EI changes mean little

If you’re on the verge of becoming a parent, you might be enthused about the federal government’s announcement that it is making Canada’s parental-leave programs more flexible.

The more you scrutinize these changes, however, the less they look like meaningful reform, and the more it seems they are little more than window dressing. Here’s why.

First, the changes apply only to federally regulated employers — banks, telecoms, public service and transport companies. The remaining 92 per cent of workplaces are not federally regulated, so these changes won’t help those workers. Workers in those areas will have to wait until their provincial or territorial government decides to follow suit.

Second, although the changes will allow parents to take up to 18 months of leave payable through Employment Insurance as opposed to the current 12-month limit, there is no new money. Under existing rules, a parent can receive only 55 per cent of their salary up to a maximum of just under $550 weekly. The same amount of money spread over 18 months works out to about $325 a week.

Quite simply, these changes, although they are better than nothing, do little for anyone who is not in a narrow economic and demographic group of working Canadians. As broad-based meaningful society reform, they’re a bust.

These changes, while not an outright failure, are certainly a missed opportunity.

Waterloo (Ont.) Region Record