Immediate changes to Canada’s Employment Insurance program are critical to stimulate the economy, Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti said on Friday.

According to Georgetti, fewer than half of the unemployed are actually collecting benefits due to rules, regulations and obstructions embedded in the EI system.

With the unemployment rate having reached 8.6% in June, Georgetti said this issue is becoming more pressing. He is calling for changes to the accessibility and eligibility rules surrounding employment insurance.

“This government can’t seem to get its infrastructure projects off the ground but it could stimulate the economy overnight by improving EI benefits,” he said. “We know the unemployed spend every dollar that they receive directly into the local community. Improving EI is the best and easiest way to kick start the economy.”

In particular, the CLC is calling on the government to change accessibility rules to provide regular EI benefits on the basis of 360 hours of work, no matter where people live and work in Canada. In addition, the Congress recommends that all workers become eligible for up to 50 weeks of EI benefits, and that the government raises benefits immediately to 60% of earnings calculated on a worker’s best 12 weeks of earnings.

Georgetti emphasized that it’s crucial for changes to be made immediately. He criticized the government’s recent decision to create a working group to seek ways of reforming the EI system, arguing that the plan will take too long to result in change.

“We already know what has to be done and putting off changes for months will only hurt unemployed Canadians, their families and their communities,” he said. “The federal government has to fix Employment Insurance now — not next fall or winter.”

However, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday that the EI program was already effectively helping to stimulate the economy.

“Our automatic stabilizers are in place through the Employment Insurance system so that the necessary assistance to people will be provided,” he said. “That is also stimulus to the economy, of course, because people who lose their jobs and receive benefits spend the money.”