EI Compassionate Care Legislative Challenge

Introduced in 2003 under Bill C-28, compassionate care benefits became accessible to Canadian workers in January 2004.   When introduced the legislation provided up to 6 weeks of benefits to look after a member of their family who was at risk of dying within the next 26 weeks, provided the care giver had at least 600 hours of insurable employment.  Unfortunately, the legislation restricted the number of workers able to claim this benefit by limiting the definition of a family member to include only your spouse/common-law partner, your child or the child of your spouse/common-law partner, your mother/father, and the spouse/common-law partner of your mother/father.

Shortly after the legislation passed into law, our executive director's brother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Although Neil Cohen knew that siblings were not eligible to receive Compassionate Care benefits, Cohen applied for the benefits to care for his brother and to challenge the legislation. Cohen alleged that the legislation, by denying benefits to siblings offended Section 15 of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Cohen argued that the legislation failed to recognize the value of siblings relationships to other family members and discriminated against them based on a personal characteristic.

Cohen was joined by similar cases throughout Canada and finally in 2006, EI Compassionate Care legislation was amended to provide benefits to anyone the terminally ill person regarded as "like-family".

Cohen was represented by the Public Interest Law Centre of Legal Aid Manitoba, while case funding was provided by the Court Challenges Program of Canada.

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