CUPE members know the problems baked into Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) system. Whether accessing EI while on parental leave, after a layoff or in the event of a work interruption due to a natural disaster, the time has come for the federal government to improve EI so it provides all the support workers need.

In school boards across the country, many early childhood educators (ECEs), educational assistants (EAs) and school secretaries are 10-month employees who are laid off every summer. And every summer, they rely on EI to get by.

“I’m a single mom and it’s rough,” says Marcy Hall, an ECE and Unit D vice-president at CUPE 4222. “You have to try and save money for the summer, but you’ve got your bills to pay the rest of the year.”

Hall highlights that the EI application process can be onerous, some part-time or supply workers don’t have enough hours to qualify, and the wage replacement level is extremely low. Moreover, workers struggle to afford food, rent and transportation during the one-week wait period that is built into the EI system. “As we all know, the bills don’t stop,” Hall says.

School board workers also need to prove that they are actively applying for jobs even though few employers will hire someone who will  leave to return to work at their school in September.

New parents need better EI supports

Chloe Martin-Cabanne, president of CUPE 2950, started receiving EI benefits after having her son Oren nine months ago. “I really liked the maternity leave portion because it was 15 weeks and I got 95% of my salary with our top-up,” she says.

Almost 60% of CUPE collective agreements include top-ups for pregnancy or parental EI benefits that make life more affordable for new parents on leave.

However, under the extended parental leave option, which does not qualify for the top-up, Martin-Cabanne has only been receiving 33% of her regular earnings. Her family has been making it work with savings, but it’s not easy. “A lot of our members just go back to work early,” she notes. “It’s impossible otherwise for them to afford life.”

Paid pregnancy and parental leave have many benefits for workers and their children. It gives workers time to recover after giving birth, promotes parent-child bonding, and supports infant development. It also lowers the risk of mental health issues, promotes gender equity, and reduces and prevents poverty.

“If we’re able to get that threshold up to something people can reasonably live on, then there will be less stress,” Martin-Cabanne explains. “Parents will be able to be with their children and care for them and then go back to the workforce feeling like their kids are in a secure place.”

What is EI?

EI is a social insurance system where workers and employers contribute money to create a vital layer of income protection. EI regular benefits provide income support to workers who are unemployed, while EI special benefits provide income support to workers who are sick, on pregnancy or parental leave, or providing care to a loved one.

EI is the base of Canada’s social safety net, but right now it is not providing the support workers need. EI excludes many workers who fail to meet the 420 to 700 hours of insurable employment needed to qualify. And at a 55% wage replacement level, the financial support is too low for most workers to survive on.

EI is also an economic stabilizer: by keeping money in workers’ pockets during periods of economic uncertainty, it reduces the severity of recessions and keeps local economies afloat. EI doesn’t just benefit those receiving income support, it benefits all of us!

Workers need EI now

In April 2025, the number of EI beneficiaries was up by 58,000, a 12.7% increase from April 2024. In May 2025, the unemployment rate hit 7%, the highest rate since 2016 (excluding the pandemic). The situation is hitting young people particularly hard with unemployment at 20.1% for those aged 15 to 24, the highest since May 2009. These numbers may worsen with the U.S. tariff war, job loss linked to artificial intelligence, and worsening natural disasters driven by climate change.

In periods of economic instability, workers in Canada need a social safety net they can rely on. The federal government must make urgent improvements to EI to give workers the security they deserve.

CUPE is working with other unions and organizations on the Interprovincial EI Working Group to advocate for EI improvements. We are currently pushing the federal government to:

  • Set a universal threshold for access to EI benefits at 360 hours for all workers;  
  • Increase the EI benefit rate to 75% of weekly earnings with a minimum weekly benefit of at least $600;  
  • Extend the duration of EI to at least 50 weeks;   
  • Increase the maximum insurable earnings so higher-income workers can count on a livable benefit; and
  • End harsh disqualification rules so workers who are illegally misclassified as self-employed, or are migrant workers, also qualify.

Workers need support during climate disasters

Wildfires and other climate emergencies are becoming a common reality across the country. Yet some workers who are forced to evacuate from their homes fail to qualify for EI benefits, leaving them without income. CUPE 8600 member Rheanne Ellingson had to evacuate Flin Flon, Manitoba, due to wildfires, which meant she would be away from work and without a paycheque for at least a month. Ellingson faced the prospect of applying for EI while away from her home community. “I wasn’t in a position to get the access code I needed, and this took seven to ten days,” Rheanne Ellingson recounts. “At first I thought I’d take vacation days, but then decided not to waste them on a stressful emergency.”

Ellingson recalls that once she was able to access the EI application system, the money came relatively quickly: “When I took maternity leave a few years ago, I waited over a month for EI. This time it came faster, in about four days.” She found the amount of money she received to be good for a time-limited emergency, but it would not have been sustainable long-term. An increased minimum benefit and increased benefit rate – two reforms CUPE and the Interprovincial EI Working Group have called for – “would have really helped,” Ellingson says, “especially with increased prices.”

An EI pilot project was introduced in early 2025, months after workers were affected by the major wildfires in the summer of 2024 in Jasper, Alberta, and in Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Manitoba. This pilot provided a one-time credit of 300 hours of insurable employment, making it easier for affected workers to qualify for EI benefits and have some income security during the disaster and recovery. This pilot project provided an important lifeline for affected workers, but the EI system needs to ensure these supports are available to all workers affected by natural disasters. The federal government should make it easier for workers to access EI benefits permanently.

EI is meant to be there for all of us in times of need, whether we are unemployed, welcoming a new child, recovering from illness or caring for a family member. “If everyone’s paying into it, we should definitely have more say in how that money is allocated,” Martin-Cabanne adds. Because workers contribute to EI, the system funded by them must put their voices at the centre of every decision – from benefit levels and eligibility rules to funding mechanisms and claims adjudication – so it can keep families stable and local economies afloat.

Strengthening EI is about more than income support. It is about ensuring accessibility for all workers and providing the financial security they need to live with dignity.