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Through Economic Action Plan 2012, the Government has introduced several new measures that would provide Employment Insurance (EI) claimants with additional supports to enable quicker returns to work, while clarifying what is expected of them while looking for work.
About the Initiative
To support economic growth and meet the challenges associated with both an aging population and growing international competition for skilled workers, the Government of Canada is taking action to connect unemployed workers with available jobs by:
- enhancing labour market information including online job postings to support job search activities;
- clarifying the definition of “suitable work” and “reasonable job search” for both EI regular and fishing claimants;
- better connecting the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the EI program to help ensure Canadians are considered before temporary foreign workers; and
- working closely with interested provinces and territories to make skills training and job search supports available to EI claimants earlier in their claim.
The improvements enhance the support measures provided to EI claimants. One key feature is that unemployed workers who receive EI benefits can receive job postings up to twice a day from a variety of sources. This enhanced Job Alert system allows them to know what jobs are currently available in their local area.
Several factors determine what is considered suitable employment. These factors include personal circumstances, working conditions, hours of work, commuting time, type of work and wages. The Government also provided clarity on what constitutes a reasonable job search. The job search efforts of EI claimants are assessed based on job search and employability activities, intensity of job search, type of work being sought and evidence of job search.
The changes also improve the administration of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program through enhanced sharing of information between the two programs. With these changes, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program uses EI data as a primary tool to assess the availability of domestic workers to help ensure that temporary foreign workers do not displace Canadian workers as they seek to return to work. In situations where Canadians who are receiving EI could potentially fill vacancies, employers requesting permission to hire temporary foreign workers are required to extend their advertising efforts to recruit Canadians. In addition, employment opportunities that would otherwise be filled by temporary foreign workers are sent to EI claimants via the Job Alert system to encourage EI claimants to apply for those available jobs.
Many jobs continue to go unfilled while people collect EI benefits. Given the role the provinces and territories play in ensuring that unemployed Canadians are connected to available jobs, the Government of Canada is working with the provinces and territories to test new approaches for making employment supports available to EI claimants earlier in their claim period, helping them get back to work faster.
Find Out More
For more information, visit Connecting Canadians With Available Jobs.