and consistent with the principles of the Agreement.
3. Meet the labour mobility provisions of the Agreement on Internal Trade, to make it easier for people to work in their occupations in all parts of Canada, by July 1, 2001.

Meeting these commitments will help ensure that Canadians have unhampered ability to move anywhere in Canada without fear of losing access to programs and services that meet their health and social needs. All governments must provide Canadians the freedom to pursue economic and social opportunities.

The Agreement requires that governments publicly justify maintaining any residency-based policy or practice that constrains access to social or health programs and services by demonstrating that it is reasonable and consistent with the principles of the Agreement. The mobility commitments are subject to the dispute avoidance and resolution provisions outlined in Section 6 of the Agreement.

Accountability is an essential part of the Agreement. Governments agreed to report annually on their work to identify and eliminate mobility barriers facing Canadians. This is the first report of the Government of Canada on its actions in this area.

THE FEDERAL COMMITMENT TO THE MOBILITY OF CANADIANS

The Government of Canada believes that:

• Unfettered mobility is a core feature of what it means to be a Canadian - no unreasonable barriers should exist that make it difficult for Canadians to move;
• Canadians' legitimate skill and educational qualifications should be recognized in all jurisdictions;
• All Canadians should be able to take advantage of social programs on the same terms as their neighbours, regardless of how long they have lived in a particular province or territory.

In the October 1999 Speech from the Throne, the Government of Canada reaffirmed its commitment to work with provinces and territories to meet the Agreement's deadline of removing all unreasonable barriers to mobility by 2002.

The Government of Canada has supported the mobility rights of Canadians in the context of many initiatives. Mobility rights are protected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canada Health and Social Transfer, the Canada Health Act, Employment Insurance and Old Age Security benefits, and Labour Market Development Agreements with provincial and territorial governments.

A priority for the Government of Canada in the discussions that led to the Social Union Framework Agreement was to achieve a commitment by governments to the principle of freedom of movement for Canadians.

THE FEDERAL MOBILITY REVIEW PROCESS

Human Resources Development Canada coordinated the review process, under the direction of a steering committee involving Health, Indian and Northern Affairs, Justice, Industry, Citizenship and Immigration, Heritage, and the Privy Council Office.

Federal departments and agencies delivering programs in the four core sectors identified in the Agreement (health, training, post-secondary education, and social services and social assistance) examined all their programs and services. They were looking specifically for situations in which a person's access to a program or service was conditional on how long the person had lived in a place, in the absence of any reciprocal agreement that might address the situation.

Departments were asked to address standard questions in conducting their assessments of programs:

• Are there residency-based criteria or procedures which constrain access? (A residency-based mobility barrier exists if access to social programs and services in a province or region is made conditional on a residency period - unless reciprocal agreements, under which the province of origin covers the cost of the program or service, are in place.)
• How does the barrier work to constrain access or mobility?
• Are there data available on its impact (e.g., migration data)?
• Is the barrier reasonable in light of the Agreement's principles? In light of the Agreement's mobility commitments?
• What will it take for this barrier to be removed? What are the implications of removing it? What timelines? Costs? Will there be any risks to Canadians?

Federal departments were also asked to explain how compliance with the Agreement's mobility requirements in this area will be documented; what targets could be set for the next two years; and what plans were being made to ensure the reporting provisions of Agreement were being met.

The federal review also examined two areas in which the Government of Canada is cooperating with provinces and territories to eliminate barriers to mobility: student financial assistance, and the labour mobility provisions of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).


THE RESULTS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA REVIEW

After an extensive examination, it appears few residency based barriers exist in federal policies and programming. While realizing that this was to be expected given the national scope of most of the federal government's activity, the Government of Canada will continue to examine in an ongoing fashion its activities as they may relate to mobility barriers. This will include working with third party entities such as Aboriginal organizations and voluntary groups to identify possible residency-based mobility barriers in the delivery of government-funded programs.

The following material provides more detail on the results of the initial Government of Canada review of federal programs for each of the key sectors identified in the Agreement.

