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The federal government says it’s making it easier for workers impacted by new U.S. tariffs to access Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, but at least one expert says more can be done to help workers that have been let go and are struggling to get by.
“People may be able to make ends meet for a short period of time, but in job markets like this, where people are facing longer periods of unemployment than they otherwise would, it could be hard for people to pay their bills, keep a roof over their head and keep food on their family’s table,” says Teilen Celentano, an associate employment lawyer with Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.
U.S. tariffs have led to thousands of job losses over the past year, and in anticipation of further impacts, Ottawa launched one new temporary EI measure in addition to extending three temporary measures launched in March 2025.
“The more people that can keep their jobs, their current jobs, the healthier and more productive our communities remain, but for those that lose their jobs, even with those supports for employers, we’re going to make it even easier to get employment insurance,” said Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu Tuesday.
The newest measure relates to when workers can access EI if they voluntarily left a previous job within a year.
For one year, if someone leaves their job voluntarily and then finds work somewhere else, they can still access EI if they lose that newer job through no fault of their own. The previous qualification stated that if someone left their job voluntarily, they would not qualify to receive EI for 52 weeks.
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“That situation would be where somebody resigned, faced a period of unemployment, found a new job, and then that new job…they lost,” says Celentano.
“I think it’s a good thing that they’re at least trying to help people who tried to make a new move and through no fault of their own, that new move didn’t work out.”
The federal government also announced it’s waiving the one-week waiting period before workers are eligible to receive EI benefit payments for an additional year.
Impacted workers will also, for an additional year, be able to receive EI benefits without first using their severance pay or vacation pay. For example, if someone is let go and given severance pay equal to three months, they will still be able to receive EI benefit payments during those first three months.
That scenario also offers workers the ability to “double-dip.”
“In terms of employees who have been terminated or having trouble at work, it’s a great measure that does help them out because they can double dip,” says employment lawyer and partner Puneet Tawari at Levitt LLP.
“That’s the colloquial term we use in the employment law — they’re double dipping on EI until they get a new job and they get a severance package from their employer. So that’s definitely helpful.
Finally, a special EI measure that provides an extra 20 weeks of EI benefits for long-tenured workers will also be extended. This is because long-tenured workers, who have long years of experience in a particular industry, may find it difficult to transition to a new job or sector quickly, officials said Tuesday.
EI currently allows for maximum weekly payments of $729 before taxes, and is calculated based on 55 per cent of average insurable weekly earnings up to $68,900 per year. None of those amounts have been adjusted under these temporary measures by the federal government.
Celentano says, depending on their local cost of living and other personal circumstances, that may not be enough to get by.
Celentano adds that the government could help workers even more by increasing some or all of those payment amounts as part of these temporary measures.
Hajdu’s announcement followed Industry Minister Melanie Joly’s announcement of dollar-for-dollar counter-tariff measures on 700 U.S. goods, and said “we’ll be smart and we’ll be strategic and we’ll fight for every one of these jobs.”
Canada walked away from the bargaining table with the U.S. last week, with Prime Minister Mark Carney saying issues including disagreements over specific tariffs and Canada’s independent decision-making torpedoed any hopes of a new deal being finalized.
As a result, U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of new 50 per cent tariffs went into place, which sees Canada’s dairy, automotive and alcohol sectors as prime targets, while also including hundreds of other items ranging from cement and plastics to honey and even hockey sticks.
–with files from Global News’ Uday Rana
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