Employment Insurance, December 2025
Released: 2026-02-19
There were 569,000 Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in December 2025, little changed (+0.4%; +2,500) from the previous month. On a year-over-year basis, the number of Canadians receiving regular EI benefits was up by 81,000 (+16.7%), with most of that increase occurring during the period from January to July 2025.
Data from the Labour Force Survey indicate that the unemployment rate trended up through most of 2025, reaching a high of 7.1% in August and September, prior to pulling back to 6.8% in December.
In general, variations in the number of EI beneficiaries receiving regular benefits can reflect changes in the circumstances of different groups of people, including new beneficiaries, individuals going back to work, those who have exhausted their regular benefits, and others who no longer receive benefits for various reasons.
Chart 1
Growth in number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries slows in the later months of 2025
Regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries up the most among core-aged men
In December, the number of people receiving regular EI benefits increased among core-aged (25 to 54 years old) men (+2,900; +1.3%). This was the third consecutive monthly increase for this group, bringing the total increase since September to 10,000 (+4.8%). A smaller increase in the number of recipients in December was recorded among young men aged 15 to 24 (+600; +1.5%), while the number of women aged 55 and older receiving benefits declined (-700; -1.1%).
In the 12 months ending in December, the total number of recipients was up by 81,000 (+16.7%), with increases across all major demographic groups. The largest percentage increases were seen among core-aged women (+18.2%; +22,000), women aged 55 and older (+18.2%; +9,000), and core-aged men (+17.0%; +33,000).
More regular Employment Insurance recipients in Ontario and British Columbia
Ontario (+3,200; +1.7%) and British Columbia (+700; +1.2%) were the only provinces to record a notable increase in the number of recipients of regular EI benefits in December. The census metropolitan areas of Toronto (+1,800; +2.2%) and Windsor (+500; + 7.7%) accounted for the majority of the increase in the number of recipients in Ontario, while the increase in British Columbia was concentrated in the Vancouver census metropolitan area (+600; +2.2%).
The increase in the number of recipients in Ontario and British Columbia in December was partially offset by declines in Quebec (-1,600; -1.2%), Manitoba (-400; -1.9%), and Prince Edward Island (-100; -1.5%).
On a year-over-year basis, the number of recipients of regular benefits was up in all provinces, most notably in Ontario (+30,000; +18.4%), Quebec (+22,000; +21.1%), Alberta (+12,000; +21.9%) and British Columbia (+11,000; +21.9%).
Chart 2
British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario post largest year-over-year percentage increases in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in December
Largest increase in regular Employment Insurance benefits is among those who last worked in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations
In December, the number of recipients of regular EI benefits increased the most among those who last worked in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (+4,100; +2.2%), the fifth consecutive monthly increase for this group. The number of recipients also increased among those who were last employed in natural and applied sciences and related occupations (+800; +1.7%) and occupations in art, culture, recreation, and sport (+500; +3.6%).
At the same time, there were declines in the number of recipients who last worked in sales and service occupations (-1,400; -1.4%) and occupations in manufacturing and utilities (-800; -1.9%).
In the 12 months ending in December, the number of beneficiaries receiving regular EI benefits was up across all major occupational groups. The largest year-over-year increases were among recipients who last worked in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (+23,000; +13.6%), followed by business, finance and administration occupations (+14,000; +22.5%) and sales and service occupations (+12,000; +15.3%).
Chart 3
Largest year-over-year increase in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries seen among those who last worked in trades, transport and equipment operators 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 December 7 to 13. 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.
Temporary changes to the Employment Insurance program remain in effect. For more information, see Temporary Employment Insurance measures to respond to major changes in economic conditions.
Next release
Data on EI for January will be released March 25.
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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