Since 2006, our government has adopted a number of measures to improve employment insurance, including the following: an extra five weeks
of regular benefits were added and more than 500,000 Canadians have used them; the 2010 budget has extended by one year the improved version of the work-sharing program, which currently protects the jobs of 150,000 Canadians; unprecedented investments in training were made in order to help unemployed Canadians return to work — whether or not they were eligible for employment insurance — for a tota
...[+++]l of $1.5 billion over two years to help 150,000 Canadians in 2009-10; an additional 5 to 20 weeks of employment insurance benefits were made available to long-tenured workers who paid into EI for many years and have difficulty finding new jobs; a total of 2.6 million self-employed workers gained voluntary access to special benefits, which has been a long-standing demand; the 2010 budget has made it easier for relatives of crime victims to access sickness benefits; for the first time ever, 2.6 million self-employed workers in Canada have access to sickness and compassionate care benefits under the employment insurance program; and in 2006, our government expanded the number of family members and others who can receive compassionate care benefits.