Transitional Assistance Benefit Regulations (SOR/65-410)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Transitional Assistance Benefit Regulations.

Interpretation

2 In these Regulations,

Automotive Agreement

Automotive Agreement means the Canada-United States Agreement on Automotive Products signed on January 16, 1965, by the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada; (accord de l’automobile)

average weekly wages and salaries in the industries

average weekly wages and salaries in the industries means the average wages and salaries of employees in the Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Parts and Accessories Industries weighted according to the number of persons employed in each industry for the latest twelve months for which figures are published by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics and effective the first of the month following the publication thereof; (traitements et salaires hebdomadaires moyens dans les industries)

Board

Board means the General Adjustment Assistance Board established by the General Adjustment Assistance Regulations; (Commission)

Board of Referees

Board of Referees means a board of referees appointed pursuant to the Unemployment Insurance Act; (conseil arbitral)

certificate

certificate means a certificate issued to the Department of Labour by the Board in accordance with section 12 of the Automotive Manufacturing Assistance Regulations; (certificat)

Commission

Commission means the Unemployment Insurance Commission established pursuant to the Unemployment Insurance Act; (Commission)

dependant

dependant means a person considered a dependant under the provisions of subsection (3) of section 47 of the Unemployment Insurance Act; (personne à charge)

effective date of the lay-off

effective date of the lay-off means the day stated by the Board in a certificate to be the effective date of the lay-off of the employees named in the certificate; (date effective du débauchage)

employer

employer means an employer of employees named in a certificate issued by the Board and any other employer who, in the opinion of the Minister of Industry, is engaged in producing products to which the Automotive Agreement applies; (employeur)

employee

employee means an employee named in a certificate issued by the Board; (employé)

insurance officer

insurance officer means an officer or employee appointed or employed pursuant to the Unemployment Insurance Act and authorized by the Commission to be an insurance officer for the purposes of that Act; (fonctionnaire de l’assurance)

maximum benefit entitlement

maximum benefit entitlement in respect of an employee means the weekly sum of money established under section 10; (allocation maximum attribuable)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Labour; (Ministre)

previous earnings

previous earnings means the gross weekly wages of an employee for a normal full week of employment without overtime by an employer immediately preceding the effective date of the lay-off; (gains antérieurs)

qualifying week

qualifying week means a week

• (i) for which a contribution in respect of earnings of at least twenty dollars of an insured person is payable under the Unemployment Insurance Act and has been paid by an employer, or

• (ii) in which an employee for whom contributions are not payable under the Unemployment Insurance Act has worked for an employer and has earned at least twenty dollars, if the fact of his having so worked is established to the satisfaction of an insurance officer; (semaine ouvrant droit à prestations)

supplemental unemployment benefits

supplemental unemployment benefits means benefits under a private supplemental unemployment benefit plan that has been approved by the Commission pursuant to the Unemployment Insurance Act; and (prestations supplémentaires de chômage)

week

week means a calendar week. (semaine)

Eligibility

3 Transitional assistance benefits may be paid by the Commission of moneys appropriated by Parliament in amounts calculated in accordance with these Regulations to an employee where an insurance officer is satisfied that

• (a) a transitional assistance benefit period has been established in respect of such an employee; and

• (b) all other conditions of these Regulations have been complied with.

4 A transitional assistance benefit period in respect of an employee is established when, upon filing an application for transitional assistance benefits, he proves that

• (a) during the period of fifty-two weeks immediately preceding the Sunday before the day stated by the Board to be the effective date of the lay-off, he had at least sixteen qualifying weeks and the effective date of the lay-off is after November 17, 1968 but not after June 30, 1973; and

• (b) he has an established benefit period under the Unemployment Insurance Act or had a benefit period established under that Act that terminated subsequent to the effective date of the lay-off.

5 No transitional assistance benefits may be paid to an employee for any week in respect of which he is paid supplemental unemployment benefits.

Transitional Assistance Benefit Period

• 6 (1) Every transitional assistance benefit period established under these Regulations in respect of an employee shall commence with and include the week in which the effective date of the lay-off falls and shall terminate on the earlier of

  • (a) the date that the employee exhausts the transitional assistance benefits provided under these Regulations in respect of that period; or

  • (b) one hundred and fifty-six weeks from the effective date of the lay-off.

• (2) Subsection (1) applies in respect of an employee only if the effective date of the lay-off occurred or occurs after April 2, 1966.

• (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of subsection (1) but subject to paragraph (a) thereof, no transitional assistance benefit period established in respect of an employee that commenced between April 2, 1966, and December 31, 1966, shall be terminated prior to December 27, 1969.

7 Where,

• (a) a transitional assistance benefit period has been established in respect of an employee, and

• (b) during that period, the employee is employed by an employer and, subsequent to the termination of that employment, is laid off so that there is an effective date of the lay-off within the meaning of paragraph (h) of section 2,

there may be established in respect of the employee, at the termination of the transitional assistance benefit period mentioned in paragraph (a), a further transitional assistance benefit period in respect of the lay-off mentioned in paragraph (b).

