Improving Social Security In Canada Employment Development Services

Funding, programs, labour, unemployment insurance.

This discussion paper provides Canadians with a framework for participating in the reform of our social security system. It takes a close look at why the social security system is not working for many Canadians and for the country as a whole. The paper sets a direction for change and offers a range of options for redesigning federal programs in the areas of working, learning and security. These programs include Unemployment Insurance, employment development services, child care and federal support for post-secondary education and social assistance.

This book analyzes the major influences shaping the Canadian welfare state. A central trend in Canadian social security over most of the twentieth century has been a shift from a 'residual' to an 'institutional' concept. The residual approach, which dominated until the Second World War, posited that the causes of poverty and joblessness were to be found within individuals and were best remedied by personal initiative and reliance on the private market. However, the dramatic changes brought about by the Great Depression and the Second World War resulted in the rise of an institutional approach to social security. Poverty and joblessness began to be viewed as the results of systemic failure, and the public began to demand that governments take action to establish front-rank institutions guaranteeing a level of protection against the common risks to livelihood. Thus, the foundations of the Canadian welfare state were established. The Emergence of Social Security in Canada is both an important historical resource and an engrossing tale in its own right, and it will be of great interest to anyone concerned about Canadian social policy.

This book critically examines the changing landscape of Canadian social policy that is taking place as a result of the Liberal government's Social Security Review (SSR) and recent budgets. The objective is to provide an alternative venue to the "official" consultation process of the SSR, while at the same time providing input into the rebuilding of Canadian social programs. Major factors that led to the SSR are examined: the role of the Minister of Finance, the fiscal power and moral authority of the federal state in a decentralized nation, globalization and labour market restructuring, the concept of workfare, the impact on women, the role of "popular sector" groups and the future of the welfare state.

Report on Social Security for Canada, written in wartime, presented to Canadians a picture of a better life in the postwar world. It outlined what governments could do to ensure that all citizens could afford the food, clothing, and shelter necessary to participate fully in their community. Authored by Leonard Marsh for the wartime Federal Advisory Committee on Reconstruction, the report was the subject of enormous attention when it was presented to the House of Commons in March 1943. Drawing on the work of his mentor, William Beveridge, and of John Maynard Keynes, Marsh primarily recommended an employment program meant to ensure lower unemployment and higher incomes. His report also discussed family allowances to make certain that no child would go without, health care insurance, temporary assistance in case of illness, a pension plan, and various other social benefits related to maternity, disability, loss of employment, and death. Today Report on Social Security for Canada is seen as a foundational text for the Canadian social security system. In this edition Allan Moscovitch provides the historical context, an outline of Marsh’s accomplishments, and suggestions for how to enhance the welfare state and respond to the social needs of Canadians in the twenty-first century.