New Brunswick seasonal workers who experience a gap between EI benefits and their employment could soon get some extra help.
A new pilot program will offer a seven-week training or work experience program for workers in the fisheries, agriculture, forestry and tourism industries in EI Economic Region 9.
It includes all of Restigouche, Gloucester, Northumberland, Kent and Westmorland counties, and portions of York, Sunbury, Queens and Albert counties.
The EI benefits period in that region recently dropped from 30 to 23 weeks due to a drop in the unemployment rate.
Participants must have had seasonal employment for at least two years in the fisheries, agriculture, forestry or tourism sectors, must live in the EI region, and be ready to return to their job at the start of the work season.
They can take 30 hours per week of general training and receive EI replacement for the maximum of their last EI claim, or 30 hours per week of training with a specific employer and receive a salary wage reimbursement of 50 per cent of their hourly wage to a maximum of $10 per hour.
The federal government is funding the pilot program at a cost of $2.5 million and interested individuals must contact their local employment office to see if they’re eligible and to start the process.
You can find your local employment office by clicking here.
