Bill C-233 explained in plain English
An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (benefit period increase for regional rate of unemployment)
Federal Parliament bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Parliament of Canada snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. MP vote breakdowns appear when the House of Commons publishes a recorded division export for that bill. Senate and House stage details include official debate/sitting links when LEGISinfo publishes them.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill C-233 would extend Employment Insurance benefit periods based on regional unemployment rates, adding 2 weeks per percentage point above 4% (up to 10%) and 3 weeks per percentage point above 10%, with a maximum of 52 weeks total.
Bill C-233 proposes to change how long people can receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. Currently, the Employment Insurance Act sets a standard benefit period. This bill would increase that benefit period based on how high the unemployment rate is in a particular region. Specifically, for every percentage point the regional unemployment rate goes above 4% (but stays at 10% or below), the benefit period would be extended by 2 weeks. For every percentage point the unemployment rate goes above 10%, the benefit period would be extended by 3 weeks instead. However, the total benefit period cannot exceed 52 weeks, even with these increases. This means people in regions with higher unemployment would be able to collect EI benefits for longer periods.
- Amends Section 10 of the Employment Insurance Act by adding a new subsection (2.1)
- Increases the standard benefit period for Employment Insurance based on regional unemployment rates
- Adds 2 weeks to the benefit period for every percentage point the regional unemployment rate exceeds 4% but does not exceed 10%
- Adds 3 weeks to the benefit period for every percentage point the regional unemployment rate exceeds 10%
- Sets a maximum benefit period limit of 52 weeks after all increases are applied
- People receiving Employment Insurance benefits
- Residents of regions with unemployment rates above 4%
- Workers in regions experiencing high unemployment
- Eligible EI recipients in regions with elevated unemployment rates would be entitled to longer benefit periods under the new formula
- Bill had its first reading on November 26, 2008
- The bill would increase government EI benefit payouts in regions with higher unemployment rates since benefit periods would be extended
- The bill text does not define what constitutes a 'region' for purposes of measuring unemployment rates
- The bill does not specify which government agency or department would be responsible for calculating and applying the regional unemployment rates
- The bill does not indicate when this adjustment would take effect or the date it would come into force
- The bill does not clarify how regional unemployment rates would be measured or updated (e.g., monthly, quarterly)
- It is unclear whether this adjustment applies to all types of EI benefits or only certain benefit categories
- The bill does not specify how existing benefit periods would be affected if already in progress when this change takes effect
Section 10 is amended to add a new automatic adjustment mechanism that increases benefit periods when regional unemployment is high
Source: Section 10, new subsection (2.1)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textParliamentary Process
We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
Bill C-233, an Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act regarding benefit periods and regional unemployment rates, completed its first reading in the House of Commons on November 26, 2008, and is currently outside the order of precedence.
This record indicates that Bill C-233, concerning an amendment to the Employment Insurance Act to increase the benefit period based on the regional unemployment rate, completed its first reading in the House of Commons on November 26, 2008. At this stage, the bill was formally introduced and given its first reading. The bill's current status is 'Outside the Order of Precedence,' meaning it is not currently scheduled for further debate or action. The record also notes similar bills (C-479, C-371, and C-481) introduced in previous Parliaments with the same objective.
On November 26, 2008, Bill C-233, concerning amendments to the Employment Insurance Act regarding benefit periods, was formally introduced and read for the first time in the House of Commons as part of routine proceedings.
During this House of Commons sitting on November 26, 2008, the introduction and first reading of Bill C-233, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (benefit period increase for regional rate of unemployment), occurred. This stage is procedural and does not involve debate on the bill's content. The artifact indicates that a bill was introduced and printed. The rest of the sitting involved various other parliamentary activities such as statements by members, oral questions, and routine proceedings, but these are not directly related to the procedural step of introducing Bill C-233.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.
Debate and sitting links point to official parliamentary sources when LEGISinfo publishes them. Any plain-language discussion summaries should be generated from those official texts and reviewed before public display.
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced