Number of Canadians Receiving Employment Insurance Rises in December
Employment Insurance, December 2025
On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits rose 0.4%, or 2,500, to 569,000 in December 2025.
Over the 12 months ending in December, the total number of EI recipients increased 16.7%, or 81,000. After increasing through the first half of 2025, with most of the year-over-year gains occurring from January to July, the number of beneficiaries showed more moderate changes in the latter part of the year.
Data from the Labor Force Survey show the unemployment rate trended higher through most of 2025, reaching 7.1% in August and September, before easing to 6.8% in December.
StatCan noted that changes in the number of regular EI beneficiaries can reflect shifts among new claimants, people returning to work, individuals exhausting benefits, or those leaving the program for other reasons.
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