Open for signatureElectronice-7762 · Parliament 45

Amend EI for progressive neurodegenerative diagnoses

Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to amend the Employment Insurance Act so a confirmed progressive, life‑limiting neurodegenerative diagnosis qualifies caregivers for EI benefits without requiring critical‑illness certification or a 26‑week death risk.

Why we would sign this petition

Closes a gap so caregivers can access EI during the long, middle phase of progressive neurodegenerative illness when current sudden‑change or 26‑week rules leave them ineligible.
Provides income stability for family members who reduce or quit paid work to provide months or years of essential caregiving.
Reflects medical uncertainty by making eligibility hinge on a confirmed progressive, life‑limiting diagnosis rather than an unreliable short‑term death prognosis.

Why we wouldn’t sign this petition

Would expand EI eligibility and likely raise program costs, creating trade‑offs such as higher premiums or cuts elsewhere.
Broader diagnostic eligibility could be administratively complex and increase verification challenges if short‑term certification rules are removed.
May not target the most acute needs and could overlap with provincial job‑protected leave that already preserves employment but provides no income.

The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the House of Commons in Parliament assembled Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable, fatal neurodegenerative disease, and most Canadians diagnosed with it live two to five years (ALS Society of Canada); ALS and similar progressive diseases require sustained caregiving—help with eating, transferring, communication, and breathing—for months or years before death, usually from family members who reduce or leave paid employment; Employment Insurance family caregiver benefits for adults require certification on sudden change in health rather than steady decline; Employment Insurance compassionate care benefits require certification of a significant risk of death within 26 weeks (Employment Insurance Act, s, 23.1), and prognosis in these diseases cannot reliably be narrowed to such a window; Caregivers therefore qualify for neither benefit during the long, middle period of the disease, when care needs are greatest; and Provincial job-protected leave provides no income, and the Canada caregiver amounts (Income Tax Act, s. 118(1)(d)) are non-refundable credits that reduce tax payable but cannot produce a refund (Canada Revenue Agency, Federal Income Tax and Benefit Guide), and so are worth noting to a caregiver who has left the workforce. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to amend the Employment Insurance Act so that a confirmed diagnosis of a progressive, life-limiting neurodegenerative disease establishes eligibility for caregiving benefits without requiring certification of critical illness or of a significant risk of death within 26 weeks.

Government response

No government response is available yet.