Wednesday, January 31, 2007
EI Eligibility And Labour Market Development Agreements
We've seen how EI eligibility criteria have disproportionately affected women. How does this tie into the Canada-Ontario Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA)?
The programs and services being transferred from the Government of Canada to the Government of Ontario in the LMDA are funded through the Employment Insurance fund. Legislation requires clients to be eligible for Employment Insurance Benefits to access almost all transferred programs and services. In short, workers who don't qualify for EI can't access any of the programs and services funded through the EI account and transferred through the LMDA.
Tighter restrictions on EI means that fewer clients qualify for EI, and fewer clients can access employment supports and programs. Ontario's situation appears to be particularly bleak, with recent reports (see "Time for a Fair Deal") finding that only 30% of Ontarians actually qualify for EI.
Not only have tighter restrictions excluded more marginalized workers from accessing much-needed employment supports and programs, there has been a sharp reduction in more flexible funding to fill in the gaps left by EI-funded supports and measures.
The former National Women's Reference Group on Labour Market Issues released a report in 2002 finding that when the Government of Canada started signing LMDAs with provinces, they did not continue programs or funding through the Consolidated Revenue Funding (CRF). CRF funds offered more flexible funding not tied to EI requirements and therefore able to serve more marginalized clients such as contingent workers or workers returning to the workforce after a long period of absence, many of whom are women.
The Labour Market Partnership Agreement (LMPA) signed between provincial and federal governments represents a partial re-instatement of the CRF funds lost in the mid-1990s, and was designed to fill in the gaps that the LMDA leaves behind. So far, the government of Canada has not transferred any money within the LMPA.
The programs and services being transferred from the Government of Canada to the Government of Ontario in the LMDA are funded through the Employment Insurance fund. Legislation requires clients to be eligible for Employment Insurance Benefits to access almost all transferred programs and services. In short, workers who don't qualify for EI can't access any of the programs and services funded through the EI account and transferred through the LMDA.
Tighter restrictions on EI means that fewer clients qualify for EI, and fewer clients can access employment supports and programs. Ontario's situation appears to be particularly bleak, with recent reports (see "Time for a Fair Deal") finding that only 30% of Ontarians actually qualify for EI.
Not only have tighter restrictions excluded more marginalized workers from accessing much-needed employment supports and programs, there has been a sharp reduction in more flexible funding to fill in the gaps left by EI-funded supports and measures.
The former National Women's Reference Group on Labour Market Issues released a report in 2002 finding that when the Government of Canada started signing LMDAs with provinces, they did not continue programs or funding through the Consolidated Revenue Funding (CRF). CRF funds offered more flexible funding not tied to EI requirements and therefore able to serve more marginalized clients such as contingent workers or workers returning to the workforce after a long period of absence, many of whom are women.
The Labour Market Partnership Agreement (LMPA) signed between provincial and federal governments represents a partial re-instatement of the CRF funds lost in the mid-1990s, and was designed to fill in the gaps that the LMDA leaves behind. So far, the government of Canada has not transferred any money within the LMPA.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends
