Employment Insurance Act (S.C. 1996, c. 23)

Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note: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.

Marginal note: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.

Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).

• Marginal note: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.

• Marginal note: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.