Vol. 143, No. 20 — September 30, 2009

Registration

SOR/2009-266 September 9, 2009

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT

Regulations Amending the Employment Insurance Regulations (Miscellaneous Program)

RESOLUTION

The Canada Employment Insurance Commission, pursuant to paragraph 5(4)(g) of the Employment Insurance Act (see footnote a), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Employment Insurance Regulations (Miscellaneous Program).

June 17, 2009

JANICE CHARETTE
Chairperson
Employment Insurance Commission

PATRICIA BLACKSTAFFE
Commissioner (Workers)
Employment Insurance Commission

ANDRÉ PICHÉ
Commissioner (Employers)
Employment Insurance Commission

P.C. 2009-1537 September 9, 2009

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, pursuant to paragraph 5(4)(g) of the Employment Insurance Act(see footnote b), hereby approves the annexed Regulations Amending the Employment Insurance Regulations (Miscellaneous Program), made by the Canada Employment Insurance Commission.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE REGULATIONS (MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAM)

AMENDMENT

1. Subparagraph 6(f)(i) of the Employment Insurance Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

(i) in or under any department or other portion of the federal public administration set out in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V to the Financial Administration Act,

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue and objectives

Currently, subparagraph 6(f)(i) of the Employment Insurance Regulations (EIR) references certain schedules to the Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA) and the Financial Administration Act (FAA) as part of its enumeration of employment that is included in insurable employment. However, the PSSRA was repealed in 2003 making the references to the schedules out of date.

The purpose of the proposed regulatory amendment is to update the references in subparagraph 6(f)(i) to accurately reflect the changes that have been made to the referenced legislation. Not proceeding with the amendment to subparagraph 6(f)(i) would involve some risk that the Employment Insurance (EI) Commission may not collect EI premiums from persons who should be captured by the legislation and that EI benefits may not be paid.

Description and rationale

In 2003, the Public Service Modernization Act (PSMA) repealed the PSSRA and enacted a new Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA) to govern labour relations in the federal public service; it also amended parts of the FAA. In particular, the list of employers that had been included in Schedule I to the PSSRA now appears in Schedules I, IV, and V of the FAA.

While paragraph 44(h) of the Interpretation Act has been relied upon to read and interpret the reference to Schedule I of the PSSRA as a reference to the corresponding schedules of the FAA, this approach is not appropriate for the long term. As a result, a regulatory amendment is proposed that would replace the current wording of subparagraph 6(f)(i) with the following:

(i) in or under any department or other portion of the federal public administration set out in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V to the Financial Administration Act,

Consultation

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has worked closely with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), which is responsible for ruling on the insurability of employment and earnings under the Employment Insurance Act (EIA), to develop the proposed amendment. CRA fully supports this regulatory amendment.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

No additional compliance and enforcement mechanisms are necessary for these Regulations as this amendment does not alter the original intent of subparagraph 6(f)(i); the types of employment covered under the current subparagraph 6(f)(i) will remain unchanged post-amendment.

Contact

Michael Duffy
Director
Legislative and Regulatory Policy Design
Employment Insurance Policy Directorate
Skills and Employment Branch
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage, 5th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0J9
Telephone: 819-997-5034
Fax: 819-934-6631

Footnote a
S.C. 1996, c. 23

Footnote b
S.C. 1996, c. 23

Footnote 1
SOR/96-332

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