Bill C-111

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First Reading

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	Claim Procedure
Claim required	48. (1) No benefit period shall be established for a person unless the person makes an initial claim for benefits in accordance with section 50 and the regulations and proves that the person is qualified to receive benefits.
Information required	(2) No benefit period shall be established unless the claimant supplies information in the form and manner directed by the Commission, giving the claimant's employment circumstances and the circumstances pertaining to any interruption of earnings, and such other information as the Commission may require.
Notification	(3) On receiving an initial claim for benefits, the Commission shall decide whether the claimant is qualified to receive benefits and notify the claimant of its decision.
Proof required	49. (1) A person is not entitled to receive benefits for a week of unemployment until the person makes a claim for benefits for that week in accordance with section 50 and the regulations and proves that
	(a) the person meets the requirements for receiving benefits; and
	(b) no circumstances or conditions exist that have the effect of disentitling or disqualifying the person from receiving benefits.
Benefit of the doubt	(2) The Commission shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant on the issue of whether any circumstances or conditions exist that have the effect of disqualifying the claimant under section 30 or disentitling the claimant under section 31, 32 or 33, if the evidence on each side of the issue is equally balanced.
Notification	(3) On receiving a claim for benefits, the Commission shall decide whether benefits are payable to the claimant for that week and notify the claimant of its decision.
Entitlement to benefits	50. (1) A claimant who fails to fulfil or comply with a condition or requirement under this section is not entitled to receive benefits for as long as the condition or requirement is not fulfilled or complied with.
How a claim must be made	(2) A claim for benefits shall be made in the manner directed at the office of the Commission that serves the area in which the claimant resides, or at such other place as is prescribed or directed by the Commission.
Form	(3) A claim for benefits shall be made by completing a form supplied or approved by the Commission, in the manner set out in instructions of the Commission.
Time	(4) A claim for benefits for a week of unemployment in a benefit period shall be made within the prescribed time.
Additional information	(5) The Commission may at any time require a claimant to provide additional information about their claim for benefits.
Making claim or providing information in person	(6) The Commission may require a claimant or group or class of claimants to be at a suitable place at a suitable time in order to make a claim for benefits in person or provide additional information about a claim.
Registration for employment	(7) For the purpose of proving that a claimant is available for work, the Commission may require the claimant to register for employment at an agency administered by the Government of Canada or a provincial government and to report to the agency at such reasonable times as the Commission or agency directs.
Proof of efforts to obtain employment	(8) For the purpose of proving that a claimant is available for work and unable to obtain suitable employment, the Commission may require the claimant to prove that the claimant is making reasonable and customary efforts to obtain suitable employment.
Mailing address	(9) A claimant shall provide the mailing address of their normal place of residence, unless otherwise permitted by the Commission.
Waiver or variation of requirements	(10) The Commission may waive or vary any of the conditions and requirements of this section or the regulations whenever in its opinion the circumstances warrant the waiver or variation for the benefit of a claimant or a class or group of claimants.
Information	51. If, in considering a claim for benefits, the Commission finds an indication from the documents relating to the claim that the loss of employment resulted from the claimant's misconduct or that the claimant voluntarily left employment, the Commission shall
	(a) give the claimant and the employer an opportunity to provide information as to the reasons for the loss of employment; and
	(b) if the information is provided, take it into account in determining the claim.
Reconsiderati on of claim	52. (1) Notwithstanding section 120, but subject to subsection (5), the Commission may reconsider a claim for benefits within 36 months after the benefits have been paid or would have been payable.
Decision	(2) If the Commission decides that a person
	(a) has received money by way of benefits for which the person was not qualified or to which the person was not entitled, or
	(b) has not received money for which the person was qualified and to which the person was entitled,
	the Commission shall calculate the amount of the money and notify the claimant of its deci sion and the decision is subject to appeal under section 114.
Amount repayable	(3) If the Commission decides that a person has received money by way of benefits for which the person was not qualified or to which the person was not entitled,
	(a) the amount calculated is repayable under section 43; and
	(b) the day that the Commission notifies the person of the amount is, for the purposes of subsection 47(3), the day on which the liability arises.
Amount payable	(4) If the Commission decides that a person was qualified and entitled to receive money by way of benefits, and the money was not paid, the amount calculated is payable to the claimant.
Extended time to reconsider claim	(5) If, in the opinion of the Commission, a false or misleading statement or representation has been made in connection with a claim, the Commission has 72 months within which to reconsider the claim.
Notification	53. If the Commission is required to notify a person of a decision under this Part, it may have that person notified in such manner as it considers adequate.
	Regulations
Regulations	54. The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations
	(a) prescribing the conditions on which the requirement of serving a waiting period may be waived;
	(b) defining and determining what is a working day or working week in any employment;
	(c) prescribing the conditions and circumstances under which a claimant
	(i) while self-employed or employed in employment that is not insurable employment, or
	(ii) whose pattern of full-time employment differs from the normal and customary employment pattern of employed persons generally,
	has worked or has not worked a full working week;
