Losing Ground

The EI system allows workers to pay into a plan that is supposed to provide crucial support for workers between jobs, and quality re/training when required. However, significant changes to the system over the past 20 years have diminished the program’s effectiveness. Furthermore, EI’s role is being eroded at the same time as precarious work is expanding. The combination of these two factors is contributing to the long list of challenges inner-city and Aboriginal workers face, making it that much more difficult for them to realize their full potential.

In a new CCPA-MB report, Ellen Smirl and Lynne Fernandez detail how Manitoba’s Aboriginal and inner-city workers fare under the current EI system.