By: Jonah Lazar, Staff Writer
Over the past few years, working students have experienced unsteady support from the federal government when it comes to employment insurance (EI). EI in Canada offers benefits to workers who have become jobless “through no fault of [their] own” — this would include people who have recently been fired, laid off, or had their place of work shut down. Moreover, a person can receive EI while working on their studies (referred to as “training”). This can be done with or without EI’s approval, however, it is subject to inquiry. The criteria also stipulate a minimum of insurable hours from one’s working hours in the previous year, as well as a desire and an attempt at finding work. While the requirements to qualify for EI appear rather straightforward, some people, like students, who meet these criteria are left with no support.
In New Brunswick, an EI program designed for students who had gathered enough insurable hours through seasonal employment was axed in 2022, leaving many students relying upon the service in financial precarity. This program was whisked away with not so much as a word to its former recipients, who found out via student channels rather than an official government announcement. Other reports of students being left high and dry by EI have appeared in Prince Edward Island, where, despite having worked enough insurable hours from summer jobs, students were denied for the express reason that they were currently studying.
The Government of Canada states that “the EI program is not intended to support students, but to support workers during periods of unemployment and facilitate transitions within the labour market,” as there are other government supports available. Yet, these government supports often boil down to access to student loans, which don’t relieve the pressure on students, but rather, delay it. In many cases, students are also workers.
This all comes at a time when student-dense cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Halifax are floundering under affordability crises. Students aren’t helped either by the rising costs of getting a degree; tuition rate increases are limited to 2% a year, but as post-secondary education struggles to keep up with the loss of 49% of international student tuition, divisive cost-cutting measures are being considered. It’s possible that this could endanger the Tuition Fee Limit Policy. At SFU, where some of us are extending our studies into fifth and sixth years to finish our degrees, one can only imagine that this figure could rise. Students are having to delay graduation for longer due to not having a required course offered at the right semester, or having to deal with a personal issue that comes with a hefty bill. Our tuition includes various fees that aren’t contingent on the number of credits we take. The minimum wage isn’t keeping up with the living wage in BC.
With the modern realities of costs of living and costs of tuition, the idea of students graduating and then immediately becoming workers is increasingly becoming more difficult. There is a significant overlap of students working to make ends meet, and 9–5 workers studying to advance their careers. These people are as reliant on their paycheque as any other member of society is, and as such should have access to the same protection measures.
Denying EI for student workers and instead suggesting they apply for student loans, despite them having worked enough insurable hours to qualify for EI, is not a fair deal for students. The EI program, which supports workers while rarely demanding payback, is not fairly replaced by the student loan system that often plunges students into a decade and a half of biweekly repayments.
Denying student workers EI because they are pursuing a higher education further entrenches the inaccessibility of education, reserving it as a privilege for the wealthy.
