The Intensity Rule is eliminated, effective October 1, 2000. Under this rule the basic benefit rate declined based on the weeks of benefits drawn over the previous five-year period.

Under the new rules, first-time Employment Insurance claimants will be exempted from benefit repayment.

To ensure that only high-income earners, not middle-income earners, are required to repay benefits, the threshold level at which EI benefits have to be repaid is set at $48,750 and the repayment is fixed at 30 percent of income over that threshold.

People claiming special Employment Insurance benefits for sickness, maternity or parental reasons, are exempt from benefit repayment.

Changes to the clawback provisions are effective for the 2000 tax year.

To make it easier for parents to return to the work force after an absence to raise children, the new rules allow them to qualify for regular Employment Insurance benefits based on employment from the previous six years rather than two years. This change is effective October 1, 2000.

The Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE) will be kept at $39,000 until the average industrial wage reaches that level.

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