The major federal parties are each promising that gig workers would be better off if they form government following this month’s election, pledging to extend benefits and protections via new programs or rule changes to ride-hailing drivers and food-delivery couriers. But while policy experts have long called for updates to Canada’s employment-based social-safety net, labour groups say some of the proposals would weaken workers’ rights.

Currently, gig workers don’t qualify for employment insurance (EI), and while they’re required to pay into the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), they don’t benefit from employers’ contributions to the program. They’re also not eligible for sick leave or covered by labour standards, and their unionization efforts aren’t legally protected.

Under the incumbent Liberals, the federal government has made early steps toward reforms. In February 2019, it appointed an expert panel to study labour standards, which recommended Ottawa clearly define what kinds of workers should be considered employees under federal law; many gig workers around the world argue their companies misclassify them as contractors to avoid having to provide benefits and meet regulatory obligations.

But election campaigns have twice delayed action. The expert panel submitted its report in June 2019, but it was only released that December, following the fall vote. In March, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) launched fresh consultations on gig and digital-platform workers, but a report “has not yet been finalized,” said Samuelle Carbonneau, a department spokesperson. “The findings will be carefully reviewed before any next steps are determined.”

In the current campaign, all three major parties have promised changes to increase the on-demand labour force’s access to benefits. 

The Liberal platform pledges to “strengthen rights for workers employed by digital platforms,” including by amending income-tax law to ensure they qualify for EI and CPP and “making these platforms pay associated contributions as any employer would.” 

The NDP plans to “look at new measures to make sure that gig workers are covered by the EI system,” deputy director of communications Emily Coutts told The Logic, citing other proposals that would benefit such labourers, including paid sick leave and prescription-drug coverage.  

The Conservatives are proposing a new benefit for gig workers outside the traditional employment safety net. The party would “require gig-economy companies to make contributions equivalent to CPP and EI premiums” into a tax-free savings account, which workers would be able to draw down on demand.

“Misclassification is the root of the problem,” said Jennifer Scott, president of Gig Workers United. The group of Greater Toronto Area couriers for apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and SkipTheDishes is part of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). “What we would want to see from all parties is a shift that’s in line with what’s happening in the rest of the world,” said Scott, citing recent court decisions or government regulations in California, France, Spain and the U.K. recognizing gig workers as employees.

The launch of the federal consultations on digital-platform labour was “a very hopeful moment,” said Scott. “I’m frustrated that the Liberals have not yet announced support for gig workers.” She also called for the NDP “to make positive statements reaffirming” that drivers and couriers are currently misclassified as contractors.

Policymakers, experts and business groups have long sought reforms to EI. In June, the House of Commons human resources committee recommended ESDC consult on and update the program to give gig workers access. Governments should launch a voluntary EI benefit for such workers and make clear in labour law whether they are platform employees or self-employed, Colin Busby, research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy, and University of Ottawa professor David Gray wrote in Policy Options in March.  

Uber is currently lobbying provincial governments to back a new benefits fund, into which platforms would contribute and from which workers could draw. Drivers and couriers’ eligibility and payouts would be based on time spent completing accepted fares or orders, but not spent waiting for them. Based on the stipends the platforms offered in California, Scott estimated a gig worker would receive between $800 and $2,500 annually. “It’s nothing,” she said.

The Conservative savings account is “Uber’s proposal, with different words,” according to Scott, who called it “deeply offensive to see.” She said both plans would “roll back workers’ rights” by entrenching their misclassification, and lock drivers and couriers out of access to regulated benefits programs. 

CUPW national president Jan Simpson also criticized both the Uber and Conservative plans. “App-based delivery workers are employees, and should have full rights and entitlements as employees under the Canada Labour Code and provincial labour-standards legislation,” she said.  

Under the Conservative plan, the legal obligation to pay into CPP “will not change, but now gig workers will have a savings account that they can use to pay CPP premiums,” said spokesperson Chelsea Tucker, adding that it wants to “make sure they accumulate savings equivalent to EI premiums.” The party did not respond to The Logic’s questions about who would administer the proposed savings account, and whether it planned to require platforms to provide workers other benefits such as extended health and vacations. 

“Since many workers already contribute to CPP and EI through additional full-time or part-time roles, it’s important that any program must consider and manage duplication of benefits,” said Uber spokesperson Laura Miller of the parties’ platform commitments. The firm said its proposal is based on the views of surveyed drivers and couriers.

Gig work is a “temporary activity” for about half of those engaged in it, according to a December 2019 Statistics Canada study. But around a quarter of the on-demand labour force had been doing it for three or more years, and the share for whom it’s the main or only income source is increasing. 

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of gig workers, according to Scott, a delivery rider for about four years. “We have been essential workers all over the country,” she said, helping “others stay home [and] flatten the curve by delivering food and groceries and helping folks get to their vaccine appointments.”