	(d) defining and determining who are dependent children, prescribing low-income family eligibility criteria and determining the amount of family supplements for the purposes of section 16;
	(e) providing for the deduction under section 19 of remuneration and allowances mentioned in subsection 19(4);
	(f) determining the amount to be deducted under subsection 20(2) from weekly benefits paid if the claimant normally works other than a five day week;
	(g) setting out the circumstances that constitute the commencement or termination of a stoppage of work for the purposes of section 36;
	(h) providing for the making of claims by, and the payment of benefits to, any person or agency on behalf of deceased or incapacitated persons or persons with mental disabilities;
	(i) imposing additional conditions and terms with respect to the payment and receipt of benefits and restricting the amount or period of benefits in relation to persons who by custom of their occupation, trade or industry or under their agreement with an employer are paid in whole or in part by the piece or on a basis other than time;
	(j) prohibiting the payment of benefits, in whole or in part, and restricting the amount of benefits payable, in relation to persons or to groups or classes of persons who work or have worked for any part of a year in an industry or occupation in which, in the opinion of the Commission, there is a period that occurs annually, at regular or irregular intervals, during which no work is performed by a significant number of persons engaged in that industry or occupation, for any or all weeks in that period;
	(k) for the ratification of amounts paid to persons while they are not entitled to them and for writing off those amounts and any penalties under section 38 or 39 and amounts owing under section 43, 45, 46 or 65 and any costs recovered against those persons;
	(l) respecting the proof of fulfilment of the conditions and the absence of the disqualification from receiving or continuing to receive benefits, and for that purpose requiring the attendance of insured persons at such offices or places and at such times as may be required;
	(m) prescribing the manner in which claims for benefits shall be made and the information to be provided with those claims;
	(n) prescribing the procedure to be followed for the consideration and the examination of claims and questions to be considered by officers of the Commission and the way in which a question may be raised as to the continuation of benefits in the case of a person in receipt of benefits;
	(o) respecting the payment of benefits during any period intervening between an application for the determination of a question or a claim for benefits and the final determination of the question or claim;
	(p) prescribing the time and manner of paying benefits;
	(q) requiring employers to provide information about any matter on which the fulfilment of conditions for the qualification and entitlement for receiving or continuing to receive benefits depends, prescribing the time and manner in which the information shall be provided and requiring the certification or affirmation of the information;
	(r) providing the manner of ascertaining a claimant's employment history if their employer has failed to provide a record of their employment on separation or the employer is not available or is unable to provide the necessary employment history because their records are destroyed or lost;
	(s) defining and determining earnings for benefit purposes, determining the amount of those earnings and providing for the allocation of those earnings to weeks or other periods;
	(t) establishing criteria for defining and determining what constitutes a supplemental unemployment benefit plan and providing for the making of those determinations, including the consideration of late applications, reconsidering determinations and appeals from determinations;
	(u) defining and determining the circumstances in which and the time at which an interruption of earnings occurs;
	(v) prescribing conditions under which benefits may be paid in advance;
	(w) establishing regions appropriate for the purpose of applying this Part and Part VIII and delineating their boundaries based on geographical units mentioned in the Standard Geographical Classification, published from time to time by Statistics Canada;
	(x) determining the regional rates of unemployment produced by Statistics Canada or the averages of those rates that shall apply to a claimant for the purposes of this Part and Part VIII and incorporating in those rates an estimate of the rates for status Indians living on Indian reserves;
	(y) prescribing the information and evidence to be provided by a claimant to prove
	(i) inability to work because of illness, injury or quarantine, or
	(ii) pregnancy or the expected date of confinement;
	(z) for allocating insurable earnings to a rate calculation period, for example by including them in that period or excluding them from that period;
	(z.1) for allocating hours of insurable employment to a qualifying period, for example by including them in that period or excluding them from that period;
	(z.2) prescribing
	(i) the circumstances in which a claimant who leaves employment in accordance with an employer work-force reduction process that preserves the employment of co-workers may, notwithstanding section 30, be paid benefits, and
	(ii) what constitutes an employer work-force reduction process for the purposes of the regulations;
	(z.3) reducing the special benefits payable when allowances, money or other benefits are payable to a claimant under a plan other than one established under a provincial law; and
	(z.4) prescribing anything that by section 2 or this Part is to be prescribed.
Hours of insurable employment	55. (1) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations for establishing how many hours of insurable employment a person has, including regulations providing that persons whose earnings are not paid on an hourly basis are deemed to have hours of insurable employment as established in accordance with the regulations.
Alternative methods	(2) If the Commission considers that it is not possible to apply the provisions of the regulations, it may authorize an alternative method of establishing how many hours of insurable employment a person has.
Alteration or rescission of authorization	(3) The Commission may at any time alter the authorized method or rescind the authorization, subject to any conditions that it considers appropriate.
Agreement to provide alternative methods	(4) The Commission may enter into agreements with employers or employees to provide for alternative methods of establishing how many hours of insurable employment persons have and the Commission may at any time rescind the agreements.

Bill C-111

Claim Procedure

Regulations