🍁 civid v1

Status

• Bill C-249 was introduced in the House of Commons and received first reading on October 21, 2025. It would amend the Employment Insurance Act.

Combined benefits and extensions

• The bill would make pregnancy, parental and critically ill adult care benefits exceptions to the rule limiting combined benefits to 50 weeks in a benefit period. Applicable maximums for individual benefits would still apply.
• It would add people receiving pregnancy or parental benefits to a provision allowing benefit-period extensions.
• It would revise an extension provision for claimants who receive regular benefits and certain parental benefits. The extension could not exceed 26 weeks. It would also provide for a corresponding extension of the parental-benefit period.

Care for critically ill adults

• The maximum benefit period for someone caring for or supporting one or more critically ill adults would increase from 15 to 26 weeks. This change would apply to both claimants and self-employed people covered by the relevant provisions.
• For the same critically ill adult, the maximum would be 26 weeks during the specified 52-week period, even where there are multiple claims or certificates.
• Claimants could share the available weeks for the same adult, including between the regular and self-employed provisions, up to a combined maximum of 26 weeks. If they cannot agree on the division, prescribed rules would apply.

Other changes

• The bill would repeal subsection 12(7) and Schedule IV of the Act. The provided text does not describe their current contents.
• The provided text specifies no implementation date or cost estimate.