Facts on Employment Insurance disqualifications
Under Connecting Canadians with Available Jobs (CCAJ), the changes to Employment Insurance (EI) clarified the long-standing responsibilities of EI claimants to look for work while receiving benefits. Of those people who were disqualified from EI in 2014, far less than 1% were disqualified because they failed to search for work or refused to accept suitable work. In , claimants being outside the country accounted for approximately 80% of the increase in the number of disentitlements and disqualifications since CCAJ. These disentitlements are not new and have nothing to do with the recent changes to EI.
| Categories | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Not capable or not available Footnote 3 | 329,330 |
| Not unemployed or no interruption of earnings | 48,640 |
| Voluntary quit | 88,400 |
| Incomplete documentation | 61,190 |
| Misconduct | 24,380 |
| Labour dispute | 3,940 |
| Other reasons Footnote 4 | 443,730 |
| Total disqualifications and disentitlements | 999,610 |
| Categories relevant to the requirements to look for work under CCAJ | |
| Failure to search for work | 1,070 |
| Refusal of suitable work | 180 |
| Sub-total disqualifications and disentitlements | 1,250 |
Sources: Statistics Canada, CANSIM table, 276-0003; Department of Employment and Social Development Canada calculations.
Footnotes
- Footnote 1
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Multiple disentitlements/disqualifications could be imposed on a claimant. The numbers do not represent claimants, but rather disentitlements/disqualifications.
- Footnote 2
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A disentitlement is a suspension of benefits that may be imposed when a claimant fails to meet a specific entitlement condition. A disqualification is a suspension of benefits imposed due to a specific action or inaction by the claimant. These data are not a measure of the number of people whose benefits were suspended, because: 1) Multiple disentitlements/disqualifications could be imposed on a claimant, yet only one week of benefits could be affected. 2) Disentitlements/disqualifications do not necessarily result in non-payment of benefits. 3) Claimants who were denied benefits because they did not fulfill their obligations can have their benefits re-instated once they demonstrate that they meet all their obligations. 4) Non-payment of benefits resulting from a disentitlement or disqualification can cover a period of time from one day to a specific number of complete weeks.
- Footnote 3
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A claimant can be disentitled from receiving Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits if they cannot prove that they are ready, willing, and capable of working each day for which they are requesting EI benefits. When a claimant is requesting sickness benefits, they must prove that were it not for their illness they would "otherwise" be available for work.
- Footnote 4
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The "other reasons" category reflects more than 40 different types of disentitlements, but, in fact, approximately 80% of the increase in this category for both Quebec and Canada relates to individuals who were "not in Canada".
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