Government of Canada

Employment Insurance Act - Part II - Employment Benefits and National Employment Service


Current Version of the Employment Insurance Act


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PART II

EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS AND NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

 

Purpose 56.  The purpose of this Part is to help maintain a sustainable employment insurance system through the establishment of employment benefits for insured participants and the maintenance of a national employment service.
Guidelines 57.  (1) Employment benefits and support measures under this Part shall be established in accordance with the following guidelines:

(a) harmonization with provincial employment initiatives to ensure that there is no unnecessary overlap or duplication;

(b) reduction of dependency on unemployment benefits by helping individuals obtain or keep employment;

(c) co-operation and partnership with other governments, employers, community-based organizations and other interested organizations;

(d) flexibility to allow significant decisions about implementation to be made at a local level;

(d.1) availability of assistance under the benefits and measures in either official language where there is significant demand for that assistance in that language;

(e) commitment by persons receiving assistance under the benefits and measures to
(i) achieving the goals of the assistance,

(ii) taking primary responsibility for identifying their employment needs and locating services necessary to allow them to meet those needs, and

(iii) if appropriate, sharing the cost of the assistance; and
(f) implementation of the benefits and measures within a framework for evaluating their success in assisting persons to obtain or keep employment.
Working in concert with provincial governments (2) To give effect to the purpose and guidelines of this Part, the Commission shall work in concert with the government of each province in which employment benefits and support measures are to be implemented in designing the benefits and measures, determining how they are to be implemented and establishing the framework for evaluating their success.
Agreements with provinces (3) The Commission shall invite the government of each province to enter into agreements for the purposes of subsection (2) or any other agreements authorized by this Part.
Definition of "insured participant" 58.  (1) In this Part, "insured participant" means an insured person who requests assistance under employment benefits and, when requesting the assistance, is an unemployed person

(a) for whom a benefit period is established or whose benefit period has ended within the previous 36 months; or

(b) for whom a benefit period has been established in the previous 60 months and who
(i) was paid special benefits under section 22 or 23 during the benefit period,

(ii) subsequently withdrew from active participation in the labour force to care for one or more of their new-born children or one or more children placed with them for the purpose of adoption, and
(iii) is seeking to re-enter the labour force.
Interpretation (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), "benefit period" includes a benefit period established under the Unemployment Insurance Act and "special benefits" includes benefits under sections 18 and 20 of that Act.
Employment benefits for insured participants 59.  The Commission may establish employment benefits to enable insured participants to obtain employment, including benefits to

(a) encourage employers to hire them;

(b) encourage them to accept employment by offering incentives such as temporary earnings supplements;

(c) help them start businesses or become self-employed;

(d) provide them with employment opportunities through which they can gain work experience to improve their long-term employment prospects; and

(e) help them obtain skills for employment, ranging from basic to advanced skills.
National employment service 60.  (1) The Commission shall maintain a national employment service to provide information on employment opportunities across Canada to help workers find suitable employment and help employers find suitable workers.
Duties of the Commission (2) The Commission shall

(a) collect information concerning employment for workers and workers seeking employment and, to the extent the Commission considers necessary, make the information available with a view to assisting workers to obtain employment for which they are suited and assisting employers to obtain workers most suitable to their needs; and

(b) ensure that in referring a worker seeking employment there will be no discrimination on a prohibited ground of discrimination within the meaning of the Canadian Human Rights Act or because of political affiliation, but nothing in this paragraph prohibits the national employment service from giving effect to
(i) any limitation, specification or preference based on a bona fide occupational requirement, or

(ii) any special program, plan or arrangement mentioned in section 16 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Regulations (3) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
Support measures (4) In support of the national employment service, the Commission may establish support measures to support

(a) organizations that provide employment assistance services to unemployed persons;

(b) employers, employee or employer associations, community groups and communities in developing and implementing strategies for dealing with labour force adjustments and meeting human resource requirements; and

(c) research and innovative projects to identify better ways of helping persons prepare for, return to or keep employment and be productive participants in the labour force.
Limitation (5) Support measures established under paragraph (4)(b) shall not

