Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff speaks in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Thursday. Ignatieff announced that Liberal senators will allow the Conservative budget to pass. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

The federal budget implementation bill has been passed in the Senate and is on its way to receive royal assent.

Liberal and Conservative senators approved the budget by a vote of 50-4, with five abstentions.

Earlier, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Liberal senators agreed to fast-track passage to give Canadians quicker access to extended employment insurance benefits.

"I'm very grateful to the Senate," Ignatieff said.

"They showed Canadians why we need a Senate and they also showed that no Liberal will ever stand between a Canadian who stands in need of employment insurance and the benefits they need."

Ignatieff said Liberal senators acted "with dispatch" after learning that some EI claimants would lose five weeks of benefits if the bill didn't get passed immediately.

Liberal senators had previously said they wanted to examine the budget document and that it would be passed by March 27. They believed none of the budget measures would take effect until April 1.

"Never will a Liberal put himself between an unemployed [person] and employment insurance. We need that coverage," said Ignatieff.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has spent the past several days publicly calling on the Liberal-dominated Senate to pass the budget before it goes on spring break next week.

Urgent passage was needed to give unemployed Canadians access to the stimulus funds and an extra five weeks of EI, which could add $2,000 in eligible benefits, he said during a testy appearance before the Senate finance committee on Tuesday.

When questioned by reporters whether Liberal senators had known about the backdating since Tuesday, Ignatieff responded that senators reacted "extremely quickly" when they found out.

The budget also contains an emergency fund of $3 billion to be spent immediately on projects designed to stimulate the faltering economy, such as bridge and road construction, and building repair and maintenance.

213,000 jobs lost in 3 months

The Conservatives had said the bill would receive royal assent from the Governor General as soon as it was passed by the Senate.

Flaherty has warned the economy will get worse before it recovers, which is why the stimulus, which includes infrastructure spending and tax cuts, needed quick approval.

Canada lost more than 213,000 jobs in the last three months, 129,000 in January alone. Most of those came in the troubled automotive, forestry and construction sectors, as well as mining and resources.

The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 per cent in January from 6.6 per cent in December, and economists predict the jobless rate could surpass eight per cent before recovery begins sometime next year.

With files from the Canadian Press