Uber Technologies Inc.’s Canadian division on Monday called for a flexible benefits fund for independent contractors who work through online apps, including work services platforms such as Uber.

“The research makes it clear that it’s never been more important to protect the flexibility of platform work, while providing additional benefits and protections to workers,” according to Uber Canada. “Today, we’re sharing a proposed blueprint for what a flexible benefits fund could look like for app-based workers in Canada.”

Uber Canada cited research from a report it commissioned with Accenture, which found that delivery sign-ups followed the unemployment rate.

The blueprint for flexible benefits in Canada includes:

• The flexible benefits fund would be enabled by provincial governments and managed by industry for delivery and rideshare app-based platforms. All platform companies would provide data on worker hours and earnings. The organization would then tell each platform what amount they need to provide to cover their share of the workers’ total benefits.
• App-based delivery and rideshare workers qualify for the benefits fund based on completing a specified amount of engaged hours per quarter, aggregated across all companies.
• Once a worker’s aggregate hours surpass the given threshold, all retained earnings in that quarter would be multiplied by the benefit rate at that level, and the resulting benefit amount would be put into an account.
• Each app-based platform with which the worker worked during that quarter would pay its share of that benefit amount, based on its share of that worker’s earnings during the quarter.
• Workers would be able to use the funds for a range of purposes including health and dental benefits, life insurance, registered retirement savings plan contributions and educational expenditures.

Reuters reported that DoorDash in a statement said it welcomes other stakeholders who wish to provide workers with benefits while maintaining flexibility, but it did not comment directly on Uber’s plan.