The National Council of Unemployed Workers (NCUW) would like to respond to the announcement of the extension of EI sickness benefits.
“The implementation of the extension of EI sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks is a major step forward. It is the result of several years of mobilization of multiple actors in civil society and paves the way for the continued improvement of this component of Employment Insurance towards our objective of 50 weeks of benefits,” said Pierre Céré, spokesperson for the NCUW.
The duration of EI sickness benefits had not been changed since the introduction of this component of the program in 1971.
“However, it is impossible not to raise the fact that this extension was voted in the 2021 budget and was supposed to take effect last August. This delay and the lack of information surrounding it had been raised many times by the NCUW. We are nonetheless relieved to see that workers will finally be able to count on a reinforced social safety net in case of illness, especially those who are not protected by any other insurance coverage,” continued Pierre Céré. “But this is not a new thing, and this announcement in no way replaces the long-awaited EI reform, which is expected to be introduced in early December”.