The pandemic has exposed major shortcomings in the main pillar of Canada’s social safety net: the Employment Insurance system. The current system — designed in the 1970s and updated in the 1990s — was showing its age prior to the pandemic, as many unemployed Canadians struggled to qualify for benefits or to find permanent work before their benefits ran out. Looking ahead to the post-pandemic recovery, how can Canada modernize its EI system to better suit the needs of working-age adults in the 21st century?
That’s what was up for discussion at this IRPP webinar. Our panel featured three of the country’s top experts on the matter: Tammy Schirle (Wilfrid Laurier University), Stephanie Lluis and Mikal Skuterud (both of the University of Waterloo) along with the IRPP’s Colin Busby acting as moderator.
An initiative of the research program The Social Safety Net for Working-Age Adults.
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