Agreement to Amend the Canada-Québec Labour Market Agreement in Principle

Between

The Government of Canada, hereinafter referred to as “Canada,” represented by the Minister of Employment and Social Development and the Canada Employment Insurance Commission

And

The Government of Québec, hereinafter referred to as “Québec,” represented by the Ministre de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale and the Ministre responsable des Affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes et de la Francophonie canadienne

Hereinafter referred to as “the Parties”

Preamble

Whereas Canada and Québec concluded the Canada-Québec Labour Market Agreement in Principle (LMDA)(hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”) on April 21, 1997, pursuant to which Canada and Québec agreed on the provisions for implementing active employment measures in Québec funded from the Employment Insurance Account;

Whereas Canada and Québec concluded the Canada-Québec Labour Market Agreement (Implementation) on November 28, 1997 in order to implement the Canada-Québec Labour Market Agreement in Principle;

Whereas Canada and Québec concluded amending agreements to the Agreement on July 20, 2007 and April 30, 2009;

Whereas the region of Lac-Mégantic in Québec faced a catastrophe following a train derailment in July 2013, which resulted in extensive damage to the downtown area and in difficulties faced by unemployed workers in the region;

Whereas, given the unique nature of the situation in Lac-Mégantic, Canada is prepared to reallocate funding to increase the contribution to Québec under the LMDA for fiscal year 2014-2015 in order to support workers in Lac-Mégantic;

Whereas the Parties agreed to amend the Agreement to reflect the one-time increase of the federal contribution to the costs of the active employment measures in Québec to support Employment Insurance users in the Lac-Mégantic region;

Therefore, the Parties agree to the following:

1. The Canada – Québec Labour Market Agreement in Principle is amended pursuant to section 10.6 with the addition of the following title and section after section 7:
   • "One-time targeted increase in the contribution to the costs of active employment measures in Québec 7B.
   • (1) Notwithstanding the provisions in section 7, for fiscal year 2014-2015, Canada agrees to increase the maximum contribution payable under section 7 toward the cost of active employment measures in Québec, by an amount not exceeding $1,500,000.
   • (2) The amount of the first installment will be an amount equal to 50% of the amount of the increase referred to in subsection (1) and will be paid upon the coming into force of this amending agreement.
   • (3) The amount of the second installment will be an amount equal to 50% of the increase and will be paid upon request by Québec by no later than December 31, 2014.
   • (4) The Parties agree that the amount of the increase of Canada’s contribution paid to Québec under subsection (1) is to be used to cover the costs of active employment measures in the Employment Insurance region of South Central Québec, in which Lac-Mégantic is located. Québec agrees that it will identify the use of this additional funding for this specific purpose in its audited financial report submitted to Canada under the Agreement."
2. The Parties agree that no part of this amending agreement will have an impact on how Canada allocates the current Employment Insurance funding ($1.95 billion per year) when determining the maximum annual amount of contributions paid to Québec, in accordance with section 7.1 of the LMDA of 1997. The Parties acknowledge that the current method set out in section 7.1 of the LMDA for allocating the current $1.95 billion to the provinces and territories is the allocation method described in the letter dated June 26, 1996, from the Deputy Minister of the Department of Human Resources Development to the Secrétaire général associé aux affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes.
3. In all other respects, the Canada-Québec Labour Market Agreement in Principle of 1997 remains unchanged.
4. This amending agreement shall be read with the Canada-Québec Labour Market Agreement in Principle and takes effect as if its provisions were an integral part of the Agreement.
5. This amending agreement comes into force once it has been signed by both Parties.

Signed on behalf of Canada in Québec this 25^th day of August 2014

Signed on behalf of Québec in Québec this 14^th day of July 2014