Income Security (Legal Information for Indigenous People: National Edition)

Employment Insurance (EI)

The EI Application is online and takes about 40 minutes. As a general rule, apply within 4 weeks of stopping work. https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei.html

Eligibility considerations include:

Regular Benefits:

• Eligible if you lose work through no fault of your own (shortage of work, laid off, etc.) and
• You have the required amount of hours in the last 52 weeks # of hours required to qualify varies by the province or territory and based on the unemployment rate of your area (420 to 700 hours)

Sickness Benefits:

• Eligible if unable to work for medical reasons
• Have enough hours
• Medical note

Maternity Benefits:

• Eligible when pregnant or caring for a newborn
• Have enough hours

Caregiver Benefits:

• Providing care for a critically ill or injured family member
• Have enough hours
• Medical note

Parental Benefits:

• Eligible when parents are away from work to care for their newborn or newly adopted child
• Have enough hours

Fishing EI:

• Have made the required earnings ($2,500) from fishing
• Apply within four weeks from the end of fishing

Compassionate Care Benefits:

• Providing care for a family member in need of end-of-life care
• Have enough hours
• Medical note

General Tips:

• Apply ASAP. You do not need to wait for your Record of Employment (ROE). You will want to confirm that it has been sent. You will not get money from EI until the ROE is received.
• If quit or fired or late applying call a Legal Advocate to assist. Do not assume you are not eligible.
• If fired, you will be ineligible for EI unless you can show that you did not lose your job due to your own misconduct.
• If you return to work, even temporarily, report the income because you could owe money back if you double-dip, and you may have a harder time getting EI in the future.
• If late, file an Antedate Request to claim retroactively if you can show good reason for the delay.
• If you quit, you will be ineligible unless you show that there was no reasonable alternative to quitting (e.g., hostile work environment) and that quitting was the only reasonable solution.
• If denied, call a Legal Advocate to assess and help with an appeal. You must file within 30 days after the date the decision was communicated to you.

See People's Law School website for plain language publications about Employment Standards, EI, and many more legal topics: https://www.peopleslawschool.ca

Canada Pension Plan

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Retirement pension is a monthly, taxable benefit that replaces part of your income when you retire. If you qualify, you will receive the CPP retirement pension for the rest of your life.

To qualify you must:

• be at least 60 years old
• have made at least one valid contribution to the CPP

The standard age to start the pension is 65. However, you can start receiving it as early as age 60 or as late as age 70.

It is possible to receive pension credits from a former spouse or former common-law partner at the end of the relationship.

Retirement pension

Applying:

• If you apply online takes one month
• If by mail can take up to six months

Tips:

• Not all Bands contribute to CPP for their employees. Check your pay stub or talk to your Band payroll person. You may also have an employment pension plan with Canada Life, etc.
• If your employment income is exempt from tax, any income that stems from this employment income, such as Employment Insurance, Canada Pension retirement benefits, is also exempt from income tax.

Disability benefit

To qualify for Disability Benefits (CPP-D), you must:

• Be under 65 years of age
• Have made the required amount of contributions from your paychecks
• Have made contributions to the program in four of six years before you became disabled, with minimum levels of earnings in each of these years, or for those with 25 or more years of contributions, have made contributions in three of the prior six years
• Have not collected CPP Early Retirement for more than 15 months, and
• Have a "severe and prolonged" disability as defined in the CPP legislation:

Severe is a condition that makes "a person incapable of regularly pursuing any substantially gainful occupation."

Prolonged is defined as "likely to be long continued and of indefinite duration or is likely to result in death…"

{{LIFIPlinkbox | width = 70% | tips = You can apply online or by mail: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/cpp-disability-benefit/apply

Talk to your Doctor about filling in the forms.

Call a Legal Advocate for help applying or if you are denied. There are different kinds of Disability Benefits that people may be eligible for. It is important that you check the requirements so you apply for the best one for you. In addition to CPP Disability benefit you may also be eligible for ISC Persons with Disabilities (PWD),Provincial PWD or Disability benefits from your employer benefit plan (Canada Life, etc).

Old Age Security (pension)

Your employment history is not a factor in determining eligibility. You can receive this pension even if you have never worked or are still working.

Old Age Security Benefits

If you are living in Canada, you must:

• be 65 years old or older
• be a Canadian citizen or a legal resident at the time we approve your OAS pension application
• have resided in Canada for at least 10 years since the age of 18

Guaranteed Income Supplement

The GIS is for lower income elders to help increase their monthly pension amount.

You may be eligible for the GIS if:

• you are 65 or older
• you live in Canada
• you get the Old Age Security pension
• your income is below the maximum annual income threshold for the GIS based on your marital status

You apply for the GIS at the same time as you apply for the OAS pension.

