Effective September 25, 2022 – the temporary changes to the Work-Sharing program implemented during COVID-19 are no longer in effect. Agreements with a start date after September 25, 2022 will be under the regular Work-Sharing program. Active agreements starting on or before September 25, 2022 will not be impacted. Employers with questions related to the end of the COVID-19 special measures may send inquiries to edsc.dgop.tp.rep-res.ws.pob.esdc@servicecanada.gc.ca. -->
The Program allows employers to:
The Program allows employees to:
A Work-Sharing unit is a group of employees with similar job duties who agree to reduce their hours of work over a specific period.
All members of a Work-Sharing unit agree to reduce their hours of work by the same percentage and to share the available work.
A Work-Sharing unit must reduce its hours of work by at least 10% to 60%. The reduction hours can vary from week to week. The average reduction over the course of the agreement should remain within the range of 10% to 60%.
A Work-Sharing agreement must be a minimum 6 consecutive weeks long and can be up to a maximum 26 consecutive weeks. Although the maximum duration of an initial agreement is 26 weeks, there is the possibility of accessing an extension of up to 12 weeks bringing the duration of the agreement to 38 weeks. Employers can end their Work-Sharing agreement at any time by contacting their regional Work-Sharing unit.