(a) provide assistance for employed persons unless they are facing a loss of their employment; or

(b) provide direct federal government assistance for the provision of labour market training without the agreement of the government of the province in which the assistance is provided.
Financial assistance 61.  (1) For the purpose of implementing employment benefits and support measures, the Commission may, in accordance with terms and conditions approved by the Treasury Board, provide financial assistance in the form of

(a) grants or contributions;

(b) loans or loan guarantees or suretyships;

(c) payments for any service provided at the request of the Commission; and

(d) vouchers to be exchanged for services and payments for the provision of the services.
Provincial agreement (2) The Commission may not provide any financial assistance in a province in support of employment benefits mentioned in paragraph 59(e) without the agreement of the government of the province.
Transitional payments for educational institutions (3) Payments under paragraph (1)(c) include the following transitional payments, which may not be made under this section more than three years after it comes into force:

(a) payments to a public or private educational institution for providing a course or program of instruction or training at the request of the Commission under employment benefits authorized by paragraph 59(e); and

(b) payments to a province in respect of the course or program if it is provided by a public educational institution and there is an agreement between the government of the province and the Commission to remunerate the province for all or part of the cost of providing the course or program.
1996, c. 23, s. 612001 c. 4, s. 75 (E) 
Agreements for administering employment benefits and support measures 62.  The Commission may, with the approval of the Minister, enter into an agreement or arrangement for the administration of employment benefits or support measures on its behalf by a department, board or agency of the Government of Canada, another government or government agency in Canada or any other public or private organization.
Agreements for paying costs of similar benefits and measures 63.  The Commission may, with the approval of the Minister, enter into an agreement with a government or government agency in Canada or any other public or private organization to provide for the payment of contributions for all or a portion of

(a) any costs of benefits or measures provided by the government, government agency or organization that are similar to employment benefits or support measures under this Part and are consistent with the purpose and guidelines of this Part; and

(b) any administration costs that the government, government agency or organization incurs in providing the benefits or measures.
No appeal 64.  A decision of the Commission made in relation to employment benefits or support measures, other than a decision under section 65.1, is not subject to appeal under section 114 or 115.
Liability for repayments 65.  A person is liable to repay the following amounts paid under section 61:

(a) principal and interest on a loan to the person;

(b) an amount paid on a guarantee or suretyship of a loan made to the person; and

(c) an amount paid to the person to which the person is not entitled.

1996, c. 23, s. 652001, c 4, s. 76(E)
Penalties 65.1  (1) The Commission may impose on a person to whom financial assistance has been provided under section 61 a penalty for each of the following acts or omissions if the Commission becomes aware of facts that in its opinion establish that the person has

(a) in relation to an application or request for the assistance,
(i) made a representation that the person knew was false or misleading, or
(ii) made a declaration that the person knew was false or misleading because of the non-disclosure of facts; or
(b) without good cause failed to attend, carry out or complete the course, program or activity for which the assistance was provided or was expelled from it.
Maximum penalty (2) The Commission may set the amount of the penalty for each act or omission at not more than the amount of the financial assistance that was provided.
Limitation on imposition of penalties (3) The penalty shall not be imposed if

(a) a prosecution for the act or omission has been initiated against the person; or

(b) 36 months have passed since the day on which the act or omission occurred.
Rescission, etc., of penalty (4) The Commission may rescind the imposition of the penalty, or reduce the penalty, on the presentation of new facts or on being satisfied that the penalty was imposed without knowledge of, or on the basis of a mistake as to, some material fact.

1996, c. 23, s. 65; 1999, c. 31, s. 78(F)
Debts due to the Crown 65.2  (1) Amounts repayable under section 65 and penalties under section 65.1 are debts due to Her Majesty and are recoverable in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner provided by this Act.
Recovery by deduction (2) If an amount becomes payable to the person under section 61, the amount of their indebtedness to Her Majesty may be recovered out of the amount payable.
Limitation (3) No amount due under this section may be recovered more than 72 months after the day on which the liability arose.

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