PART IX

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

1996, c. 23

Employment Insurance Act

88. (1) Paragraph 25(1)(a) of the Employment Insurance Act is replaced by the following:

    (a) attending a course or program of instruction or training at the claimant's own expense, or under employment benefits or similar benefits that are the subject of an agreement under section 63, to which the Commission, or an authority that the Commission designates, has referred the claimant; or

(2) Subsection (1) comes into force or is deemed to have come into force on April 1, 1997.

89. (1) Section 26 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Benefits are not earnings

26. For the purposes of this Part, Part IV, the Income Tax Act and the Canada Pension Plan, benefits paid to a claimant while employed under employment benefits, or under similar benefits that are the subject of an agreement under section 63, are not earnings from employment.

(2) Subsection (1) comes into force or is deemed to have come into force on April 1, 1997.

90. (1) Subsections 96(6) to (10) of the Act are replaced by the following:

Temporary measure - employer's premium refund for 1997

(6) If an employer's premium is less than $60,000 during 1996, the Minister shall refund to the employer a portion of the premium for 1997 determined by the following formula if that amount is more than $1:

P2 - (P1 + $250 )

where

P1 is the amount of the employer's premium in 1996; and

P2 is the amount of the employer's premium in 1997.

Temporary measure - employer's premium refund for 1998

(7) If an employer's premium is less than $60,000 during 1996, the Minister shall refund to the employer a portion of the premium for 1998 determined by the following formula if that amount is more than $1:

P2 - (P1 + $250) 4

where

P1 is the amount of the employer's premium in 1996; and

P2 is the amount of the employer's premium in 1998.

P1 can be equal to zero

(7.1) For the purposes of subsections (6) and (7), P1 is equal to zero where a person was not required to pay an employer's premium in 1996.

Maximum refund

(8) A refund under subsection (6) or (7) shall not exceed

    (a) $10,000, if the amount of the employer's premium in 1996 is less than $50,000 ; and

    (b) $60,000 minus the amount of the employer's premium in 1996, if that amount is $50,000 or more, but less than $60,000 .

Interpreta-
tion

(8.1) For the purposes of subsections (6) to (8), a reference to an employer's premium in 1996 includes the employer's premium required to be paid that year under the Unemployment Insurance Act.

Associated employers

(9) If at any time during a year for which a refund is sought two or more employers are associated, as defined by the regulations, they shall be considered a single employer for the purposes of subsections (6) to (8) and any refund shall be allocated to them in the prescribed manner.

Application for refund

(10) A refund under subsections (4) to (7) is payable only if an application is made in writing to the Minister within three years after the end of the year for which the premium was deducted or required to be paid.

(2) Subsection (1) is deemed to have come into force on January 1, 1997.

Retroactive effect of regulations

91. For the purpose of implementing the amendments to the Employment Insurance Act enacted by section 90, a regulation or any provisions of a regulation made under paragraph 108(1)(o) of that Act may, if the regulation so provides, be retroactive and have effect with respect to any period before it is made that begins on or after January 1, 1997.

PART X

AMENDMENTS TO OTHER ACTS

R.S., c. B-7

Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act

92. The Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act is amended by adding the following after section 8.1:

Interim financing agreements

8.2 (1) Where the Bank for International Settlements has agreed to provide a credit facility to a country seeking financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund or the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Minister of Finance is of the opinion that the credit facility is necessary to facilitate the provision of such financial assistance to the country, the Minister may enter into an agreement or arrangement with the Bank for International Settlements to guarantee the repayment of the principal and any interest owing under the credit facility.

Terms of agreement

(2) An agreement or arrangement entered into under this section

    (a) must not be for a term longer than one year; and

    (b) must not be for the repayment of an amount exceeding five hundred million American dollars, or ten per cent of the credit facility, whichever is greater.

Bank of Canada may act as agent

(3) The Bank of Canada, on the request of the Minister of Finance, may act as agent of the Minister for the purposes of subsection (1).

Payment out of C.R.F.

(4) Any sum or sums required for the purposes of this section shall be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

1993, c. 14

Farm Credit Corporation Act

93. Subsection 11(1) of the Farm Credit Corporation Act is replaced by the following:

Capital payments

11. (1) At the request of the Corporation, the Minister of Finance may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, pay to the Corporation, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, amounts not exceeding in the aggregate one billion, one hundred and seventy-five million dollars, or such greater aggregate amount as may be authorized from time to time under an appropriation Act.

PART XI

PAYMENT TO THE CANADA FOUNDATION FOR INNOVATION

$800,000,000 granted

94. From and out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund there may, on the requisition of the Minister of Industry, be paid and applied a sum not exceeding eight hundred million dollars, plus interest thereon compounded monthly based on the average daily balance outstanding for the month and calculated from the day on which this Act received first reading in the House of Commons to the day on which this Act is assented to at an annual rate, in each month in which the interest is calculated, that is equivalent to ninety per cent of the simple arithmetic mean of the annual rate of yield on the three month treasury bills that were issued and sold in the immediately preceding month, for payment to the Canada Foundation for Innovation for its use.