Temporary Career Transition Assistance is to help long-tenured workers renew or upgrade their skills while receiving regular EI benefits.
These initiatives came into force on May 31, 2009, and apply to EI benefit periods established between January 25, 2009 and May 29, 2010.
There are two Career Transition Assistance initiatives - the Extended Employment Insurance and Training Incentive (EEITI) pilot project and the Severance Investment for Training Initiative (SITI).
EEITI offers support to long-tenured workers taking long-term training as follows:
- a claim for EI regular benefits could be extended for up to a maximum of 104 weeks (including the two-week mandatory waiting period) while the claimant is on training.
- it could include up to 12 weeks of EI regular benefits after the training is completed to help facilitate job search. This will depend on the length of the training.
- To be eligible, the training must start after May 31, 2009, be full time, last for 20 weeks or more, and begin within a year of the start date of the person’s EI claim.
SITI allows long-tenured workers who received payments on termination of employment and finance their own training, to get regular EI benefits sooner, instead of waiting for these payments to be exhausted before receiving EI.
To be eligible, the training must be full time, last at least 10 weeks, or the tuition fees must be at least $5,000 or 80% of the termination payments, and begin within a year of the start date of their EI claim.
