Employment Insurance, October 2024
Released: 2024-12-18
The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits was little changed in October (+0.1%; +600), following a decline in September. The number of EI recipients had been trending up from April to August 2024.
On a year-over-year basis, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up by 22,000 (+4.7%) in October.
Data from the Labour Force Survey show that in October, employment was little changed (+15,000; +0.1%) and the unemployment rate remained at 6.5%. Compared with October 2023, the unemployment rate was up 0.8 percentage points and the number of unemployed people who had been laid off increased to 477,000 (+8.4%; +37,000) (not seasonally adjusted).
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.
Chart 1
Number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries holds steady in October
The number of regular Employment Insurance recipients is down for young women, while little changed among men and women in the other major age groups
The number of EI recipients receiving regular benefits edged down (-1.1%; -100) among young women (15 to 24 years) in October and was essentially unchanged among young men. There was little change in October among core-aged (25 to 54 years) beneficiaries as well as recipients aged 55 and older.
More regular Employment Insurance recipients in six provinces in October
New Brunswick (+2.4%; +600) recorded the largest proportional increase in the number of regular EI recipients in October, following a decline the previous month. Compared with October 2023, the number of New Brunswickers receiving regular benefits was up 7.8% (+1,900).
Prince Edward Island (+2.1%; +200) saw more regular EI recipients in October 2024, offsetting nearly all the decline observed in September. In the 12 months to October, the number of regular EI recipients in the province increased 5.2% (+400).
Alberta (+1.9%; +1,000) also saw an increase in regular EI recipients in October, mostly among core-aged men. Compared with October 2023, the number of recipients receiving regular EI benefits in the province was up 8.7% (+4,400).
The number of regular EI beneficiaries increased at a slower pace in Nova Scotia (+1.3%; +300), Newfoundland and Labrador (+1.2%; +400) and Saskatchewan (+1.0%; +100) in October 2024, while it edged down in Quebec (-0.9%; -1,000) and Ontario (-0.9%; -1,400). There was little change in Manitoba and British Columbia.
Chart 2
New Brunswick had the largest proportional increase in regular Employment Insurance recipients in October, followed by Prince Edward Island and Alberta
The number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries down mostly in manufacturing and utilities in October
In October, the number of regular EI beneficiaries decreased mainly among those who last worked in manufacturing and utilities (-6.5%; -2,600), with the largest decline among machine operators, assemblers and inspectors in processing, manufacturing and printing. Ontario accounted for most of the decline.
There was little change in most other major occupational groups in October, except for trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (+1.2%; +2,000) and natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations where the number of regular EI recipients edged up by 300 (+ 1.1%).
In the 12 months to October, the number of recipients receiving regular EI benefits increased among those who last worked in most broad occupational groups, with the largest proportional increase in natural and applied sciences and related occupations (+14.1% +4,300).
In contrast, compared with October 2023, the number of recipients receiving regular EI benefits fell the most in art, culture, recreation and sport occupations (-25.9%; -4,100).
Chart 3
Largest 12-month decrease in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries among those who last worked in art, culture, recreation and sport, while the largest increase was in natural and applied sciences and related occupations
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Sustainable Development Goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the following 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
Employment Insurance statistics are an example of how Statistics Canada supports reporting on global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goal:
Note to readers
Concepts and methodology
Employment Insurance (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.
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 was not insured. Other unemployed people have contributed to the program, but do not meet the eligibility criteria, such as workers who left their jobs voluntarily or those who did not accumulate enough hours of work to receive benefits.
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted, unless otherwise specified. To model the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, values for all series from March 2020 to December 2022 have been treated with a combination of level shifts and outliers to determine a seasonal pattern for seasonal adjustment. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
The number of regular EI beneficiaries for the current month and the previous month is subject to revision.
The number of beneficiaries is all people who received regular EI benefits from October 13 to 19, 2024. This period coincides with the reference week of the LFS.
A census metropolitan area (CMA) and a census agglomeration (CA) are 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 (SGC) 2021 for more information.
Next release
Data on EI for November 2024 will be released on January 23, 2025.
Products
More information about the concepts and use of Employment Insurance statistics is available in the Guide to Employment Insurance Statistics (73-506-G).
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).
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