EI Monitoring and Assessment Report 2012Executive Highlights

The 2012 Employment Insurance (EI) Monitoring and Assessment Report examines the EI program for the 2011/12 fiscal year. Unless otherwise indicated, these highlights are for 2011/12 or relate to changes from 2010/11 to 2011/12.

Canada's economy and labour market continued to recover after the late-2000s recession at a moderate pace

• Real gross domestic product grew by 2.3% in 2011/12, slower than the growth rate in 2010/11 (+3.5%).
• Average annual employment increased by 223,000 (+1.3%), after increasing by 293,700 (+1.7%) in the previous year. Meanwhile, the average annual unemployment rate dropped from 7.9% to 7.4%.

The number of regular and Work-Sharing claims went up, but the benefit payments for these benefits fell, as the result of the ongoing recovery and the conclusion of the temporary EI measures under the Economic Action Plan (EAP)

• The number of regular benefits claims increased by 1.8% to 1.42 million in 2011/12. However, this figure is 13.4% lower than the figure recorded in 2008/09, during the peak of the late-2000s recession. Regular benefit payments decreased by 12.9% to $10.7 billion.
• Work-Sharing benefits claims increased by 11.7% to 23,550, but Work-Sharing benefit payments decreased by 67.7% to $31.7 million.

The EI eligibility rate decreased in 2011, due to the shift in the composition of unemployed EI contributors

• Among unemployed workers who had been paying EI premiums and were then laid off, 78.4% were eligible for EI benefits in 2011, a decrease of 5.5 percentage points from 2010.
• The decrease was attributable to the shift in the composition of unemployed EI contributors toward temporary non-seasonal and permanent part-time employment, and the decline in the average employment duration for temporary non-seasonal workers.

The number of EI special and fishing benefits claims have increased.

• The number of special benefits claims increased by 1.8% to 508,500 in 2011/12.
• Among the special benefits claims of 2010/11, 32.5% combined more than one special benefit in a single claim.
• The number of fishing benefits claims increased by 3.4% to 29,506, reversing the downward trend that had been seen since 2004/05.

The level of Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSM) activities returned to pre-recession levels, with stronger labour market conditions and the end of EAP temporary funding

• In 2011/12, 646,295 clients (-14.5%) participated in 962,673 EBSM interventions (-18.1%).

Service Canada continued to respond to higher than normal volume of EI claims

• Service Canada processed 2.9 million initial and renewal EI claims, with a payment accuracy rate of 95.2% in 2011/12.
• Significant progress has been made on the automation of claims, with 60% of EI claims now fully or partially automated. Over the last decade, there has been a reduction of close to 40% in the direct processing cost per claim.