A New Democrat government would immediately put in place a universal qualifying threshold of 360 hours to make sure that many more Canadians can access benefits, no matter what kind of work they do – and restore the appeals system to make decisions fast and fair.
New Democrats understand that seasonal workers face particular challenges accessing EI. To help Canadians in seasonal industries bridge the cap between the end of EI and the start of seasonal work, we'll bring back the former Extra Five Weeks pilot project and make it permanent, and we will restore the economic regions in the territories and PEI to their 2014 boundaries.
Parental leave should be available for all Canadian families, in the way that works best for them. Eighteen months of leave is an attractive option for many parents, but not many Canadians can afford to live on just 33 percent of their salary. New Democrats will bring in a new special leave that allows parents to take shorter parental leave at a higher replacement rate. We'll also allow self-employed workers to opt-into parental benefits at any time before taking the leave, and move to double leave for parents of multiples.
To help make ends meet while on EI, we'll increase the income replacement rate to 60 percent – and create a low income supplement so that no one receiving EI regular or special benefits receives less than $1,200 a month.
For many Canadians who need to rely on EI when they're dealing with an illness, the current system falls far short and doesn't provide flexibility to support those who do want to work when they can. To make sure that Canadians can count on EI when they're dealing with a serious illness, a New Democrat government will extend sickness benefits to 50 weeks, expand access to re-training, and create a pilot project to allow workers with episodic disabilities to access EI sickness benefits periodically, as they need them.
Finally we will also protect the EI Operating Account in law, so that future governments can't raid it for general revenue.