The federal government is strengthening Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) program to help workers who are in transition, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley announced Monday.

Long-tenured workers who have lost their jobs due the global recession will receive additional supports, Finley said. A long-tenured worker is someone who has been in one type of job for a long time and requires new skills to transition to a new field.

“Through Career Transition Assistance, the Government of Canada will provide an estimated $500 million to help laid-off long-tenured workers with many years of experience upgrade their skills,” Finley said.

Career Transition Assistance consists of two initiatives to provide additional support to long-tenured workers. One initiative will extend the duration of EI benefits for eligible workers who participate in longer-term training, up to two years. Approximately 40,000 individuals are expected to benefit from this measure.

The other initiative will help between 5,000 and 10,000 people by allowing earlier access to EI regular income benefits for eligible workers investing in their own training using all or part of their severance package.

Career Transition Assistance will be implemented in partnership with provinces and territories, who will have responsibility for the assessment and referral of clients to training.

IE