Pearson gold heist suspect arrested after flying into Toronto from India
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
The employment insurance system is set for another round of pandemic-related changes that come into force on Sunday. Here are a few of the key changes that will apply to new claims for benefits made beginning Sept. 26.
EI applicants need to have worked a minimum number of hours to qualify for benefits. In the past, that number has been about 600 hours, although the number varied in different parts of the country based on local labour market conditions.
Many workers have had their hours cut during the pandemic, meaning they may not have worked enough hours to qualify.
Over the last year, all new EI applicants received a one-time hours top-up to help them qualify, but that disappears on Sunday. In its place will be a uniform requirement to have worked 420 hours.
The uniform hours requirement will be in place for one year, until Sept. 24, 2022.
The government is also requiring anew a medical certificate proving an applicant is sick and can't work to receive EI sickness benefits. The requirement was waived temporarily over the last year because of COVID-19.
The weekly floor on benefits will decline to $300 from $500, in line with the value of payments under the Canada Recovery Benefit that is available for those who don't qualify for EI.
The weekly floor is planned to apply to claims made between Sept. 26 and Nov. 20.
The duration and value of benefits will once again be calculated using regional unemployment rates that were temporarily replaced over the last year by a uniform unemployment rate of 13.1 per cent.
EI officials will also use simplified rules around severance and vacation pay so claimants should be able to start receiving benefits sooner. The payments can delay the start and value of benefits.
However, there will once again be a one-week wait before benefits flow for any new EI claims after the waiting period was waived over the last year.
Anyone with an existing EI claim won't see any changes to the value or duration of their benefits with these new rules.
As well, seasonal workers in 13 regions will still be eligible for five extra weeks of EI regular benefits until October 2022.
The pilot project provides the extra weeks to seasonal workers who started a claim between Aug. 5, 2018 and this coming Oct. 30, provided they had three claims for regular or fishing benefits in the last five years, and at least two started around the same time of year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2021.
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A B.C. man has been convicted of assault with a weapon after using a skid-steer Bobcat to chase two homeless people from his lawn, injuring one of them in the process.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
A grieving mother is speaking out after her 36-year-old son was shot and killed in North Preston, N.S., Wednesday night.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.