Social Union Framework Agreement

PDF Version of 2000 Mobility Report (92 KB - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Manitoba's Report to the F/P/T Council on Social Policy Renewal On the Elimination of Residency-Based Policies and Practices In Social Programs

April 3, 2000

A Framework to Improve the Social Union for Canadians, signed by First Ministers on February 4, 1999, commits federal, provincial and territorial governments to work in partnership to improve social programs for Canadians. As a signatory government, Manitoba must implement the Framework Agreement and ensure that necessary steps be taken to comply with its commitments.

One of the key areas the Agreement promotes is the mobility of Canadians. Under Section 2, governments agree to remove any residency-based policies and practices in social programs that may serve to limit the ability of Canadians to move freely to pursue economic and social opportunities anywhere in the country. With this first report, Manitoba begins to fulfil its commitment to report annually to the Ministerial Council on the progress we are making in this undertaking.

Section 2 of the Framework Agreement, Mobility within Canada, sets out specific obligations of governments to improve mobility for Canadians.

• ensure no barriers to mobility are created in new social policy initiatives;
• eliminate, within three years, residency based policies or practices which constrain access to post-secondary education, training, health and social services and social assistance unless they can be demonstrated to be reasonable and consistent with the principles of the Social Union Framework Agreement;
• submit annual reports to the Ministerial Council identifying residency-based barriers to access and providing action plans to eliminate them;
• ensure, by July 1, 2001, full compliance with the mobility provisions of the Agreement on Internal Trade.

Manitoba has begun a comprehensive cross-departmental review to ensure that by 2002, our internal practices and policies will contain no unreasonable residency-based barriers to the access of essential social programs. This preliminary report reflects Manitoba's progress during the first phase. In the coming months, additional steps will be taken to compile and analyze the information being assembled. Manitoba also will continue to consider the outstanding issue of the impact of the mobility provisions of the Framework Agreement on Aboriginal people as they move off-reserve from First Nations communities.

The review process in Manitoba was formally initiated in May 1999 when Deputy Ministers with social policy responsibilities mandated an interdepartmental working group to coordinate implementation of the Social Union Framework Agreement, within Manitoba and across their sectors. This working group, originally established in 1995 to support intergovernmental social policy reform and renewal activities, is chaired by Federal-Provincial Relations and includes representation from Aboriginal and Northern Affairs, Family Services and Housing, Health, Education and Training, Finance, Justice, Intergovernmental Affairs, Manitoba Measures, Sustainability Indicators and Manitoba Women's Directorate. A sub-group of this larger committee was created to launch a process for fulfilling the commitments related specifically to mobility.

The sub-group agreed that the first step would be to develop a common tool to help social policy departments identify policies and programs that have to change in order to comply with the Agreement. It determined that departments would examine their policies and practices for obstacles to mobility; the cost and feasibility of changing any inconsistent practices; and/or how to demonstrate that the practices are reasonable and should be maintained. As a first step, a template was developed to help departments identify residency-based policies and practices that constrain access.

The template asks departments to identify, categorize and justify any residency requirements that exist in Manitoba social programs and services. Departments are asked to categorize as a waiting period, quota, differential fee or other restriction any policy or practice that might impact access to programs and services. Two questions are posed:

• if non-Manitobans move to Manitoba, are there any restrictions to their access to social programs? and;
• if Manitobans travel to other parts of Canada, but remain Manitoba residents, are there any changes to eligibility or differential treatment under Manitoba social programs?

The results of this exercise will form the basis of the next report on Manitoba's progress in ensuring reasonable access to social programs. Future progress reports will discuss key aspects of the commitments, such as identifying a process for screening new social initiatives; acknowledging any existing residency-based practices or policies; providing information on the actions being taken to eliminate non-conforming policies or practices; or establishing that purposes of specific measures are sufficiently reasonable and consistent with the principles of the Agreement to justify maintaining them. An inherent challenge for governments will be to define the conditions under which an inconsistent policy or practice may be legitimized as reasonable.

Manitoba also is pleased to report that as part of our commitment to ensure that the mobility provisions of the Agreement on Internal Trade are achieved by July 1, 2001, we are working actively with other governments, regulatory bodies and other groups to secure compliance.

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