The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits was virtually unchanged in February and stood at 471,000. Following a net increase of 49,000 from April to July 2023, the number of regular EI beneficiaries has remained relatively stable in recent months.
Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) show that the unemployment rate remained at 5.8% for three of the four months leading up to February 2024. This stability follows an upward trend from April to November 2023, when the unemployment rate increased from 5.1% to 5.8%.
In general, variations in the number of EI beneficiaries can reflect changes in the circumstances 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.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).