Tip: On Reserve, Tax-exempt income is NOT to be used by the government to calculate your income to determine eligibility for GIS. If you get denied GIS or see that your GIS benefit drops at some point, make sure your income is being tax-exempted correctly. Talk to the Canada Revenue Agency.

"The Allowance"

If you are eligible to receive GIS your spouse or common-law partner may be able to receive the Allowance if they meet these criteria:

• is 60 to 64 years of age
• is a Canadian citizen or a legal resident
• resides in Canada and has resided in Canada for at least 10 years since the age of 18
• your combined annual income is less than the maximum annual income threshold for the Allowance

Allowance for Survivor

You could receive the Allowance for the Survivor if:

• you are 60 to 64 years of age
• your spouse or common-law partner has died and you have not remarried or entered into a common-law relationship
• your annual income is less than the maximum annual income threshold for the Allowance for the Survivor

Survivors pension (spouse and children)

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Survivor's pension is a monthly payment paid to the legal spouse or common-law partner of the deceased contributor.

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Children's benefits provide monthly payments to the dependent children of disabled or deceased CPP contributors.

Death benefit

CPP Death benefit is a one-time $2500 payment, payable to the estate of a deceased CPP contributor or other eligible individuals for expenses related to burial. To qualify for the death benefit, the deceased must have made contributions to CPP. Apply within 60 days of death.

If no estate exists or if the executor has not applied for the death benefit, payment may be made to other persons who apply for the benefit in the following order of priority:

• the person or institution that has paid for or that is responsible for paying for the funeral expenses of the deceased
• the surviving spouse or common-law partner of the deceased, or
• the next-of-kin of the deceased

Tip:

You must apply on your own for these:

• the Allowance,
• Survivor’s and Children’s Benefits, and
• Death Benefits.

Service Canada will not automatically inform you that you may be eligible. Call the Service Canada phone resources listed under Resources below.

Resources

Service Canada covers:

• Employment Insurance (EI)
• Canada Pension Plan benefits, including:
  • Old Age Pension (OAS)
  • Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
  • CPP Retirement
  • CPP Disability
  • Survivors "Widow’s" Pension

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) covers:

• Income Tax
• Canada child benefit
• GST/HST credit
• Canada workers benefit
• Disability tax credit
• Child disability benefit
• Canada caregiver credit

Service Canada Outreach Officers provide scheduled and mobile outreach services that can help you understand and access the services and benefits available to Indigenous people in both urban and remote or rural centers.

In addition to these services, they will work with individual communities to design regional outreach services that respond to the specific needs of the people who live there.

If you need help completing your Service Canada forms, (OAS, GIS, CPP application or renewals), you can receive help from Service Canada Outreach Support Centres by calling telephone number according to the province you live in.

Ontario: 1-877-355-2657

Quebec: 1-877-760-2657

Yukon / N-W T / Nunavut / BC / Alberta / Sask / Manitoba: 1-877-631-2657

N-F Labrador / PEI / NB / NS: 1-877-464-2657

Canada Revenue Agency CRA Outreach officers can

• help your community learn about taxes, and about the benefit payments and credits you can receive by doing your taxes
• help make sure people get free help filing their taxes
• help connect people to a Community Volunteer Income Tax Preparer (CVITP).

CVITP staff can complete taxes in person or virtually, by videoconference, by phone, or through a drop off clinic. To be eligible, a person must have a modest income and a simple tax situation.

Contact a CRA Outreach worker by calling 1-866-837-1531

Employment Standards

The Canada Labour Code sets federal labour standards for people employed in federal industries, which often includes First Nations Bands and other employment on Reserve. If you have a Complaint: Call Canada Labour to confirm if jurisdiction is Federal 1-800-641-4049 and to speak with a Labour Program Officer about your rights and the options you have if your rights have been violated.

Note time limits for filing complaints:

• Monetary and Non-Monetary Complaints must be filed within 6 months
• Unjust Dismissal Complaints must be filed within 90 days

The deadline starts running from the last day the employer was required to pay you or from when you were aware of the issue.

Special Note: Sometimes people are inaccurately defined as Contractors instead of as Employees. This misclassification can result in not getting proper employee benefits (like vacation pay, overtime, severance pay etc.) and not paying into unemployment benefits like EI.

Tip: "Having a contract" does not necessarily mean you are a contractor; it could simply mean you are an employee with a contract.

The relationship is more likely that of an employer & employee if:

• You perform work for another for wages,
• the person who pays you controls the material and tools of the job, and directs the activities (sets the hours and the tasks).

Canada Labour can help get you classified properly, especially because there can be other factors to consider.

If you were misclassified the employer may owe you money retroactively.

© Copyright 2024, Bella Coola Legal Advocacy Program (BCLAP).