Supporting Working Canadian Families: The Role of Employment Insurance Special Benefits

This paper explores the Employment Insurance (EI) policy objective of encouraging long-term labour market attachment by providing temporary income support during absences from work due to life events such as illness, childbirth and caring for a terminally ill family member.  The study was undertaken as part of an ongoing assessment of the policies and programs of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, which is examining how EI may need to adjust to better align with current shifts in the labour market and society.  The report examines five EI special benefits: the Family Supplement, Sickness, Parental, Maternity and Compassionate Care.  The paper also includes a chronology of major developments in family-related benefits in EI policy from 1941 to 2006.  Because EI special benefits operate at the intersection of labour market policy, income security policy and family policy, these benefits enable a better balance between work and family life, and have important implications for each of these policy domains.

ISBN – 1-55382-398-2