The federal government plans to extend partial Employment Insurance benefits to self-employed Canadians including farmers.
Human resources minister Diane Finley announced yesterday that for the first time, self-employed Canadians will be able to opt into EI, pay partial premiums and be eligible for benefits such as payments during maternity leave (maximum 15 weeks), early childhood parental leave (35 weeks maximum), sickness or injury leave benefits (15 weeks maximum) and six weeks of payments while caring for a sick family member.
The self-employed, including farmers, will be able to apply to join the program after its expected launch in January 2010 once legislation is approved.
Farmers could apply for benefits a year after opting in, beginning Jan. 1. Premiums would start in the tax year during which they apply to the program.
If they claim benefits, they would be locked into the program and be required to pay premiums “for as long as they are self-employed.”
To be eligible to claim benefits, self-employed people would have to have earned at least $6,000 from their business during the previous calendar year.
They would pay employee premiums of $1.73 for each $100 of insurable earnings but not have to contribute employer matching premiums because they would not be eligible for payments after job loss.
Farm sector leaders welcomed the announcement.
“Overall, it is good news,” said Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Laurent Pellerin.
“But it still is unclear how it will work. What will the details be? How much will premiums be and when is a farmer no longer self-employed. They could be paying premiums until they die.”
Pellerin said it will be important for rules governing farmer participation to recognize that the farm sector is different than many other self-employed businesses.
“But if this extended some benefits to farmers they don’t have now, it will be welcome.”
Grain Growers of Canada executive director Richard Phillips was in Toronto for the announcement and was enthusiastic.
He said the promise of benefits for farm families planning a family or trying to care for young children is important.
Phillips recalled the complications of having four young children on his grain farm in Saskatchewan.
“This could be the difference as whether one member of the family has to seek off-farm employment because now families will have a choice,” he said in a news release after the announcement.
“With over 200,000 farms in Canada, if even 10 percent of them choose to take advantage of these programs, this could help ensure another 20,000 more young families staying on the land.”
To take effect, the EI extension legislation must make it through Parliament but despite the government’s minority status, opposition parties are unlikely to block it.
