Press release
In the face of tariff threats, a broad coalition calls for more accessible employment insurance

Montreal, February 25, 2025 – The Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses (CNC), the Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (MASSE), and Quebec’s major labour organizations (QFL, CSN, CSQ, and CSD) are urging the federal government to introduce measures that would make the employment insurance (EI) program more accessible and flexible. This request comes amid growing political and economic uncertainty, as the effects of U.S. tariff threats are already being felt.

Together, these organizations are calling on the Canadian government to launch a pilot project that would allow the EI system to respond more effectively and swiftly to the needs of workers who are at risk of losing their jobs or have already been laid off. The proposed measures aim to address ongoing eligibility issues and ease the strain on an already overwhelmed system.

“Our local and regional groups receive calls every day from workers who are worried or have already lost their jobs. In its current state, the employment insurance system simply cannot handle the crisis ahead,” warn Selma Lavoie and Milan Bernard, co-spokespersons for the CNC. “We expect significant processing delays and thousands of workers falling through the cracks after losing their jobs.“

Labour unions and advocacy groups for the unemployed are calling for the pilot project to include, at a minimum, the following measures:

• A universal eligibility threshold of 420 hours;
• An increase in EI benefits, with a minimum floor of $500 per week;
• Ensuring that disqualification due to the reason for job termination applies only to the last job held;
• Allowing workers to receive benefits sooner by simplifying the rules governing severance pay and other amounts received after job termination.

These types of measures have already proven effective in past economic crises.

“It’s in times of uncertainty like these that we need a solid and reliable social safety net. Right now, only 40% of unemployed workers qualify for employment insurance, benefits are too low, and processing times are unacceptably long. The government must act now,” say CSN President Caroline Senneville, QFL General Secretary Denis Bolduc, CSQ Secretary-Treasurer Luc Beauregard, and CSD President Luc Vachon in a joint statement.

Fanny Labelle, spokesperson for MASSE, adds: “By abandoning EI reform, the Liberal government has shot itself in the foot. Just four years after the pandemic, we once again have an unemployment protection system that fails to adequately support workers. We are calling on the government to course-correct immediately and implement long-term changes. The measures we are proposing will not only help address the current crisis but also fix the structural issues plaguing the employment insurance program.“

The coalition urges the government to implement these measures immediately, with the goal of making them permanent to ensure that workers have real protection in the event of job loss.

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Translated into English by SEU 800 from the original French-language press release issued by the QFL.