Employment Insurance, February 2026
Released: 2026-04-23
The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits declined by 8,700 (-1.6%) to 542,000 in February. This follows a decline of 17,000 (-3.0%) in January. The declines in February and January were largely among people who last worked in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations. These two consecutive declines offset increases in the number of Canadians receiving regular benefits from June to December 2025.
Data from the Labour Force Survey indicate that the unemployment rate was 6.7% in February 2026. The unemployment rate trended up through most of 2025, reaching a recent high of 7.1% in August and September.
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
Fewer regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in February
Regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries down among men
In February, the number of men receiving regular EI benefits declined by 6,900 (-2.0%), following a decline of 15,000 (-4.2%) in January. The decline in February manifested in all age groups: declines were recorded among young men aged 15 to 24 years (-900; -2.5%), core-aged (25 to 54 years) men (-4,500; -2.1%) and men aged 55 years and older (-1,500; -1.6%).
Meanwhile, there were also declines in the number of people receiving regular EI benefits among core-aged women (-1,700; -1.2%) and young women aged 15 to 24 years (-200; -1.3%), while the number of women aged 55 years and older receiving regular EI benefits was little changed.
In the 12 months ending in February, the total number of recipients was up by 41,000 (+8.1%), with increases across all major demographic groups. The year-over-year increases were larger among women (+22,000; +12.1%) than men (+18,000; +5.8%).
Fewer regular Employment Insurance recipients in most provinces in February
The decrease in the number of recipients with regular EI benefits in February was proportionally largest in Ontario (-5,800; -3.1%), followed by Nova Scotia (-700; -3.0%), Newfoundland and Labrador (-800; -2.8%), New Brunswick (-500; -2.0%) and Quebec (-1,400; -1.1%). There was an increase in Saskatchewan (+600; +4.2%), while the number of recipients was little changed in the other provinces.
On a year-over-year basis, seven provinces recorded increases in the number of recipients of regular EI benefits in February, most notably British Columbia (+8,300; +16.2%), Alberta (+7,500; +13.1%) and Ontario (+16,000; +9.7%). There were declines in Newfoundland and Labrador (-900; -3.0%) and Nova Scotia (-300; -1.4%), while the number of beneficiaries in New Brunswick was little changed.
Chart 2
British Columbia and Alberta post largest year-over-year percentage increases in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in February
Second consecutive decline among beneficiaries who last worked in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations
In February, the number of recipients of regular EI benefits decreased among trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (-5,200; -2.9%), following a decline of 12,000 (-6.5%) in January. These two cumulative declines brought the number of recipients who last worked in this broad occupational group to its lowest level since March 2025.
There were also monthly declines in February 2026 among recipients who were last employed in sales and service occupations (-1,800; -1.9%), natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations (-1,100; -3.3%) and occupations in manufacturing and utilities (-500; -1.2%). At the same time, the number of recipients increased among people who were last employed in occupations in education, law and social, community and government services (+700; +1.1%).
In the 12 months ending in February, the number of beneficiaries receiving regular EI benefits was up across nearly all major occupational groups. The largest year-over-year increases were among recipients who last worked in occupations in education, law and social, community and government services (+10,000; +20.2%) and in business, finance and administration occupations (+9,800; +15.6%).
Chart 3
Year-over-year increases in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries among most broad occupational groups
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 February 15 to 21. 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 March 2026 will be released May 22.
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).
- Date modified: