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Omnibus Amending Agreement for Canada-Ontario Labour Market Agreement and Canada-Ontario Agreement on Labour Market Development

Note: By agreement of the Parties, the agreement was signed in English only. The French version is provided for convenience only. In the event of a conflict with the English version, the English version prevails.

Between

The Government of Canada (herein referred to as “Canada”), as represented by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission

And

The Government of Ontario (herein referred to as “Ontario”), as represented by the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities

Whereas Canada, as represented by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and Ontario entered into a Labour Market Agreement (the “LMA”) on February 21, 2008 pursuant to which Canada agreed to provide funding to Ontario towards the costs of programs that enhance the labour market participation of the unemployed who do not qualify for assistance under programs supported under the Employment Insurance Act and of employed individuals who are low skilled;

Whereas Canada, as represented by the Canada Employment Insurance Commission and the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and Ontario entered into a Labour Market Development Agreement (the “LMDA”) on November 23, 2005 pursuant to which Canada and Ontario agreed to certain arrangements relating to the delivery by Ontario of labour market programs and services in Ontario with financial assistance provided by Canada under section 63 of the Employment Insurance Act;

Whereas, in Budget 2009, Canada announced various measures to address the economic downturn including:

  • (a) investing $500 million over two years in a Strategic Training and Transition Fund to support the particular needs of individuals, such as the self-employed or those who have been out of work for a prolonged period of time, whether or not they qualify for assistance under programs supported under the Employment Insurance Act, with such funding to be provided to provinces and territories according to their respective share of the unemployed across Canada and administered through existing Labour Market Agreements to ensure appropriate accountability and reporting; and
  • (b) providing targeted two-year funding of $1 billion, to top up the current Employment Insurance Program funding of $1.95 billion provided annually to provinces and territories under Labour Market Development Agreements, in order to expand the availability of training delivered by the provinces and territories, with such funding to be allocated among provinces and territories based on their respective share of the unemployed across Canada;

Whereas for Ontario to access the additional funding referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the preceding recital, it is necessary for the parties to amend the LMA and the LMDA, respectively, to set out the terms and conditions upon which such additional funding is to be provided;

Whereas the parties also wish to amend the termination provisions of the LMA; and

Whereas Ontario acknowledges the importance of ensuring that the public is informed of the federal government's financial contributions to Ontario’s programs under both the LMA and the LMDA, including funding from the new investments announced in Canada's Economic Action Plan, and, therefore, reaffirms its commitment to federal visibility under the LMA and LMDA, including its commitments relating to public acknowledgement of federal funding for its programs and cooperation in public announcements and ceremonies;

Now, therefore, Canada and Ontario agree as follows:

  1. The LMA is amended in accordance with Schedule 1 to this Omnibus Amending Agreement.
  2. The LMDA is amended in accordance with Schedule 2 to this Omnibus Amending Agreement.
  3. Schedule 1 to this Omnibus Amending Agreement shall be read together with the LMA as if its provisions were contained in the LMA.
  4. Schedule 2 to this Omnibus Amending Agreement shall be read together with the LMDA as if its provisions were contained in the LMDA.
  5. The LMA and the LMDA shall in all other respects remain the same.
  6. This Omnibus Amending Agreement shall come into effect when signed by both parties.

Signed on behalf of Canada by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission,

this   day of   2009

______________

Witness

______________

The Honourable Diane Finley,

Minister of Human Resources and

Skills Development

______________

Witness

______________

Janice Charette,

Chairperson, Canada Employment

Insurance Commission

Signed on behalf of Ontario this 22nd day of May, 2009.

______________

Witness

______________

Minister of Training,

Colleges and Universities

Schedule 1

Amendments to the Canada/Ontario Labour Market Agreement

1. The Canada/Ontario Labour Market Agreement is amended by adding immediately before the heading entitled “Interpretation” the following:

“Part 1 – Labour Market Programs for unemployed and low skilled workers”

2. Section 1 of the Agreement is amended by replacing the word “Agreement” in line 1 with “Part and Part 3”.

3. Section 2 of the Agreement is amended by

  • (a) replacing the word “Agreement” in line 1 with “Part”;
  • (b) replacing the words “the Agreement” in paragraph (a) with “this Part”;
  • (c) replacing the words “this Agreement” in paragraphs (c) and (d) with “this Part”;
  • (c) adding the words “under this Part” following “ Ontario ” in line 2 of paragraph (e); and
  • (d) adding the words “under this Part” following “funding” in paragraph (f).

4. Section 4 of the Agreement is amended by replacing the words “the Agreement” in line 1 with “this Part”.

5. Sections 5, 9 and 11 of the Agreement are amended by replacing the word “Agreement” in those sections with “Part”.

6. Subsection 14(1) of the Agreement is amended by replacing the word “Agreement” in line 1 with “Part and Part 3”.

7. Subsection 14(5) of this Agreement is amended by deleting the words “of this Agreement” in the last line.

8. Subsection 15(1) of the Agreement is amended by adding the words “under this Part” after “contributions” in line 1.

9. Subsection 15(2) and sections 16 and 19 of the Agreement are amended by replacing the word “Agreement” in those provisions with “Part”.

10. Section 18 of the Agreement is amended by adding the words “under this Part” after “contribution” in line 4.

10.1 Section 19 of the Agreement is amended by

  • (a) in subsection 19(1), replacing the words “subsection (2)” in line 1 with “subsections (2) and (3)”,
  • (b) renumbering subsection (3) to subsection (4), and
  • (c) adding after subsection (2) the following new subsection (3):

“(3) The undertaking by Ontario under subsection (1) is also subject to the appropriation of sufficient funds by the Ontario legislature each fiscal year to maintain normal provincial funding levels.”

11. Section 20 of the Agreement is amended by replacing the words “the Agreement” in line 2 with “this Part”.

12. Section 21 of the Agreement is amended by adding the words “for the funding provided under this Part” after “framework” in line 1.

13. Subsection 22(1) and paragraph 22(2)(d) of the Agreement are amended by replacing the word “Agreement” with “Part”.

14. Subsection 23(1) is amended by replacing the word “Agreement” at the end of line 3 with “Part”.

15. Subsection 25(1) of the Agreement is amended by replacing the word “Agreement” in line 2 with “Part”.

16. Subsection 25(2) of the Agreement is amended by replacing the word “Agreement” in line 5 with “Part”.

17. Subsection 26(1) of the Agreement is amended by replacing the word “Agreement” in line 3 with “Part”.

18. Section 27 of the Agreement is amended by

  • (a) adding the words “Part 1 of” before “the Agreement” in line 2, and
  • (b) adding the words “Part 1 of” before the first reference to “this Agreement” in line 5.

19. The Agreement is further amended by adding after section 27 the following Part:

“Part 2 – Strategic Training and Transition Fund”

Interpretation

27.1 In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Eligible Clients” means unemployed and employed individuals described in section 27.4;

“Eligible Programs” means labour market programs and services provided by Ontario that are described in section 27.3;

“Eligible Costs” means the Program Assistance Costs and Program Administration Costs incurred by Ontario during the transitional period in providing assistance to Eligible Clients under its Eligible Programs;

“Fiscal Year” has the same meaning as in section 1 of this Agreement;

“Program Administration Costs” means the direct and indirect internal operating costs incurred by Ontario in developing and administering the Eligible Programs;

“Program Assistance Costs” means

  • (a) the costs of financial assistance provided by Ontario under its Eligible Programs directly to, or on behalf of, Eligible Clients,
  • (b) the costs of financial assistance or other payments provided by Ontario under its Eligible Programs to third party service providers as reimbursement for costs incurred by them, or as payment for services rendered by them, in relation to the provision of assistance to Eligible Clients under its Eligible Programs, and
  • (c) payments to public or private training institutions for curriculum development costs that are directly related to the delivery of Eligible Programs for training of Eligible Clients,

but, for greater certainty, does not include

  • (i) payments of basic income support to an Eligible Client unless the payments are linked to active participation in an Eligible Program, or
  • (ii) payments to public or private training institutions for infrastructure costs.

“transitional period” means the period beginning April 1, 2009 and ending March 31, 2011.

Purpose

27.2 The purpose of this Part of this Agreement is to set out:

  • (a) the labour market programs of Ontario that are eligible for funding under this Part, the Eligible Clients of those programs, and the Eligible Costs of those programs for which the new investments provided by Canada to Ontario under this Part may be used;
  • (b) the amount of funding to be provided by Canada to Ontario under this Part each fiscal year during the transitional period; and
  • (c) the accountability framework for funding provided under this Part.

Eligible programs

27.3 During the transitional period, Ontario agrees to provide labour market programs to enhance the labour market participation of Eligible Clients by assisting them to return to employment or to otherwise obtain or keep employment or maintain or improve skills for employment. These programs may include, but are not limited to, programs that support the following activities:

  • (i) helping Eligible Clients to start their own businesses or become self-employed;
  • (ii) supporting projects that create employment for Eligible Clients;
  • (iii) supporting skills upgrading and training for Eligible Clients;
  • (iv) providing mobility and relocation assistance for Eligible Clients; and
  • (v) supporting employers, and communities in developing and implementing plans or strategies for dealing with labour force adjustments.

