C-249 (45-1) - An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (combined weeks of benefits rule and certain benefits)
Chamber
commons
Stage
1st Reading
Introduced
Oct 21, 2025
Progress
This bill improves EI maternity, parental, and critically ill adult caregiver benefits by removing caps and extending coverage.
Key Changes
- Maternity and parental benefits are exempted from the 50-week combined benefits cap, so parents receive their full entitlement regardless of other EI benefits received
- The benefit period can be extended for claimants receiving maternity or parental benefits who also received other EI benefits in the same period
- Maximum weeks of benefits for caring for a critically ill adult increases from 15 to 26 weeks
- The 26-week critically ill adult caregiver benefit applies to both employed and self-employed EI claimants
- Multiple claimants caring for the same critically ill adult can divide up to 26 weeks of benefits between them
- Schedule IV of the Employment Insurance Act, which contained related provisions, is repealed
Gotchas
- Removing maternity and parental benefits from the combined weeks cap could increase total EI benefit payouts, though no fiscal cost estimate is provided in the bill
- The increase in critically ill adult caregiver benefits from 15 to 26 weeks is a significant 73% increase in maximum duration, which may affect EI fund sustainability
- The bill is a Private Member's Bill introduced by Mr. Boulerice, meaning it was not introduced by the government and may face a longer or uncertain path to passage
- Self-employed people are only covered if they have previously opted into the EI program for special benefits, so not all self-employed Canadians would automatically benefit
Who's Affected
- New parents claiming maternity or parental EI benefits
- Canadians caring for a critically ill adult family member or loved one
- Self-employed people who have opted into the EI program
- Claimants who receive multiple types of EI benefits in the same benefit period
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- Removing maternity and parental benefits from the combined weeks cap could increase total EI benefit payouts, though no fiscal cost estimate is provided in the bill
- The increase in critically ill adult caregiver benefits from 15 to 26 weeks is a significant 73% increase in maximum duration, which may affect EI fund sustainability
- The bill is a Private Member's Bill introduced by Mr. Boulerice, meaning it was not introduced by the government and may face a longer or uncertain path to passage
- Self-employed people are only covered if they have previously opted into the EI program for special benefits, so not all self-employed Canadians would automatically benefit
Summary
Bill C-249 makes three main changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) Act. First, it removes the 'combined weeks of benefits' cap for people receiving maternity or parental benefits, meaning those benefits will no longer count toward the overall 50-week limit on combined EI benefits. This allows parents to receive their full maternity or parental entitlement without it being reduced by other EI benefits they may have received in the same period. Second, the bill allows the benefit period to be extended for claimants who are receiving maternity or parental benefits, giving them more time to use their full entitlement if they also received other types of EI benefits during the same period. Third, the bill increases the maximum number of weeks of EI benefits available to people caring for a critically ill adult — such as a seriously ill spouse, parent, or other adult family member — from 15 weeks to 26 weeks. This increase applies to both regular employees and self-employed people who have opted into the EI system.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses