Skip to main content
Back to Bills
FederalDid not become law (session ended)40th Parliament, 1st Session

Bill C-234 explained in plain English

An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (length of benefit period)

Federal Parliament bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament
Legislature / Parliament
Parliament of Canada
Session
40th Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill C-234
Full title
An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (length of benefit period)
Current status
Did not become law (session ended)
Latest event
Outside the Order of Precedence
Last updated
Nov 26, 2008
Sponsor

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.

Chamber
Parliament of Canada
Current Stage
Outside the Order of Precedence
Latest Activity
Nov 26, 2008
Sponsor
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

Bill C-234, if passed, would amend the Employment Insurance Act to change the calculation of insurable employment weeks by counting any week with at least 15 hours of work and by using a ratio of 30 total hours worked to one insurable week.

What It Means

Bill C-234 proposes to change how weeks of insurable employment are calculated for Employment Insurance (EI) benefit periods. It suggests that a week where at least 15 hours of work are performed counts as a full week of insurable employment. Additionally, it proposes that every 30 hours of total work completed count as one week of insurable employment, ensuring that the calculated number of insurable weeks is not less than this total hours divided by 30. The maximum benefit period would remain at 52 weeks.

What This Bill Does
  • Changes the calculation for determining weeks of insurable employment for employment insurance benefits.
  • Specifies that a week with at least 15 hours of work counts as one week of insurable employment.
  • Specifies that the total hours worked, divided by 30, determines a minimum number of weeks of insurable employment.
  • Maintains the maximum benefit period at 52 weeks.
Who Is Affected
  • Individuals applying for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.
  • The administration of the Employment Insurance program.
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • Changes to how an individual's insurable employment is counted to determine EI benefit duration.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The bill text does not specify when these changes would come into effect.
  • The bill text does not detail how the 'total number of hours worked' will be aggregated or tracked.
  • The bill text does not provide information on any potential impact on the calculation of EI premiums or benefits amounts, only on the duration of the benefit period.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Employment Insurance Act
amends

Changes the rules for calculating the number of weeks of insurable employment that determine the length of an employment insurance benefit period.

Source: Section 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 text

Parliamentary Process

Step 1
First reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for First reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 2
Second reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 3
Third reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Third reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 1
First reading
Nov 26, 2008
Completed

Bill C-234, concerning amendments to the Employment Insurance Act regarding benefit period length, completed its first reading in the House of Commons on November 26, 2008, and is currently outside the Order of Precedence.

Introduction and first reading, Nov 26, 2008
End of stage activity, Nov 26, 2008
Chamber sittings
Introduction and first reading - Nov 26, 2008

This House of Commons Hansard record documents the introduction and first reading debate of Bill C-234, an Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act, alongside other parliamentary business on November 26, 2008.

Step 2
Second reading
Date not listed
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Second reading yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 3
Consideration in committee
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Consideration in committee yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 4
Report stage
Not reached yet
Not reached

We don't have a plain-language summary for Report stage yet. The official source linked below is the full record.

Step 5
Third reading
Not reached yet
Not reached

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

No published recorded division

This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.

Sponsor
Yvon Godin
Sponsor party or district not listed
Jurisdiction
Federal Parliament

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