Pearl Lorentzen
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter
Workforce adjustment is a service offered by Service Canada, which could help businesses affected by the U.S. tariffs stay in business.
Victoria Dunbar with Service Canada attended the High Prairie Aboriginal Interagency Committee meeting virtually on March 11. One of the services she mentioned in her report was the workforce adjustments.
Instead of companies laying off employees and them going on employment insurance (EI), she said, the company adjust the hours and if the person would have been eligible for EI, the program pays the remainder.
The idea is to “help keep the company afloat,” she said.
With the U.S. tariffs, this program may be used quite a bit, possibly by lumber and pulp mills.
Service Canada has an office in Slave Lake and holds ‘outreach’ office hours in High Prairie and Peace River every two weeks. Dunbar and her colleagues also travel to Indigenous communities in the area to hold Service Canada clinics. These are usually First Nations and Métis settlements. These include help applying for social insurance numbers and finding benefits which a person (especially seniors) are eligible for, including the Canada Dental Care Plan.
Dunbar can’t accept passport applications, but she can help people make sure it is correct before they take it to the Service Canada office in Slave Lake or one of the outreach offices in High Prairie or Peace River.
Jeff Chalifoux asked if she could come to Grouard, which has a majority Indigenous community, but isn’t a reserve or Métis settlement.
“We fall through the cracks,” said Chalifoux.
Dunbar replied she’d be willing to visit Grouard or High Prairie, or other communities in the area – even to schools – to help teens get their social insurance number. She can also do presentations on fraud and other topics of interest.
Dunbar plans to be in Gift Lake on April 1, Wabasca April 2, and Kapawe’no April 3 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Wabasca session will be at Atoske, in the Northern Lakes College building.
On April 22, she’ll be in Driftpile Cree Nation (noon to 4 p.m. at the church), April 23 Sucker Creek First Nation (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the rec centre), and April 24 Swan Hills (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) Posters will be put up around the communities.
Service Canada also has an outreach line (1-877) 631-2657 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.