There are five types of special benefits: sickness, maternity, parental, and compassionate care benefits, and, since 2013, new benefits for parents of critically ill children. What follows is a brief description of these special benefits and the maximum number of weeks that each type may be paid:

• Sickness benefits are offered to individuals who are unable to work because of sickness, injury, or quarantine. They may be paid for a maximum of 15 weeks.[86]
• Maternity benefits are offered to women who are expecting a child or have recently given birth and are paid during the period surrounding the birth of the child. A maximum of 15 weeks of maternity benefits are available.
• Parental benefits are available to parents who are caring for a newborn or newly adopted child. They may be paid to one parent or shared by both parents. A maximum of 35 weeks of parental benefits may be paid.[87]
• Compassionate care benefits are available to individuals who have to stop working temporarily to provide care or support to a family member who is gravely ill and has a significant risk of death. A maximum of 26 weeks of compassionate care benefits may be paid. These 26 weeks of benefits can be shared among those family members who submit an application and are eligible for benefits.[88]
• Benefits for parents of critically ill children are offered to parents who have to be away from work to provide care or support for their critically ill or injured child. These benefits may be paid to one parent or shared by both parents. They may be paid for a maximum of 35 weeks.[89]

To be eligible for special benefits, a person must have accumulated at least 600 hours of insurable employment during the qualifying period. The person’s normal weekly earnings must also have been reduced by more than 40%. Since 2010, self-employed workers have also been able to receive special benefits if they voluntarily register for the EI program.[90]

In Budget 2016, the federal government announced that, over the course of its mandate, it plans to make compassionate care benefits “easier to access, more flexible and more inclusive for those who provide care for seriously ill family members.” The government also stated that it wants to provide “more flexibility in parental leave benefits to better accommodate unique family and work situations.”[91]

A number of witnesses commented on these recent announcements, and more generally on special benefits. For example, with regard to the compassionate benefits, the reference document submitted by the CEIC’s Commissioner for Workers states that:

… the proposal … for changing the requirement of “at significant risk of death”, aka critical illness, to serious illness would certainly encompass more people and be welcomed by those affected. One observation is caution to an overlap of Parents of Critically Children (PCIC), wherein children need to be deemed seriously ill by a physician.[92]

As for more flexible parental leave, that same reference document notes that labour stakeholders are curious about where this idea came from, as they believe the current 35 weeks are working well for most parents:

Several concerns have been raised as to the effect it would have on women in the workforce. Concerns have also been raised by Labour employers, who feel it would present multiple challenges for smaller businesses. Particular attention must be given to provincial and territorial labour codes, as they would not necessarily be in sync with such a program; that is, claimants, especially women, would not be guaranteed their job after an 18‑month leave.[93]

On the other hand, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) welcomed the government’s announced parental leave changes. CUPE recommended that the government move quickly to offer parental leave that provides higher levels of income replacement over a longer period since, according to its sources, more generous parental leave is associated with better child development outcomes and greater gender equity.[94]

The brief submitted by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) highlights concerns with parental benefits, arguing that they are insufficient for women who earn minimum wage, and result in women being forced to return to work sooner. One of PSAC’s recommendations is that the federal government review the system to increase the maximum insurable income for those women and use Quebec’s parental leave system as a model for improving EI.[95]

Regarding special benefits, the Committee was also informed by the CEIC’s Commissioner for Workers that some groups, including the Canadian Cancer Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, believe that 15 weeks of sickness benefits are not enough when people are facing serious health problems, particularly in cases of long-term illnesses or episodic illnesses. Specifically, Ms. Donnelly remarked that, “with the provision of the 26 weeks of the compassionate care benefit as of January of this year –which is a wonderful change – a caregiver can now have 11 weeks more of EI benefits than the person for whom they are providing the care. I think this is one of the things that absolutely needs to be looked at.”[96]

In its brief to the Committee, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada recommended increasing the maximum number of weeks of EI sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks to match the duration of compassionate care benefits.[97]

In light of the testimony heard, the Committee acknowledges that it might be more appropriate for workers with serious health problems to have access to more weeks of sick leave. Accordingly, the Committee makes the following recommendation:

RECOMMENDATION 7

The Committee recommends that the federal government explore increasing the maximum number of weeks of employment insurance sickness benefits.

The Commissioner for Employers also sought to draw the Committee’s attention to the financing of special benefits and the particularly heavy responsibility of employers in this regard:

… special benefits covering life events as opposed to workplace events … are now approaching a third, or 31% right now, of benefit costs in a tripartite system wherein employers pay 7/12 of the cost, employees pay 5/12, and government contributes zero.[98]

In addition, David Gray told the Committee that many experts believe that some special benefits should not be part of the EI program:

… economists have long thought that parental benefits and maternity, paternity, and adoption benefits should be totally removed from the EI system. They’re only there for administrative convenience. There’s a totally different story going on. I think they should be placed in a separate funding envelope in a different system.[99]

Recognizing the concerns raised by witnesses with respect to whether special benefits should be a component of the EI system, the Committee makes the following recommendation:

RECOMMENDATION 8

The Committee recommends that Employment and Social Development Canada hold consultations with relevant stakeholders to determine whether all special benefits should remain part of the Employment Insurance program or be administered separately.