Canadians Receiving Employment Insurance Increases in June; Unemployment Climbs to 6.4%

On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in June totaled 474,000, up 1.3%, or 6,000, from a month earlier. This is the second consecutive monthly increase. Prior to the increases in May and June, the number of regular EI beneficiaries had held relatively steady since September 2023.

Year-over-year, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up by 10.4%, or 45,000.

The number of regular EI beneficiaries rose notably in four provinces in June. The increase in Newfoundland and Labrador—up 2.7%—followed three consecutive monthly declines. Quebec was up 2.5%, and Ontario was up 1.7%. Following a downward trend since November 2023, the number of regular EI recipients in British Columbia increased 1.3%. Those increases were offset by Alberta, down 1.7%—the fifth consecutive monthly decline. In Prince Edward Island, the decline was 1.4%—the third decrease since January.

The unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points in June to 6.4%, as more people searched for work, while overall employment held steady. Year-over-year, the unemployment rate was up by 1.0 percentage point, and the number of unemployed people on layoff increased 16.1% to 519,000, 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.