Eligible clients

27.4 Ontario agrees to use the funding provided under this Part to provide assistance to unemployed individuals affected by the economic downturn in Canada and employed individuals in sectors, occupations or communities affected by the economic downturn.

Financial provisions

27.5 Subject to the terms and conditions of this Part and Part 3 of this Agreement, in each of Fiscal Years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 Canada agrees to make a contribution to Ontario in respect of the Eligible Costs incurred in that Fiscal Year of an amount not exceeding the amount, rounded to the nearest thousand, determined by the formula

C x (A/B)

where

C is $245 million;

A is the average number of unemployed persons in Ontario calculated by averaging,

  • (a) for fiscal year 2009/2010, the number of unemployed persons in Ontario each month during the months of August 2008 to, and including, January 2009 as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months; and
  • (b) for fiscal year 2010/2011, the number of unemployed persons in Ontario each month during the months of August 2009 to, and including, January 2010, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months; and

B is the average of the total number of unemployed persons in Canada calculated by averaging,

  • (a)for Fiscal Year 2009/2010, the total number of unemployed persons in Canada in each month during the months of August 2008 to, and including, January 2009, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months, and
  • (b) for Fiscal Year 2010/2011 , the total number of unemployed persons in Canada each month during the months of August 2009 to, and including, January 2010, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months.

27.6 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), Ontario agrees and undertakes that the funding provided by Canada under this Part shall not displace normal provincial funding levels for existing labour market programs referred to in section 27.3 but that such funding shall be used to support incremental labour market program activities for Eligible Clients.

(2) Canada and Ontario agree that the undertaking in subsection (1) is not to be construed as preventing Ontario from applying government-wide measures to control expenditures. Ontario agrees that in the event of an expenditure control exercise, Ontario would not specifically target programs funded under this Part.

(3) The undertaking by Ontario under subsection (1) is also subject to the appropriation of sufficient funds by the Ontario legislature each fiscal year to maintain normal provincial funding levels.

(4) By no later than October 1 following the end of each Fiscal Year during the transitional period, Ontario agrees to provide Canada with a report by an independent auditor certifying that Ontario has complied, in all material respects, with the requirements in subsections (1) and (2).

27.7 Canada’s contributions under this Part shall be used solely for defraying the Eligible Costs.

Ontario shall be responsible for expenditures on Eligible Costs incurred each Fiscal Year during the transitional period that are in excess of the amount of Canada’s contribution in that year under this Part.

27.8 Any payment by Canada under this Part of the Agreement is subject to there being an appropriation of funds by the Parliament of Canada for the Fiscal Year in which the payment is to be made.

27.9 Canada will make payment of its contribution under this Part in respect of Ontario’s Eligible Costs in each Fiscal Year referred to in section 27.5 in two equal instalments. The first instalment will be paid on or about April 15 of each Fiscal Year and the second on or about September 15. The amount of each instalment will be 50% of the maximum amount of the contribution payable in that Fiscal Year as determined under section 27.5 of this Agreement.

27.10 In the event that the amount of the contribution made to Ontario under this Part for a Fiscal Year referred to in section 27.5 exceeds the amount to which Ontario is entitled for that Fiscal Year, the amount of such excess is a debt owing to Canada and shall be repaid to Canada forthwith.

27.11 Ontario acknowledges that the amount of any unutilized funding provided to Ontario under this Part at the end of a Fiscal Year that must be repaid under 27.10 will not be reprofiled by Canada to increase the maximum contribution payable to Ontario in the following Fiscal Year.

Service delivery arrangements

27.12 Sections 12 and 13 of this Agreement apply to the development and delivery of Eligible Programs funded under this Part.

Accountability framework

27.13 (1) Ontario agrees to include in its annual plans referred to in subsection 22(2) of this Agreement for Fiscal Years 2009/10 and 2010/11,

  • (a) a description of the Eligible Clients who are to be targeted as priorities for Eligible Programs funded under this Part in the Fiscal Year,
  • (b) a description of the priority areas for programming in the Fiscal Year which is funded under this Part and their intended objectives, and
  • (c) a brief description of the Eligible Programs, planned activities and projected expenditures for the Fiscal Year by priority area that are attributable to funding provided under this Part.

