Number of Canadians Receiving Employment Insurance Declines in November

On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that 482,000 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in November, down 0.9%. That’s a decline from the recent peak of 495,000 recorded in August.

Year-over-year, the number of regular EI beneficiaries was up 3.2%, or 15,000, in November. Data from the Labor Force Survey indicate that compared with November 2023, the unemployment rate was up 1.0 percentage points and the number of unemployed people who had been laid off increased 16.8% (80,000) to a total of 556,000, not seasonally adjusted.

StatCan notes that 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. In order to be eligible for regular EI benefits, one must have contributed to the EI program, have a valid job separation (for example, were laid off or quit for just cause), and have accumulated enough insurable hours.