Blog Post

ENM Responds to New EI Premium Rate

  • By Admin
  • 25 Oct, 2018

ENM supports federal government’s announcement of New, lower EI premium rate.

New El Premium Rate

On September 13, the Canada Employment Insurance Commission announced a reduction in the employee EI premium rate for 2019. The new rate will be $1.62 per $100 of insurable earnings, a reduction of 4 cents from 2018.

The CEIC points out that the new rate is 14% lower than 2015 rates, and the 2019 rate will be the lowest since 1980.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, a small-business lobbying organization that ENM recently joined, announced their support for the decision. They say that that the new rate will offset some, but not all, of the planned CPP hikes scheduled for each of the next five years.

ENM’s co-founder, Daniel Greenhalgh, also supports this reduction in premium rates for employees. He believes that high premium rates hurt the ability of small businesses to retain a sizeable work force and ultimately hurts the ability for younger Canadians or those new to the country to find employment.

“The CEIC has maintained an EI surplus for several years. I think now it’s about a $5 billion surplus. At the same time, they’ve made it more and more difficult for out-of-work Canadians to access their employment insurance. Unless it’s a cut and dry case, you’re going to need a lawyer to get EI these days. They’ve really gamed the rules and made it a lot of hassle to access what’s ultimately our money that we’ve paid in. So they’ve got a lot of wiggle room for reduced rates, and I think the optics and the facts are finally forcing them to bring these rates down.”

ENM is proud to have worked with the CFIB, an organization of about 1,500 small businesses, to help push the CEIC into this decision. “The case was pretty clear – if you’re running that kind of surplus, you need to give more breaks to the people that are paying in. So when there are enough businesses banding together to put that message across, the government has to respond, and in this case they did. This helps ease the burden on businesses and their payroll, and I hope they continue in that direction.”

 

About ENM Construction Management Ltd.

ENM Construction Management is the brainchild of Daniel Greenhalgh and Colin Lacey. The firm specializes in construction and development management since 2008. It is a recognized member of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VCRA), serving communities in Greater Vancouver Area, including Langley, Surrey, Abbotsford, Coquitlam, and Fraser Valley. Subscribe to their newsletter to stay up-to-date with their latest projects and construction developments.  

Contact Information
ENM Construction Management Ltd.
604-371-3663
info@enmconstruction.ca

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