Preserve EI parental benefits

AI summary

Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to preserve survivors’ access to unused EI parental-leave benefits if the parent on leave dies. The government responds that Service Canada allows surviving parents to claim unused parental weeks.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the Government of Canada We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, draw the attention of the Government of Canada to the following: Whereas: If a person on parental leave passes away, their family immediately loses access to benefits that they have paid into. A family that pays into the system should never lose benefits they paid for, especially at the time they need them most. Compounding grief with the abrupt end of benefits creates financial distress at a time when families are already dealing with the unimaginable. The HUMA committee has recently agreed to study this issue and has requested costing information on a proposal to protect these benefits if the parent on leave passes away. Therefore, we, the undersigned, call on the Government of Canada to: Reform the EI system to support all grieving families by preserving access to parental leave if the parent on leave passes away.

Government response

Response by the Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario Signed by Annie Koutrakis The Government of Canada thanks the petitioners for sharing their views on the need to enhance Employment Insurance parental benefits to support families in grief following the death of a parent. The Government of Canada recognizes the diverse challenges faced by working parents raising children. Balancing family, work and financial responsibilities is a challenging task for parents, and each family has its own needs. That is why the Government has made several important changes since 2017 to the Employment Insurance program that give working parents more flexibility in their use of Employment Insurance maternity and parental benefits, including an option to choose the parental benefit duration that best suits their family needs. The Employment Insurance parental benefit provides temporary income support while a worker is on leave from work to care for their newborn or newly adopted child or children. Under existing Employment Insurance program rules, there is built-in flexibility for parents to share up to 40 weeks of standard parental benefits or up to 69 weeks of extended parental benefits to care for their newborn or newly adopted child or children. Under the Employment Insurance program, all claimants, including those for parental benefits, must apply and qualify for these temporary income supports by meeting eligibility and entitlement requirements. For individuals who want to share parental benefits, they must choose the same standard or extended parental benefit option in their Employment Insurance applications, and indicate how many weeks of parental benefits they each intend to claim. Claimants cannot change their standard or extended option once benefits have been paid on either parent’s claim, but they can change the number of weeks that each parent receives any time before all of the parental benefits are paid. For 40 weeks of shared standard parental benefits, the maximum that one parent can receive is 35 weeks; and for 69 weeks of shared extended parental, the maximum is 61 weeks. The death of a parent under any circumstances is difficult. In the situation that a person on parental benefits passes away, the Employment Insurance program supports the grieving family by preserving access to parental benefits. The surviving parent, including one that has not yet claimed Employment Insurance supports, can contact Service Canada and request access to the unused weeks provided they meet the eligibility and entitlement requirements for the benefit. As for the Employment Insurance maternity benefit, this benefit is payable to the worker who is away from work because they are pregnant or have recently given birth. The Employment Insurance maternity benefit is not transferable to another parent, including if the person who has given birth passes away. This is because the benefit is intended to provide temporary income support during the 15-week period surrounding childbirth to support the individual’s recovery from pregnancy or childbirth. More information on Employment Insurance benefits may be found on the Government of Canada website Employment Insurance benefits - Canada.ca. Claimants can contact Service Canada for advice on their specific situation. The Government of Canada is committed to simplifying and improving the Employment Insurance program to ensure that it meets the needs of the Canadian workforce of today. Once again, the Government wishes to thank the petitioners. Their views will be taken into consideration in our ongoing efforts to improve the Employment Insurance program, including to ensure parents and families can rely on a strong social safety net as Canada builds the skilled workforce of tomorrow.