Post-Secondary Education

The Government of Canada offers program support for post-secondary education primarily through a range of student assistance programs. Eligible students can access the Canada Student Loans Program, Canada Study Grants and Canada Millennium Scholarships (managed by the Millennium Scholarship Foundation) to attend any designated post-secondary institution in Canada. The Canada Education Savings Grant is an incentive to save for the future education costs of a child that is open to people across Canada.

These are national programs, designed to support equitable access to post-secondary education across the country, and are free of any residency-based barriers to mobility.

Training

The Government of Canada mainly provides training through Employment Benefits and Support Measures under the Employment Insurance Act. At present, the programs are delivered by:

• Human Resources Development Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, British Columbia and Yukon; and;
• The provincial or territorial government in New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Employment programs in Nunavut are currently delivered under temporary administrative arrangements with the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Mobility rights for access to these Employment Benefits and Support Measures are explicitly protected under Labour Market Development Agreements between the Government of Canada and the governments of individual provinces and territories. Federal training programs offered under Canada's Youth Employment Strategy include Youth Service Canada, Youth Internship Canada and Student Summer Job Action. These programs are all national in scope and are free of residency-based mobility barriers.

Health

The Government of Canada offers a range of health-related programs and services through Health Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada. These programs and services are offered across Canada and contain no residency-based mobility barriers.

The Government of Canada is also responsible for working with provinces and territories to uphold the provisions of the Canada Health Act. Through the criterion on portability, this Act ensures that Canadians do not face any residency-based barriers. This criterion requires that people remain covered by a provincial health insurance plan if they move to another province or are travelling out-of-province, particularly within Canada. Most jurisdictions have reciprocal agreements under which they reimburse one another for insured services provided to their residents at the rate that the host province authorizes for the service.

Income Support, Social Assistance and Social Services

The Government of Canada primarily offers income support through the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS) and Part I of the Employment Insurance Act.

Both CPP and OAS are available to eligible Canadians in any province (except in Quebec, where QPP is offered instead of CPP) and do not include any residency-based barriers to mobility. Employment insurance (EI) claims are fully portable once established and, therefore, do not present barriers to labour mobility. Since jobs are harder to find where unemployment is high, EI entrance requirements are lower and duration of benefits is longer in regions with high unemployment rates. Once a worker has established a claim, the benefit rate and duration of that claim does not change, regardless of a relocation in Canada.

The main federal programs for persons with disabilities are: EI-Sickness Benefits, CPP-Disability, Employability Assistance for Persons with Disabilities (EAPD) and the Opportunities Fund.

Except for EAPD, these programs are national in scope and available to all eligible Canadians. Under bilateral EAPD agreements with the provinces, the Government of Canada shares the costs of many provincial disability programs and services. The EAPD Agreements specifically require that programs supported by federal funding under the Agreements must be in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (and therefore would necessarily respect the mobility protections contained in the Charter).

Through Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Government offers a range of programs and services for immigrants and refugees, including the Resettlement Assistance Program. These programs are national in scope and contain no residency-based barriers.

The Canada Health and Social Transfer, which provides provinces and territories with financial support for social services (along with health and post-secondary education), prohibits provincial and territorial governments from placing a minimum period of residency as a requirement of social assistance benefits.

FEDERAL COOPERATION WITH PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES ON MOBILITY ISSUES

Labour mobility and student mobility are two key areas where federal, provincial and territorial governments are working together to address barriers to mobility.

Labour Mobility under the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT)

In 1994, all First Ministers signed the AIT. The AIT has a goal of reducing and eliminating barriers to the free movement of goods, services, people and investments in Canada.

Chapter 7 of the AIT on labour mobility sets four major obligations for governments and professional regulatory bodies:

• Eliminate residency requirements.
• Non-discrimination.
• Mutual recognition of workers' qualifications.
• Overcoming differences in occupational standards.
  
  

These obligations are designed to overcome the three main types of interprovincial barriers that workers can face:

• Requirements to live in a province in order to work there or to get necessary licences to practise.
• Licensing practices that result in unnecessary delays and costs for out-of-province workers.
• Lack of recognition for qualifications that were obtained in another province.

The Social Union Framework Agreement builds on the efforts to date to meet these obligations, and sets a July 1, 2001 date for full compliance. It complements and provides a renewed focus for the mobility efforts of the Government of Canada and all provinces and territories through the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM).

One of the major areas of attention for the FLMM involves coordinated efforts by all governments to get professional and occupational regulatory bodies to comply with mobility goals. The AIT covers 50 professions involving more than 400 professional bodies that must develop Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) and other processes to ensure that qualifications earned in one province or territory are accepted in all others.

The following professional groups have already signed MRAs: Architects, Engineering Technologies and Technicians, Engineers, Land Surveyors, Landscape Architects, Lawyers, Opticians and Psychiatric Nurses.

The work in the professions builds on a history of federal-provincial-territorial cooperation on worker certification in skilled trade occupations through the Red Seal program. That program has led to common examinations that allow successful workers in 44 trades to use their qualifications throughout Canada.

The Government of Canada does not underestimate the work required to achieve the July 1, 2001 commitment in the Social Union Framework Agreement. Some professions have moved less quickly towards compliance than others. However, the federal commitment to meet the AIT labour mobility goal remains very strong.

Student Loan Harmonization

The Government of Canada and each provincial and territorial government have distinct student assistance programs. The Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP) is available to eligible residents of provinces and territories except Quebec and the Northwest Territories, which receive funding from the Government of Canada for their own loan programs.

Provincial governments, as well as student groups, education organizations and lenders, have recommended harmonization of CSLP and provincial loan programs. The desired outcome would be an end to the existing requirement that students be assessed against two sets of eligibility criteria, under two administrative processes.

The 1998 federal budget committed the Government of Canada to work with the provinces and territories to coordinate student loans programs better. In keeping with this commitment, the Government of Canada has begun discussions toward harmonized student loans with most provinces and territories. To this point it has signed agreements on the harmonization of student loans programs with the governments of Ontario and New Brunswick (though implementation is being postponed until 2001/02 because of changes to program delivery). Each harmonization agreement specifically enables students to use their federal, provincial and territorial loans for post-secondary study outside their own province or territory, thereby helping to ensure student mobility.
 

THE FEDERAL ACTION PLAN ON MOBILITY

Given the national scope of federal programs, it is not surprising that the review of federal programming in the key sectors found few issues related to residency-based mobility barriers. The most obvious institutional barriers to the mobility of Canadians centre on the professional qualifications and residency requirements described in the last section. Once all MRAs and the required provincial legislation are in place, Canadian workers and employers will see real improvements over the situation that existed when the AIT was signed in 1994.

The Government of Canada will continue to actively pursue Agreements on the Harmonization of Student Loans in order to make it easier for students to pursue their studies wherever they wish in Canada.

FUTURE ACTIONS

Between now and the mobility deadlines set out in the Social Union Framework Agreement, the Government of Canada will continue to work to identify possible mobility barriers in federal programs and activities in the areas of post-secondary education, training, health and social services and social assistance. As part of this work, the Government will examine government-funded programs delivered by third-party entities.

In addition, consistent with the commitments of governments in the Agreement, the Government of Canada will continue to work collaboratively with provincial and territorial governments to:

• ensure that no new barriers to mobility are created in new social policy initiatives;
• achieve compliance by July 1, 2001, with the labour mobility provision of the AIT;
• improve mobility in post-secondary education, particularly student loans and grants; and;
• continue to explore means of improving the mobility of Canadians consistent with the principle set out in the Agreement to "ensure access for all Canadians, wherever they live or move in Canada, to essential social programs and services of reasonably comparable quality".
  
  

CONCLUSION

Since First Ministers signed the Social Union Framework Agreement in February 1999, the Government of Canada has made extensive efforts to achieve the mobility goals set out in the Agreement. It has:

• reviewed its programs and services extensively, as well as those that others deliver with its funding or support;
• begun to reach student loan harmonization agreements with provinces and territories whose post-secondary students are eligible for Canada Student Loans; and;
• helped to advance the goals set in Chapter 7 of the Agreement on Internal Trade on labour mobility.

The Government of Canada remains fully committed to its part in ensuring that the mobility goals agreed to by First Ministers will be met.