Duration of Transitional Assistance Benefits

• 8 (1) Where the effective date of the lay-off of an employee occurred or occurs after November 17, 1968, that employee may, in respect of any transitional assistance benefit period, be paid benefits for a number of weeks not exceeding the difference between

  • (a) one week for each two of his qualifying weeks in the one hundred and four weeks immediately preceding the most recent Sunday before the effective date of the lay-off; and

  • (b) the number of weeks for which the employee is disqualified under section 14 from receiving transitional assistance benefits.

• (2) Where a certificate indicates the proportion of a lay-off that is due to the Automotive Agreement, the number of weeks determined pursuant to subsection (1) shall be reduced in the same proportion, except that the number of weeks remaining after the reduction shall not be less than four.

• (3) For the purposes of subsection (1), a fraction of a week shall be deemed to be a full week.

Calculation of Transitional Assistance Benefits

• 9 (1) The transitional assistance benefit of an employee is, subject to subsection (2) of this section and to sections 14 and 17, a weekly sum of money equal to the amount, if any, by which the maximum benefit entitlement of the employee exceeds the greatest of

  • (a) the weekly unemployment insurance benefit to which the employee is entitled under the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Supplementary Unemployment Insurance Benefit Regulations;

  • (b) the weekly training allowance to which the employee is entitled under the provisions of the Adult Occupational Training Act; or

  • (c) the aggregate of the unemployment insurance benefit, the supplementary unemployment insurance benefit and the training allowance to which the employee is entitled in respect of the week.

• (2) Where, pursuant to section 58 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, moneys are recovered out of unemployment insurance benefits payable to an employee during a transitional assistance benefit period, the amount of transitional assistance benefit payable shall not be greater than the amount that would have been paid if the employee had been entitled to the money so recovered.

10 The maximum benefit entitlement of an employee in respect of whom a transitional assistance benefit period has been established is a weekly sum of money equal to the lesser of

• (a) sixty-two per cent of the previous earnings of the employee together with two and one-half per cent of such earnings for each dependant of the employee at the beginning of his transitional assistance benefit period, up to a maximum of seventy-five per cent of the employee’s previous earnings; or

• (b) sixty-five per cent of the average weekly wages and salaries in the industries.

11 A maximum benefit entitlement calculated under section 10 is fixed for the duration of the transitional assistance benefit period for which it is calculated.

12 The maximum benefit entitlement of an employee calculated under section 10 shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar and a half dollar shall be rounded to a full dollar.

Disqualification

• 13 (1) Subject to this section, the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Regulations made thereunder relating to disqualification of an insured person from receiving benefits under the Act apply mutatis mutandis to employees applying for transitional assistance benefits under these Regulations.

• (2) An employee shall not be disqualified from receiving transitional assistance benefits

  • (a) by virtue of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 54 or paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of subsection (1) of section 59 of the Unemployment Insurance Act if the suitable employment referred to therein is not comparable employment;

  • (b) by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 54 of the Unemployment Insurance Act during any period in respect of which he receives a training allowance under the Adult Occupational Training Act; or

  • (c) by virtue of paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 59 of the Unemployment Insurance Act.

• (3) Section 66 of the Unemployment Insurance Act shall apply mutatis mutandis in respect of an applicant for transitional assistance benefits where the waiting period provided for in section 16 has been completed and the provisions of section 55 of the Unemployment Insurance Act have been fulfilled or are not required, for the purposes of a claim under that Act, to be fulfilled.

• 14 (1) Where, in relation to an application for transitional assistance benefits, an employee or any person on his behalf makes a statement or representation that he knows to be false or misleading, an insurance officer may declare the employee to be disqualified from receiving transitional assistance benefits for not more than the first six of the weeks described in subsection (2) that occur after such day as the insurance officer may determine.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a week described in this subsection is a week in respect of which an employee

  • (a) makes a claim for transitional assistance benefits in the prescribed manner; and

  • (b) would, but for this section, be entitled to receive transitional assistance benefits.

• (3) Where, pursuant to section 65 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, an employee is disqualified from receiving unemployment insurance benefits in any week during a transitional assistance benefit period, then notwithstanding the provisions of section 9, the amount of transitional assistance benefits payable shall not be greater than the amount that would have been paid if the disqualification had not been imposed and the unemployment insurance benefits had been fully paid.

Payment of Benefits

• 15 (1) Subject to these Regulations, where an employee in respect of whom a transitional assistance benefit period has been established proves that he was unemployed and not entitled to a retirement pension under the Canada Pension Plan or the Quebec Pension Plan during any week in the transitional assistance benefit period, he is entitled, commencing with the week in which he makes an application for transitional assistance benefits and makes a claim for unemployment insurance benefits, if an unemployment insurance benefit period is then established with respect to him, to be paid transitional assistance benefits in respect of his unemployment during that week.

• (2) Where an unemployment insurance benefit period of an employee terminates prior to the termination of a transitional assistance benefit period of the employee, transitional assistance benefits continue to be payable to him in accordance with these Regulations but shall not be paid if the employee is able to establish a new unemployment insurance benefit period and fails to do so.

• (3) The provisions of section 57 of the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Regulations relating thereto apply mutatis mutandis to these Regulations.