Jagmeet Singh is calling on the Liberal government to ease access to paid sick leave for Canadian workers

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on the Liberal government to ease access to paid sick leave for Canadian workers to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Singh is criticizing the lag between filing for the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and receiving it, a delay he compared to applying for employment insurance.

He is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to recall Parliament and legislate 10 days of paid sick leave for federally regulated employees through the Canada Labour Code, and to further promote the one-week, $500 benefit that is already in place.

The New Democrat leader says uptake of the benefit is low, which suggests a lack of awareness among sick workers as well as what he deemed an "impossible choice" between working and staying home.

Singh is also calling for tighter restrictions on travel, but did not specify an "exact mechanism" to limit trips abroad.