Employment Insurance, August 2016
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Released: 2016-10-20
Regular Employment Insurance (EI) beneficiaries in Canada totalled 563,000 in August, down 3.0% from the previous month. This decrease followed a 5.0% increase in July, when legislative changes to the EI program came into effect. On a year-over-year basis, the number of beneficiaries was up 23,700 (+4.4%).
While all EI regions across Canada were affected by some of these legislative changes, eligible claimants in the 15 regions that posted notable increases in unemployment received additional weeks of regular benefits starting in July. More information on the 2016 EI changes is available on Employment and Social Development Canada's (ESDC) website. EI regions are geographic entities whose boundaries are determined by ESDC for the purpose of administering the EI program. More information on these EI regions is available on the ESDC website.
Chart 1
Regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries
Sub-provincial overview
As a result of the changes to the EI program, historical comparisons are not recommended, except in areas outside of the 15 EI regions where eligible claimants received additional weeks of benefits. These 15 EI regions are Newfoundland and Labrador, Northern Ontario, Sudbury, Northern Manitoba, Southern Saskatchewan, Northern Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Southern Alberta, Northern Alberta, Calgary, Edmonton, Southern Interior British Columbia, Northern British Columbia, Whitehorse and Nunavut.
As was the case for the month of July, analysis of data on regular EI beneficiaries for the month of August was therefore focused on the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) outside of these 15 EI regions.
In Nova Scotia, Halifax reported 5,400 beneficiaries in August, up 3.5% from the previous month. The number of people receiving EI benefits in the CMA has been relatively steady over the past six months.
At the same time, in New Brunswick, the number of people receiving benefits in August totalled 3,200 in Moncton and 2,800 in Saint John, both little changed from July.
In Quebec, the number of beneficiaries fell in each of the province's six CMAs, offsetting increases in the previous month. The largest monthly decreases were observed in Sherbrooke (-6.2%) and Trois-Rivières (-4.9%), followed by Québec (-1.9%), Montréal (-1.8%), Gatineau (-1.3%) and Saguenay (-1.2%).
In Ontario, all of the CMAs that were not affected by the legislative changes posted increases in the number of beneficiaries in August, offsetting declines in July. These increases ranged from 5.8% in London to 29.3% in both Kingston and Ottawa.
In Manitoba, the number of beneficiaries in Winnipeg rose by 9.0% in August, offsetting an 8.0% decrease in July.
At the same time, in Saskatchewan, the number of beneficiaries in Regina increased by 3.9% in August, partly offsetting a decline of 8.9% in July.
In August, the number of people receiving benefits in British Columbia increased in all three CMAs that were not affected by the EI program changes: Abbotsford–Mission (+16.1%), Vancouver (+9.8%) and Victoria (+6.8%).
Employment Insurance claims
EI claims totalled 259,200 in August, down 18.4% from July. This decrease followed a 30.9% increase in July, which was mostly attributable to the recent legislative changes to the EI program. On a year-over-year basis, the number of claims was up 7.5%. Given these legislative changes, historical comparisons of claims are not recommended.
Chart 2
Employment Insurance claims
Note to readers
Historical revision and availability of data by occupation
With the current release of August data, the seasonally adjusted series of Employment Insurance (EI) statistics were revised back to January 2000 to reflect the most recent seasonal factors. Additionally, a new postal code file was used to update information on all geographical areas.
Because of technical issues, the release of data on EI beneficiaries by occupation—based on the 2011 National Occupational Classification (NOC)—has been delayed to the release of September data on November 22, 2016.
Concepts and methodology
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. The number of claims provides an indication of the number of people who could become beneficiaries.
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 information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Data in the Daily text are rounded to the nearest hundred.
EI statistics are produced from administrative data sources provided by Service Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada. These statistics may, from time to time, be affected by changes to the Employment Insurance Act or administrative procedures, as has been the case since July 2016, when legislative changes to the EI program came into effect.
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 August 14 to 20. This period coincides with the reference week of the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, initial and renewal claims data are for the entire month.
EI statistics indicate the number of people who received EI benefits, and should not be confused with LFS data, which provide information on the total number of unemployed people.
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 EI for September will be released on November 22.
Products
More information about the concepts and use of Employment Insurance statistics is available online in the Guide to Employment Insurance Statistics (73-506-G), from the Browse by key resource module of our website under Publications.
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 Lahouaria Yssaad (613-951-0627; lahouaria.yssaad@canada.ca), Labour Statistics Division.
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