Part-time Job

In early December I talked about my possible need to find a new job but now the issue is even more pressing. A kind anonymous commenter broke it to me that I could in fact be laid off during my maternity leave. I was recently made aware that it's even worse to be laid off at the end of your maternity leave. 

A friend of mine was laid off upon her return to work after a full year of maternity leave. Here was my assumption about that kind of scenario -  if you return to work and find out you're laid off, you would just go on EI. I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

She found out that she had maxed out her EI benefit during maternity leave and didn't work the required 600+ hours in order to qualify. The person she called at Service Canada suggested that a lot of people work during their maternity leave and so that's how they come up with the hours. 

I think this is the worst case scenario. You've lost your job and you aren't entitled to an EI benefit. Here's why I made the assumption, for all intents and purposes you are employed during your maternity leave; your vacation accrues and so does your seniority. It just doesn't seem right that the government is not required to provide you with the same privilege that your employer must. 

Now I feel like I'm going to be rushed back because I'm going to start my job hunt early. I'm certainly in no position to get a part-time job, how could it possibly balance out the expense of childcare?