Bill C-222 Employment Insurance Act
C-222 An Act to Amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (Death of a Child)
Short Title: Relieving Grieving Parents of an Administrative Burden Act (Evan's Law)
Bill Type: Private Member’s Bill
Bill Sponsor: Hon. Terry Beech (Burnaby North—Seymour)
Status: Report Stage — reported to the House April 22, 2026. This Bill hasn't passed yet.
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WHO GAINS POWER
- Grieving parents gain automatic continuation of parental EI benefits if their newborn or newly adopted child dies during the benefit period — no new claim, no paperwork, no proof required
- Self-employed parents registered for EI receive the same protection
- Federally regulated employees gain up to 10 weeks of bereavement leave when a child dies — with a 12-week window after the last funeral, burial or memorial service to take it
- Parents who lose a child while already on parental leave get the 10-week bereavement leave on top of — not instead of — their remaining parental leave
WHO LOSES POWER
- Service Canada loses the ability to cut off parental benefits automatically when a child dies — continuation is now deemed by law
- Employers in federally regulated industries lose the ability to deny or limit bereavement leave beyond what the Bill sets out
WHO GAINS MONEY
- Parents who lose a newborn or newly adopted child continue receiving parental EI benefits for the remainder of their benefit period — money they would previously have lost
- Self-employed parents registered for EI receive the same financial continuity
WHO LOSES MONEY
- The EI fund absorbs the cost of continued benefits for parents whose children die during the benefit period — no cost estimate is included in the Bill
THE CATCH
- ⚠️ This Bill exists because the old system punished grieving parents — under prior law, if a baby died while a parent was on parental leave, benefits stopped immediately. Parents had to file a new claim while grieving. Evan's Law closes that gap — but it took a family's loss to expose it
- ⚠️ This Bill only covers federally regulated employees under the Canada Labour Code — provincially regulated workers (the vast majority of Canadians) are not covered by the bereavement leave provisions. Each province sets its own rules
- ⚠️ The EI provisions apply broadly — any parent receiving parental EI benefits is covered regardless of employer, but the bereavement leave extension is federal workplaces only
- ⚠️ There is an exception for criminal conviction — if the child dies as a result of an offence and the parent is convicted, benefits stop
- ⚠️ The Bill comes into force on the first Sunday after six months from royal assent — or earlier by order in council. Grieving parents cannot access these protections until that date