Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2024
Released: 2025-10-29
In 2024, an average of 1.4 million Canadians were unemployed at any point during the year, and almost two-thirds of them (886,000 or 64.5%) had contributed to the Employment Insurance (EI) program in the previous 12 months. This contribution rate was slightly lower than in 2023 (66.0%) and was above the average from 2017 to 2019 (62.8%).
These results are from the 2024 Employment Insurance Coverage Survey (EICS), which provides an overview of who has access to regular EI benefits, and why people may not have access to benefits. The survey also covers Canadian parents' use of the maternity and parental benefits available under the EI program. All these benefits provide temporary income support while people are not working.
To be eligible for regular EI benefits, one must have contributed to the EI program, have a valid job separation (for example, was laid off or quit for just cause), and have accumulated enough insurable hours (see the infographic "Employment Insurance coverage and eligibility in 2024").
The EI eligibility rate is the number of people who had accumulated enough insurable hours to be eligible to receive regular EI benefits, expressed as a proportion of all those who were unemployed in 2024, had contributed to EI and had a valid job separation (for example, were laid off or quit for just cause).
The eligibility rate in 2024 was 83.1%, unchanged from 2023 and slightly below the average of 84.7% from 2017 to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
For respondents who were full-time paid employees in their last job, the eligibility rate was 93.8%, compared with 41.6% for part-time paid employees. In 2023, these rates were 91.9% and 43.9%, respectively.
Infographic 1
Employment Insurance coverage and eligibility in 2024
Chart 1
Employment Insurance eligibility rate unchanged for 2024
Employment Insurance eligibility rates were highest in the Atlantic provinces
Eligibility rates for regular EI benefits were highest in the Atlantic provinces in 2024, at 93.1%, and were up slightly from 2023 (91.9%).
In comparison, eligibility rates were lowest in Saskatchewan (72.4%) and Manitoba (74.4%) in 2024. In both Saskatchewan (-8.1 percentage points) and Manitoba (-12.9 percentage points), the eligibility rate in 2024 was down from the previous year. In Alberta, the eligibility rate rose 11.1 percentage points from 2023 to reach 85.8% in 2024.
Map 1
Eligibility rate by province, 2024
Eligibility rates have fallen among youth for the second year in a row
For youth aged 15 to 24, the eligibility rate was 50.3% in 2024, down 6.8 percentage points from 2023 and down 14.6 percentage points from 2022 (64.9%). The contribution rate among unemployed youth also fell, from 61.9% in 2023 to 48.2% in 2024.
The eligibility rate for youth has historically been lower than the rate for older age groups, as youth are less likely to accumulate a sufficient number of insurable work hours and are more likely to have an invalid job separation. Reasons not deemed valid by the EI program include voluntarily leaving a job without just cause, including leaving a job to go back to school.
For core-aged and older workers, eligibility rates remained relatively high
In 2024, the eligibility rate for unemployed core-aged (25 to 54 years old) people (89.0%) was up by 2.2 percentage points from the previous year.
The eligibility rate for unemployed core-aged recent immigrants (who had landed in the previous 10 years) (84.3%) was lower than for their counterparts who were born in Canada (90.3%) or who were more established immigrants (who had landed 10 or more years prior to the survey) (89.1%).
Among unemployed people aged 55 and older, the eligibility rate in 2024 (93.1%) was down slightly from a year earlier (95.0%).
Men were more likely to receive regular Employment Insurance benefits than women in 2024
In 2024, the eligibility rate for men was 86.6% (down 2.0 percentage points from 2023) and remained higher than the rate of 78.4% for women (up 2.0 percentage points).
According to Labour Force Survey data, women have a higher representation in part-time employment. Part-time workers are less likely to have accumulated enough insurable hours before unemployment, which may have contributed to the lower eligibility rate among women.
The average duration of parental leave has increased by 0.6 months compared to a year earlier
In addition to regular benefits, there are other types of EI benefits, including maternity and parental benefits. The EICS surveys one parent per household, usually recent mothers, and then asks about the benefits their spouse or partner may also have received.
In 2024, just over 4 in 5 (81.2%) of the surveyed parents (the vast majority of whom were mothers) with a child aged 18 months or younger had paid EI contributions before the birth or adoption of their child, compared with 78.3% in 2023. Of these parents, 92.8% subsequently received maternity or parental benefits in 2024, virtually unchanged from 2023 (92.2%).
Among the spouses or partners of surveyed parents (the vast majority of whom were fathers), 51.9% had claimed or intended to claim paternity or parental benefits in 2024, up from 49.3% in 2023 and 46.6% in 2022.
The average duration of parental leave increased by 0.6 months (approximately 18 days) from 2023 to 12.1 months in 2024. The average duration of leave among the spouses or partners of surveyed parents was 9.6 weeks in 2024 (approximately 2.2 months), a slight decline compared to the 10.3 weeks in 2023.
Chart 2
Percentage of surveyed parents and spouses claiming maternity and/or parental benefits in 2024
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Note to readers
The Employment Insurance Coverage Survey sheds light on the coverage of the Employment Insurance (EI) program. It provides an overview of who does or does not have access to EI regular benefits as well as to maternity and parental benefits.
To be eligible to receive EI regular benefits, unemployed individuals have to: (a) contribute to the EI program, (b) meet the criteria for job separation (that is, have a valid job separation) and (c) have accumulated enough insurable hours over the past 12 months.
Job separations that are deemed invalid to receive regular benefits include, among others, quitting the job without just cause (including leaving a job to go to school, dissatisfaction with the job and retirement) or dismissal with cause.
The number of unemployed people who had accumulated enough insurable hours to be eligible to receive regular EI benefits, expressed as a proportion of unemployed people who were covered by the EI program and separated from their job for a reason deemed valid by the program, is known as the "eligibility rate."
The number of insured hours required to qualify for regular benefits varies across geographic regions, ranging from 420 to 700 hours, depending on the region's unemployment rate. The higher the unemployment rate, the lower the number of hours required to qualify for benefits. For maternity and parental benefits (excluding Quebec), the required number of insured hours to qualify for benefits is 600. Eligibility for benefits under the Québec Parental Insurance Plan is not based on a minimum number of insured hours.
There are two main reasons for not contributing to the EI program: not having worked in the previous 12 months (which includes those who have never worked), and non-insurable employment (which includes the vast majority of those self-employed).
The survey is administered to a sub-sample of respondents of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) four times a year, namely in April, July, November and January. Respondents are asked questions about their situation during the LFS reference week in the month prior to being interviewed (March, June, October and December, respectively). The estimates are produced for the reference year by averaging over the four cycles covered by the survey.
In 2024, the total sample size was 13,310 people, composed of unemployed individuals (as defined by the LFS) and other individuals who, given their recent status in the labour market, were potentially eligible for EI.
This release refers to the gender of a person. The category "men" includes men, as well as some non-binary persons. The category "women" includes women, as well as some non-binary persons. Given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses provided.
The survey is conducted on behalf of Employment and Social Development Canada.
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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