Federal Court of Appeal rules in favour of Quebec moms denied EI benefits after maternity job loss

The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of a group of six Quebec mothers involved in a legal battle to have certain provisions of the Employment Insurance Act struck down. 

The women had challenged the fact that they were denied regular EI benefits because they had lost their jobs during or shortly after their maternity leave.

The three-judge panel unanimously agreed that parts of the Employment Insurance Act were discriminatory and violated the women’s constitutional rights to equality under the law.

The appellate court ruled that denying regular EI job loss benefits to women who recently received maternity and parental benefits, infringes on section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The provision of the Charter guarantees equality before and under the law and equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination based on sex, among other grounds.

All six women in the group had given birth and received maternity and parental benefits and lost their jobs before, during or shortly after their leaves. 

They were, however, denied EI job loss benefits that they would have otherwise received had they not been receiving maternity and parental benefits.

Some of the women in the group were denied EI job loss benefits because they hadn’t accumulated enough insurable work hours during the reference period, while others had reached the maximum 50 weeks of total benefits.

The court found that the provisions in the EI Act that limit the stacking of maternity and parental benefits with job loss benefits, even if they apply to both men and women, disproportionately affect women.

In a summary of its decision the court explained that this happens because only women can become pregnant and give birth and therefore only they can receive maternity benefits. 

Furthermore, most people who receive parental benefits are women, and most who combine parental benefits with maternity benefits are women. 

The judges declared the discriminatory parts of the EI Act to be “of no force or effect” meaning they have been struck down, but suspended the declaration for one year.

That means the federal government has 12 months to rewrite the law and make it more fair.

The ruling says the provisions that were struck down tended to reinforce the “long-standing economic disadvantages” that come with pregnancy and motherhood by offering inadequate unemployment protections.

An eight-year battle that isn’t over yet

In a news release, Mouvement Action Chômage (MAC) de Montréal, an advocacy group dedicated to defending the rights of the unemployed, welcomed the appellate court’s ruling.

The group has stood by the mothers since 2018, helping them bring their fight to the Social Security Tribunal of Canada.

They were handed their first victory in 2022, when the general division of the tribunal ruled in their favour.

Court documents indicate that the woman gave evidence before the general division showing how being ineligible for regular EI benefits, left them in a state of financial dependence and economic precarity.

The Canada Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC), however, appealed the decision and subsequently won, prompting the group to bring the case to the Federal Court of Appeal, where it was heard in November of last year.

Sibel Ataogul, the lead attorney for the applicants, said the judges’ decision is a victory, saying the MAC de Montréal and the group of six have a lot to be proud of.

“I’m sure they’re very excited about what they’ve achieved for all women across Canada,” she said.

Ataogul added they achieved the result they were hoping for and the ruling was somewhat expected. 

Ataogul said the case comes in the wake of the Kayinda decision in the Supreme Court of Canada which looked at discrimination against women and refugee asylum seekers who did not have access to daycare. 

That case affirmed that governments must uphold the right to equality when implementing social programs, according to Ataogul.

The legal fight, however, might not be over. The federal government has 60 days to signal its intention to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In a statement the MAC de Montréal said an appeal of the decision “would be a slap in the face” not only for the six women involved in the case “but also for the hundreds — even thousands — of others across Canada who are currently awaiting the decision because they find themselves in the same situation.”

CBC News has reached out to the federal Minister of Jobs and Families for comment but did not receive a response before publishing.