Employment insurance and other programs to help Canadians who don't have jobs would get a temporary boost over the next two years under Tuesday's federal budget.

"They [the unemployed] will need greater support in this time of recession," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in his budget speech.

The support would include:

• Extending funding for workers searching for new jobs and for retraining.
• Extra help for individuals who have lost their jobs as a result of employers going bankrupt.
• Additional funding to help younger, older, aboriginal workers and immigrant workers find jobs.

EI serves 600,000 a year

Much of the new funding would be funnelled through the existing EI program, which serves about 600,000 Canadians a year, according to Department of Finance figures.

Under the budget, over the next two years, the government would temporarily allow people to claim EI benefits for an extra five weeks, up to a maximum total of 50 weeks a measure expected to cost the government $1.15 billion. EI users living in areas with higher unemployment rates would be eligible for more weeks of benefits.

Under the budget people would be allowed to claim EI benefits for an extra five weeks, a measure expected to cost the government $1.15 billion. CBC

Up to 10,000 people who have worked for a single company or in a single industry for a long time would be eligible to have their benefits extended for an even longer period than 50 weeks while they participate in longer-term training programs. That measure would cost about $500 million over the two years.

The budget also provides help for Canadians at risk of layoffs due to the precarious state of their employers.

The government would spend $200 million over two years to boost work-sharing agreements that would allow workers to receive EI benefits if they work fewer hours while their employers recover.

For workers losing their jobs due to companies going bankrupt, there’s the proposed expansion of the Wage Earner Protection Program — to cover severance pay owed to eligible employees, at a cost of an estimated $50 million over two years.

The program already covers wages and vacation pay worth up to four weeks of maximum insurable earnings under the Employment Insurance Act.

Some EI benefits could also be extended down the road to self-employed workers. The budget says the government would consult with the public to develop ways to provide EI paternity and maternity benefits to people with their own businesses.

Measures target Canadians in training

The 2009 budget includes some new money for workers training to enter or re-enter the workforce:

• $1 billion over two years for training through EI.
• $500 million over two years to help fund training for individuals who don't qualify for EI training, such as self-employed people or Canadians who have not worked for a while.
• $40 million a year to launch a $2,000 grant as an incentive to complete apprenticeship training. About 20,000 people a year who have completed their training would qualify for the taxable grant.
• $87.5 million a year to boost the number of Canadian Graduate Scholarships, providing funding for 500 more doctoral and 1,000 more master's students. Of that, $70 million would go to students in sciences and engineering. The remaining $17.5 million would be directed towards students working on business-related degrees.

Help for young, older, immigrant, aboriginal workers

Funding would also go to specific groups facing unusually high unemployment to help them land jobs:

• Young workers: $55 million over two years to help them find summer jobs.
• Older workers: An additional $60 million over three years for the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers and its expansion to include workers in more communities.
• Immigrants: $50 million over two years to help develop a national framework in partnership with provinces and territories that would make it easier for their foreign credentials to be recognized.
• Aboriginal workers: An additional $100 million over three years for training through the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership, which would be expected to support the creation of 6,000 jobs; and $75 million toward a two-year Aboriginal Skills and Training Strategic Investment Fund for short-term, partnership-based programs