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Employment Insurance, January 2018

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Released: 2018-03-22

The number of regular Employment Insurance (EI) beneficiaries fell by 5,800 or 1.2% in January to 494,200, continuing a downward trend that began in October 2016.

There were fewer beneficiaries in six provinces, most notably Quebec (-3.4%), Prince Edward Island (-3.1%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-2.1%). Smaller declines were observed in New Brunswick (-1.8%), British Columbia (-1.3%) and Saskatchewan (-0.9%).

In the 12 months to January, the number of EI recipients in Canada fell by 12.6%.

In general, variations in the number of beneficiaries can reflect changes in the circumstances in a number of different groups, including those becoming beneficiaries, those going back to work, those exhausting their regular benefits, and those no longer receiving benefits for other reasons.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries
Regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries

Provincial and sub-provincial overview

In Quebec, 114,800 people received EI benefits in January, down 3.4% from the previous month. The number of EI recipients in the province has been on a downward trend since the summer of 2016. Declines in January were observed in all census metropolitan areas (CMAs), led by Sherbrooke (-12.0%). There were also fewer beneficiaries in areas outside of the CMAs and census agglomerations (CAs) (-3.1%), as well as in the CAs (-3.0%). Compared with January 2017, the number of beneficiaries in the province fell by 16.7%. Over the same period, data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) show that the unemployment rate declined by 0.9 percentage points to 5.4%, a near-record low for the province since comparable data became available in January 1976.

In Prince Edward Island, the number of people receiving benefits fell for the second consecutive month, down 3.1% in January to 8,200. On a year-over-year basis, however, the number of beneficiaries rose by 3.1%.

In January, the number of EI recipients in Newfoundland and Labrador fell by 2.1% from the previous month to 38,400. Decreases were observed throughout the province, with the CMA of St. John's (-8.2%) accounting for a large portion of the decline. On a year-over-year basis, the number of beneficiaries in Newfoundland and Labrador was up 3.0%.

In New Brunswick, there were 31,400 EI beneficiaries in January, down 1.8% from December, and led by declines in the CMA of Saint John (-5.2%) and the CAs (-3.7%). In the 12 months to January, the number of EI recipients in the province fell by 6.0%.

The number of beneficiaries in British Columbia declined by 1.3% to 45,600 in January, the fifth decrease in six months. Declines were observed in the CMAs of Abbotsford–Mission (-6.0%) and Victoria (-3.6%). There were also fewer recipients in areas outside of the CMAs and CAs (-1.7%) and in the CAs (-1.4%). In the 12 months to January, the number of EI recipients in the province decreased by 15.9%. Over the same period, data from the LFS show that the unemployment rate in British Columbia declined 0.7 percentage points to 4.8%, the lowest among all provinces.

In Saskatchewan, 18,000 people received benefits in January, down slightly (-0.9%) from December. Most of the decline was observed in Regina (-5.1%). On a year-over-year basis, the number of beneficiaries in the province was down 4.8%.

EI beneficiaries in Ontario totalled 127,400 in January, little changed from the previous month. However, changes were observed in certain areas of the province. The number of beneficiaries fell in a number of CMAs, most notably Kingston (-9.2%) and Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part) (-5.4%). In contrast, Oshawa reported an increase of 20.7%, coinciding with auto vehicle plant closures which are atypical at this time of year. Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of beneficiaries in the province was down 8.7%.

In Alberta, the number of EI recipients held steady at 63,500 in January, with little change across the province. However, in the 12 months to January, there was a decline of 28.9%, the fastest among the provinces. According to the LFS, employment in the province grew by 2.0% over the same period and the unemployment rate fell from 8.7% to 7.0%.

Employment Insurance beneficiaries by occupation

The number of beneficiaries fell in 9 of the 10 broad occupational groups in the 12 months to January. The largest year-over-year declines were among those whose last job was in natural and applied sciences (-20.0%), trades, transport and equipment operators (-17.9%), business, finance and administration (-14.7%), management (-11.2%) and natural resources (-10.3%).

In contrast, the number of beneficiaries in education, law and social, community and government services occupations increased by 2.2%.

