Jurisdiction
Bill C-44, the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1 includes changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) maternity and parental benefits in addition to changes to the job-protected parental leave for federally regulated employees under the Canada Labour Code. These changes started on December 3, 2017.
Effective January 1, 2019, the Government of Canada has added to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) a Post Retirement Disability Benefits (PRDB) program to give protection to CPP retirement pension recipients. The Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD) benefit will not be impacted by the PRDB.
What does this mean?
The new post-retirement disability benefit will provide disability income protection to early retirement pension recipients.
To be eligible for PRDB, a pensioner must:
- currently receive a CPP retirement pension for more than 15 months;
- not be eligible for CPPD;
- be between 60 and 65 years old;
- have earnings and contributions to meet minimum qualifying period as of January 1, 2019; and
- suffer from a disability as defined by the CPP legislation, that began after the effective date of their CPP retirement pension payments.
The benefit:
Eligible pensioners will receive a flat rate PRDB of $496.36 for 2019 in addition to their CPP retirement pension.
When does the benefit stop?
The PRDB stops when the earliest of the following events occurs:
- The person is no longer disabled under the CPP legislation;
- The person reaches age 65;
- The person dies
Service Canada will contact CPP pensioners who were previously denied for CPPD, to inform them that they may qualify for PRDB.
Glossary of acronyms:
- CPP: Canadian Pension Plan
- CPPD: Canada Pension Plan Disability
- PRDB: Post Retirement Disability Benefits
If you have questions, please contact your Manulife representative.
Bill 17: The Fair and Family-friendly Workplaces Act introduced changes to the Alberta’s Employment Standards Code and Labour Relations Code that take effect on January 1, 2018.
Bill 148 - Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 makes many changes to both the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA).
You can see all the changes and their effective dates online, at the government website and in the government news release.
Bill 127, Stronger, Healthier Ontario Act includes changes to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA) to allow compensation for work-related chronic mental stress under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) if certain conditions are met.
People with chronic mental stress with an accident date on or after January 1, 2018 must meet three conditions to be entitled to WSIB benefits:
- an appropriate regulated health professional, such as a family physician, provides a diagnosis based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM);
- the person has experienced a substantial work-related stressor(s), like workplace bullying or harassment; and
- the substantial work-related stressor(s) was the predominant cause of the appropriately diagnosed mental stress injury.
People with chronic mental stress with an accident date before January 1, 2018 may be eligible for WSIB benefits if they meet the three conditions above, and if they:
- have an accident date on or after April 29, 2014, and they have not filed a claim with the WSIB for the mental stress before January 1, 2018; or
- have not yet received a final decision on their mental stress claim by the WSIB and/or the WSIAT as of January 1, 2018.
People with chronic mental stress with an accident date after April 29, 2014, who have not filed a claim with the WSIB for the mental stress before January 1, 2018, must also file a claim on or before July 1, 2018 to be eligible.
If a claim is allowed under the new policy, WSIB benefits can include psychological assessment, treatment, prescription medications, wage replacement and return-to-work services.