Logistics are up for debate, entrepreneurs fear high premiums
Running a small business is a difficult task, no matter what the circumstances. Yet it becomes even more difficult when a newborn baby arrives.
Canadian businesses currently offer employment insurance payments to employees who decide to start a family, but self-employed entrepreneurs to not get that benefit.
In response, human resources minister Diane Finley is expected to table a bill after the Thanksgiving break that would provide an employment insurance plan to self-employed new parents, the Canadian Press reported.
However, the devil's in the details, the news provider reported. Questions such as how the benefit should be granted, who will pay for it and whether it will be self-sustaining are all up for debate.
The other concern is that those running a small business will not be able to pay the high premiums that the plan may require to be sustainable.
"I think it should be done, but it depends on how it can be done," Sylvain Schetagne, senior economist at the Canadian Labour Congress, told the Canadian Press. "That's the big problem."
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business recently called for reforms to the country's employment insurance system, saying that insurance fees will increase drastically when the economy rebounds and will therefore be oppressive to those running a small business.
