Human Resources committee  Thanks for that question. There are two pieces to the answer. I can give you a sense of what we've heard so far, but I'll just remind the committee of what Mr. Conrad mentioned in terms of what's going on right now. We did hold round tables, but there is also a really important engagement process with persons with disabilities that's happening and that we've provided funding for through the department.

Human Resources committee  Maybe I could just clarify. We would never assess a provincial program. That's a provincial responsibility in the sense of assessing the impact of those programs. We've looked at them. It's information sharing at this point, in terms of gathering the information about the programs.

Human Resources committee  I think it's a really important question. It's fundamental to what we've been doing with provinces and territories. Minister Qualtrough has been clear in her messaging publicly and with provinces and territories that this is not a transfer to provinces and territories. We need to make sure that people are better off as a result of this new benefit, which is meant to supplement existing sources of income for persons with disabilities, as is said in the bill.

Human Resources committee  —that people could inadvertently be cut off from. That's really what we're trying to do as part of the process in terms of using framework legislation so that we can ensure that, before everything is finalized in regulations, we understand properly—

Human Resources committee  In terms of studies, what I can say is there are about 6.2 million Canadians with disabilities across the country. There are about four million working-age persons with disabilities in Canada—that's between 18 and 64. There were about 917,000 working-age persons with disabilities living in poverty in Canada in 2017.

Human Resources committee  Perhaps I'll answer that. If the question is that you would like to understand if we have data on provincial programs or you would like data around poverty across the country, the latter I can easily provide to you. We have not done an assessment of provincial programs. We do have work that we're doing with provinces and territories to understand their programs but not in an assessment way.

Human Resources committee  It's a really important question. It will be an income-tested benefit as a poverty reduction measure—at least that's how we anticipate the eligibility criteria developing for this. You have raised a really important point. We're developing this benefit on top of an incredibly complex system of benefits across the country, and that includes provincial and territorial social assistance.

Human Resources committee  Perhaps I can answer that one. Unlike other groups of people for whom we have benefits based on age or other status, with disability it's quite unique in the sense that we have a very diverse population. Disabilities are different, so we have to think in terms of the eligibility criteria and how there are different approaches in terms of duration of disability.

Human Resources committee  Andrew, I don't know if you want to take that one. I'm happy to take it, if you want. Maybe I can speak generally about the disability inclusion action plan, which is one of the minister's principal mandate commitments in her letter. The minister has put out in the last year a framework around the disability inclusion action plan.

Human Resources committee  The enabling accessibility fund is a really important program that we deliver in the department. Its objective is to promote the accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities in our communities and in our workplaces. Budget 2021 made significant investments into the enabling accessibility fund with $125 million over two years.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question. Certainly, under Bill C-81, there will be federal leadership in terms of the federally regulated sector, but also, within the Government of Canada, there's a commitment to the hiring of 5,000 people with disabilities into the public service, for example.

Human Resources committee  I will turn to my colleague Andrew Brown to talk about EI. Then perhaps Gertrude could talk a little bit about what we're doing in the federal labour code as well.

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to respond to this question. It's a very important question. I would say in general with people with disabilities, certainly episodic disabilities as well, we do find that women are more impacted by unemployment, by lower incomes, across the board, across age groups, so this is an issue that's not unique to people with episodic disabilities, but it's certainly an important one across the disability community.

Human Resources committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, good morning. My name is Krista Wilcox. I am the director general of the Office for Disability Issues at the Department of Employment and Social Development. Joining me are Andrew Brown, director general of Employment Insurance Policy, Skills and Employment, Kris Johnson, director general of the Canada Pension Plan Disability Directorate, and Gertrude Zagler, acting director general of Federal Programs at the Labour Program.