Temporary changes to EI made during pandemic are set to expire late next month

OTTAWA

Temporary changes to the employment insurance program made during the pandemic are set to expire soon, jeopardizing access to jobless benefits for automotive workers in Windsor, Ont., who expect to be out of work in the fall, says a Unifor leader.

Rob Kennedy, a worker at Syncreon Automotive and a vice-president of Unifor Local 195, says the Windsor plant will close Oct. 30 after auto manufacturer Stellantis ended its contract with Syncreon.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Kennedy said, he and others at the plant have relied on EI extensively because of repeated closures due to a chip shortage and supply chain problems.

Now, as nearly 300 workers await a permanent layoff, Kennedy says many might be ineligible for EI due to expiration of measures that eased access to benefits. “Because our hours are shrinking, and we’re not working as much, when the plant closes, there is a lot of us that will not have enough hours to keep us going.”

Under the temporary measures, workers qualify for EI based on a national requirement of having 420 insurable employment hours, whereas workers would normally need between 420 and 700 hours depending on the regional unemployment rate. Additionally, under the temporary measures, monies paid on separation from a job, such as severance, are not deducted from benefits.

However, on Sept. 25 the program will revert to its original framework.

Brendon Bernard, a senior economist with hiring website Indeed, says the number of EI recipients is likely to drop following the change.

“The tightening of those requirements is likely to cut some people’s access off from the EI, especially people who might not have worked a full year, and especially if they were working part-time,” Bernard said.

Kennedy said the change is also concerning for workers at Syncreon because they’ll “have to exhaust all their severance pay. To me that’s wrong.”

The expiration of these measures comes as the federal government works on drafting changes to EI as part of its pledge to modernize the program. Experts and interested parties have raised a range of concerns about the program, including that too few people can access jobless benefits.

Tara Beauport, press secretary to Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, confirmed in an email the temporary measures will not be extended.