Chart 2  Chart 2: Regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries by occupation, January 2017 to January 2018
Regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries by occupation, January 2017 to January 2018

Employment Insurance beneficiaries in major demographic groups

There were fewer EI recipients among young men aged 15 to 24 (-7.8%) and men aged 25 to 54 (-1.6%) in January, compared with the previous month.

For women, there was a decline among those aged 15 to 24 (-1.6%). At the same time, more women aged 55 and over (+1.4%) received benefits.

On a year-over-year basis, beneficiaries declined in all major demographic groups, led by men aged 15 to 24 (-20.7%) and 25 to 54 (-16.9%). Over the same period, the number of female beneficiaries fell by 11.3% for those aged 25 to 54, and to a lesser extent among 15-to-24 year-olds (-5.5%).

Employment Insurance claims

The number of EI claims totalled 236,700 in January, up 1.7% from December. The number of claims provides an indication of the number of people who could become beneficiaries.

Claims increased in Saskatchewan (+6.1%), Ontario (+5.4%), British Columbia (+4.5%), Manitoba (+3.7%) and Nova Scotia (+2.0%). In contrast, there were decreases in Alberta (-4.6%), Newfoundland and Labrador (-2.3%), New Brunswick (-2.2%) and Prince Edward Island (-1.6%), while there was little change in Quebec.

In the 12 months to January, the number of claims rose by 4.3% nationally.

Chart 3  Chart 3: Employment Insurance claims
Employment Insurance claims





  Note to readers

Concepts and methodology

The analysis presented here focuses on people who received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits related to job loss. Claims data pertain to initial and renewal claims received for any type of EI benefits, including special benefits.

As of December 3, 2017, the EI program was modified for workers taking time off due to specific life events. Extended parental benefits were introduced, allowing parents to receive benefits for up to 18 months, as opposed to 12 months, at a lower rate. Pregnant workers now have more flexibility and can start receiving maternity benefits up to 12 weeks before the expected date of childbirth, compared with 8 weeks previously. Furthermore, the family caregiver benefit for adults was introduced and offered to any family member, or person considered to be like family, who provides care or support to a critically ill or injured adult. The parents of critically ill children benefit was renamed "family caregiver benefits for children," and was made accessible to any family member or person considered to be like family, to provide care or support to a critically ill or injured child. CANSIM tables 276-0017 and 276-0020 were expanded to reflect changes to benefit types.

More information on the December 2017 EI changes is available on the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) website.

EI statistics are produced from administrative data sources provided by Service Canada and ESDC. These statistics may, from time to time, be affected by changes to the Employment Insurance Act or administrative procedures.

Regular EI benefits are available to eligible individuals who lose their jobs and who are available for and able to work, but cannot find a job. To receive EI benefits, individuals must first submit a claim.

EI statistics indicate the number of people who received EI benefits, and should not be confused with Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, which provide estimates of the total number of unemployed people. There is always a certain proportion of unemployed people who do not qualify for benefits. Some unemployed people have not contributed to the program because they have not worked in the past 12 months or their employment is not insured. Other unemployed people have contributed to the program but do not meet the eligibility criteria, such as workers who left their job voluntarily or those who did not accumulate enough hours of work to receive benefits.

All data in this release are seasonally adjusted. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

Numbers in the Daily text are rounded to the nearest hundred.

The number of regular EI beneficiaries and the number of claims received for the current and previous month are subject to revision.

The number of beneficiaries is a measure of all people who received EI benefits from January 14 to 20. This period coincides with the reference week of the LFS. However, claims data are for the entire month.

Geographical definitions

A census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000. A CA must have a population of at least 10,000. See Standard Geographical Classification 2011 – definitions for more information.

Next release

Data on Employment Insurance for February will be released on April 19.

Products

More information about the concepts and use of Employment Insurance statistics is available online in the Guide to Employment Insurance Statistics (Catalogue number73-506-G).

Contact information

For more information, contact us (toll-free: 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca).

To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Vincent Ferrao (613-951-4750; vincent.ferrao@canada.ca) or Client Services (toll free: 1-866-873-8788; statcan.labour-travail.statcan@canada.ca), Labour Statistics Division.

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