Career Transition Assistance - Frequently asked questions
Important Message: The Career Transition Assistance initiative is sunsetting and new applications will no longer be accepted by provinces and territories.
- What were the Career Transition Assistance Initiatives implemented for long-tenured workers?
- Who was eligible to participate in the Career Transition Assistance Initiatives?
- What is a long-tenured worker?
- What were the timeframes and deadlines for the Career Transition Assistance Initiatives?
- What happens if I missed the deadline to apply?
- What can I do if the training I wanted to take did not receive approval?
- How long can I get benefits while I participate in these initiatives?
- Can Employment Insurance benefits be paid during a break between two training courses?
- Can Employment Insurance benefits be paid during the Christmas break and the reading week?
- Can Employment Insurance benefits be paid during summer vacation?
- What were the Career Transition Assistance Initiatives implemented for long-tenured workers?
As part of the Economic Action Plan, the government implemented two temporary Career Transition Assistance initiatives that assisted eligible long-tenured workers renew or upgrade their skills while they received regular EI benefits.
In addition, eligible laid-off workers who received payments on termination of employment and used some of these payments to pay for eligible training did not have to wait as long before they received EI benefits.
These initiatives came into force on May 31, 2009, and applied to EI benefit periods established between January 25, 2009 and May 29, 2010.
The two Career Transition Assistance initiatives included the Extended Employment Insurance and Training Incentive (EEITI) pilot project and the Severance Investment for Training Initiative (SITI).
EEITI offers support to long-tenured workers who have agreed to take long-term training as follows:- a claim for EI regular benefits could be extended for up to a maximum of 104 weeks (including the two-week mandatory waiting period) while the claimant is on training.
- it could include up to 12 weeks of EI regular benefits after the completion of training to help facilitate job search. This depends on the length of the training.
SITI allowed long-tenured workers who received payments on termination of employment and agreed to finance their own training, to receive regular EI benefits sooner, instead of having to wait for these payments to be exhausted before they received EI.- To have been eligible for the SITI, the training must have been (be) full time, last at least 10 weeks, or the tuition fees must be at least $5,000 or 80% of the termination payments, and begin within a year of the start date of their EI claim.
- Who was eligible to participate in the Career Transition Assistance Initiatives?
You were eligible if you qualified for regular EI benefits between January 25, 2009 and May 29, 2010 and had been identified as a long-tenured worker in a Service Canada letter.
- What is a long-tenured worker?
A long-tenured worker is someone who:
- had an EI claim that started on or after January 25, 2009, but no later than May 29, 2010;
- had contributed to the EI program (paid at least 30% of the annual maximum EI premiums) for at least seven out of the ten calendar years immediately preceding the start date of the EI claim; and
- had received no more than 35 weeks of regular EI benefits in the five years immediately preceding the start date of their claim.
- What were the timeframes and deadlines for the Career Transition Assistance Initiatives?
These initiatives came into force on May 31, 2009, and applied to EI benefit periods established between January 25, 2009 and May 29, 2010.
For EEITI, if your EI claim started between January 25th 2009 and May 31st 2009, you had until August 22nd 2009 to start a Return to Work Action Plan with your local employment service provider.
If your EI claim started after May 31st, 2009, you must have started a Return to Work Action Plan with your local employment service provider within 20 weeks after your claim started. A Return to Work Action Plan must have been started prior to October 10, 2010 to participate in the Career Assistance Transition Initiatives.
For SITI, you must be referred to training by your local employment service provider during the period covered by your termination payments.
If the period covered by your termination payments was five weeks or less you must have been referred to training by your local employment service provider within six weeks of receiving the letter,from Service Canada that informed you of the allocation of your termination payments. - What happens if I missed the deadline to apply?
Missing the deadline to obtain a referral to training will result in refusal of your participation.
What can I do if the training I wanted to take did not receive approval?
Training must be approved by the local employment service provider of participating provinces and territories.
Decisions regarding referral or non referral to training cannot be appealed.
- How long can I get benefits while I participate in these initiatives?
Under SITI, the length of regular EI benefits was determined when your claim was processed and was based on the unemployment rate in your region and the number of insurable hours you had accumulated in the qualifying period.
Under EEITI, regular EI benefits can be extended while you are on training up to a maximum of 104 weeks (including the mandatory two-week waiting period). This extension could also include up to 12 weeks of benefits following training to facilitate job search.
- Can Employment Insurance benefits be paid during a break between two training courses?
If your entitlement to regular benefits has not been terminated and you have not received all of your weeks of entitlement, you could receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits for the number of weeks to which you are entitled, as long as you meet all the other conditions of eligibility.
On the other hand, if your entitlement to regular benefits has been terminated, you will not receive EI benefits. Your benefits will begin to be paid to you again once the new training course authorized by the provider restarts.
- Can Employment Insurance benefits be paid during the Christmas break and the reading week?
If the break period is authorized by the service provider, you will continue to receive EI benefits as long as you satisfy all the other conditions of entitlement.
- Can Employment Insurance benefits be paid during summer vacation?
If the break period is brief and authorized by the service provider, you could receive EI benefits as long as you satisfy all the other conditions of entitlement.
If the break is long and if your entitlement to regular benefits has not been terminated, you could receive EI benefits for the number of weeks to which you are entitled, as long as you satisfy all the other conditions of entitlement. On the other hand, if your entitlement to regular benefits has been terminated, you will not receive EI benefits. Your benefits will begin to be paid to you again once the new training course authorized by the service provider restarts.
