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Canada Extends and Enhances Benefits for Caregivers

An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (combined weeks of benefits rule and certain benefits)

Summary

  • Exempts pregnancy and parental EI benefits from the combined-weeks cap so these weeks do not reduce entitlement to other EI benefits.
  • Extends the EI benefit period for claimants receiving pregnancy or parental benefits so they can still access other eligible EI weeks afterward.
  • Increases the maximum caregiver benefit for critically ill adults from 15 to 26 weeks and makes related coordination changes for regular and special benefits, including for self-employed claimants.
  • Repeals Schedule IV and makes technical amendments to harmonize extensions when multiple benefit types are combined.

Builder Assessment

Vote No

The bill expands EI benefit duration and eligibility interactions without clear offsets or productivity gains, creating upward pressure on program costs and premiums. Supporting families and caregivers is vital for wellbeing and safety, but the proposal lacks guardrails, targeting, and complementary measures to protect growth and work incentives.

  • Add a published fiscal costing, with a premium cap or general-revenue backstop to avoid payroll tax increases on workers and small businesses.
  • Include a sunset and mandatory review with metrics on labour-force attachment, re-employment, and program integrity.
  • Calibrate the combined-weeks exemption with a clear, higher cap specific to pregnancy and parental benefits to prevent unlimited stacking while preserving support.
  • Pair the benefit expansion with measures that reduce labour shortages: faster childcare supply growth, flexible work provisions, and return-to-work supports.
  • Streamline administration: a single digital intake for all special benefits and automated data-sharing with provinces to lower overhead and speed payments.
  • Target the 26-week caregiver extension to high-need, medically certified cases and require periodic confirmation to protect the most vulnerable while containing cost.

Question Period Cards

What is the five-year fiscal cost of exempting pregnancy and parental benefits from the combined-weeks rule and extending caregiver benefits to 26 weeks, and how will this affect EI premium rates for workers and employers?

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How will the government mitigate the risk that longer EI benefit periods worsen labour shortages, and what complementary measures will keep parents and caregivers attached to the workforce?

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Why does the bill repeal Schedule IV, what administrative burden does that actually remove, and has any analysis been published on unintended benefit stacking or compliance risks created by the new extensions?

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Principles Analysis

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Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

Supports family and caregiver stability but does not directly increase growth; higher EI costs could offset any indirect benefits.

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Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Alters eligibility interaction rules and repeals a schedule, which may simplify some claims, but primarily expands benefits rather than reducing administrative burden.

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Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

Potentially supports long-term labour-force attachment for parents and caregivers, but may lengthen short-term absences and does not include productivity measures.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

No clear connection to trade or export capacity.

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Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

No direct incentives for investment or innovation; changes are confined to EI benefit design.

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Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Extending benefit durations and periods increases program expenditures and likely administrative workload without offsetting efficiencies.

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Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

Expanded EI benefits will likely require higher premiums over time, increasing the payroll tax wedge and modestly weakening work incentives during extended coverage.

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Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

Represents a targeted benefit expansion rather than a broad, growth-oriented reform.

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C-249

PartyNDP
StatusOutside the Order of Precedence
Last updatedOct 21, 2025
TopicsLabor and Employment
Parliament45