(2) In identifying the Eligible Clients who will be targeted as priorities for Eligible Programs funded under this Part, Ontario agrees to give priority to Eligible Clients who are most in need.

27.14 Ontario agrees to include in its annual audited financial statements provided under section 23 of this Agreement for each of Fiscal Years / and / , a statement showing the amount received from Canada under this Part in respect of the Fiscal Year and the amount of Eligible Costs incurred by Ontario in relation to the Eligible Programs funded under this Part. The statement shall also provide a breakdown of

  • (a) the Program Assistance Costs incurred in respect of each eligible program during the Fiscal Year,
  • (b) the total Program Administration Costs incurred during the Fiscal Year.

27.15 (1) In order to measure performance of the Eligible Programs funded under this Part, Ontario agrees to

  • (a) collect and compile, in accordance with Annex 2, the performance indicator information set out in Annex 2 about the Eligible Clients, the type of interventions provided under the Eligible Programs and the outcomes of the interventions; and
  • (b) provide to Canada the information referred to in paragraph (a) which it has collected or compiled each Fiscal Year during the transition period no later than five months following the end of each Fiscal Year.

The information shall be provided in the format and manner decided jointly by Canada and Ontario. For greater certainty, no personal information will be provided by Ontario to Canada.

(2) Where there are activities supported under an Eligible Program during a Fiscal Year under this Part that do not involve providing assistance directly to Eligible Clients, Ontario, agrees to

  • (a) prepare a narrative report describing the activities supported, the level of funding provided in support of those activities and the expected outcomes of the activities, and
  • (b) provide a copy of the report to Canada no later than five months following the end of each Fiscal Year to which the report relates.

27.16 No later than 2 months following the end of each quarter (i.e. each three month period) during the transitional period, Ontario agrees to provide to Canada a report on the estimated number of Eligible Clients served and the activities funded under this Part during the quarter. For greater certainty, the first report is due by . The second is due by . The third is due by and the fourth is due by . Similarly, the reports for fiscal year / are due by , , and .

27.17 Ontario agrees to include in its annual report to the people of Ontario referred to in section 25 of this Agreement for each of Fiscal Years / and / the results attributable to the funding provided by Canada under this Part. The results shall be based on the performance indicators referred to in section 27.15.

27.18 Ontario agrees to include in the evaluation referred to in section 26 of this Agreement an evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of the Eligible Programs and the funding provided in relation thereto under this Part of this Agreement.

20. The Agreement is further amended by adding immediately after section 27.18 and before section 28 the following heading:

“Part 3 – General provisions”

21. Section 29 of the Agreement is deleted and replaced by the following:

“29. Canada and Ontario agree on the importance of ensuring that the public is informed of Canada’s financial contributions to Ontario under this Agreement. Ontario agrees to ensure that Canada’s financial contributions to Ontario under this Agreement are acknowledged in accordance with Annex 3 to this Agreement.”

22. Section 31 of the Agreement is amended by

  • (a) adding a comma after “23” in line 2,
  • (b) deleting the word “and” after “23” and adding “and 27.10” after “25”.

23. Section 33 is replaced by the following:

“33. On or after , either party may terminate this Agreement at any time without cause by giving 12 months written notice of intention to terminate.”

24. Annex 3 to the Agreement is amended by adding immediately after section 6, the following section:

“7. In this Annex, “Eligible Programs” refers to Eligible Programs funded under both Parts I and 2 of the Agreement.”

Schedule 2

Amendments to the Canada/Ontario Labour Market Development Agreement

1. The Canada/Ontario Labour Market Development Agreement is amended by adding after Article 14 the following Article:

14 A. In each of fiscal years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, Canada agrees to increase the maximum contribution payable under Article 14 towards the costs of Ontario benefits and measures by an amount not exceeding the amount, rounded to the nearest thousand, determined by the formula

C x (A/B)

where

C is $500 million;

A is the average number of unemployed persons in Ontario calculated by averaging,

  • (a) for fiscal year 2009/2010, the number of unemployed persons in Ontario each month during the months of August 2008 to, and including January 2009 as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months; and
  • (b) for fiscal year 2010/2011, the number of unemployed persons in Ontario each month during the months of August 2009 to, and including January 2010, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months; and

B is the average of the total number of unemployed persons in Canada calculated by averaging,

  • (a) for fiscal year 2009/2010, the total number of unemployed persons in Canada in each month during the months of August 2008 to, and including, January 2009, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months, and
  • (b) for fiscal year 2010/2011, the total number of unemployed persons in Canada each month during the months of August 2009 to, and including, January 2010, as determined by Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for those months.

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