Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Wage Earner Protection Program
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGP06 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Working Conditions and Workplace Relations
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP) provides timely payments to workers in Canada who are owed eligible unpaid wages such as wages and vacation pay, termination and severance pay when their employer files for bankruptcy becomes subject to a receivership, or another WEPP qualifying proceeding. Individuals can receive up to an amount equivalent to seven weeks of maximum insurable earnings under the Employment Insurance Act. Once an individual receives a WEPP payment, the Federal Government seeks to recover of the amounts paid by the Program from the employer’s estate. WEPP is delivered through Service Canada.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wage Earner Protection Program | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $354M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: Percentage of initial Wage Earner Protection Program review decisions made within 35 days | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of initial Wage Earner Protection Program payments and non-payment notifications issued within 35 calendar days | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $14.3M, against $63.8M in 2020-21 (−78%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Spending $21.8M, against $14.3M in 2021-22 (+53%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $63.3M, against $21.8M in 2022-23 (+190%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Indicators added: Percentage of initial Wage Earner Protection Program decisions on applications made within 35 days | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of initial Wage Earner Protection Program review decisions made within 35 days | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators added: Percentage of initial Wage Earner Protection Program review decisions made within 35 days | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of initial Wage Earner Protection Program decisions on applications made within 35 days | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 90% | 2021 | 98.4% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 90% | 2022 | 94.3% | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 90% | 2023 | 86% An increase in complex review requests requiring in-depth policy and legal analysis led to processing delays. Additional delays were caused by missing information required by the program to assess the review requests. More than 35 days was required in these cases to render a decision. | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 90% | 2024 | 89% The requests for review received in 2023-2024 fiscal year were generally more complex and required additional fact-finding and expert guidance, resulting in longer processing times. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | ≥ 80% | 2025 | 90% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 80% | 2019 | 73% Fiscal year fiscal year 2018 to 2019 saw the highest ever number of WEPP recipients since the inception of the program in 2008. Until February 2019, year-to-date results exceeded the target. However, between January and March 2019, the program received the equivalent number of applications typically received annually due to several large bankruptcies/receiverships, including Sears Canada. As a re… | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 80% | 2020 | 98% For fiscal year 2019-2020, the target has been surpassed by 18 percentage points. ESDC will continue to monitor performance to determine whether further adjustment to the target is required in the future. | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 80% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $51.3M | $68.1M |
| 2019-20 | $51.3M | $56.9M |
| 2020-21 | $51.6M | $63.8M |
| 2021-22 | $51.7M | $14.3M |
| 2022-23 | $51.8M | $21.8M |
| 2023-24 | $51.8M | $63.3M |
| 2024-25 | $52M | $66.2M |
| 2025-26 | $52M | — |
| 2026-27 | $51.9M | — |
| 2027-28 | $51.9M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $51.9M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 25 | 37 |
| 2019-20 | 25 | 30 |
| 2020-21 | 29 | 31 |
| 2021-22 | 29 | 27 |
| 2022-23 | 29 | 25 |
| 2023-24 | 29 | 27 |
| 2024-25 | 29 | 27 |
| 2025-26 | 29 | — |
| 2026-27 | 28 | — |
| 2027-28 | 28* | — |
| 2028-29 | 28* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $51,329,234 | $51,329,234 | $51,329,234 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $51,330,885 | $51,330,885 | $51,330,885 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $51,622,605 | $51,622,605 | $51,622,605 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $51,741,144 | $51,742,496 | $51,742,496 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $51,755,786 | $51,755,786 | $51,755,786 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $51,774,568 | $51,774,568 | $51,774,568 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $51,983,877 | $51,970,112 | $51,933,212 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $52,006,440 | $51,969,075 | $51,969,075 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $51,903,254 | $51,896,714 | $51,890,142 | ||||||||
| Actual | $68,096,849 | $56,862,922 | $63,775,604 | $14,297,231 | $21,821,035 | $63,331,636 | $66,248,542 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
