Chapter 2: Impact and effectiveness of Employment Insurance benefits (Part I of the Employment Insurance Act)

Employment Insurance claims and amount paid

The total number of new EI claims established was 2.0 million in 2023‑24. This is slightly higher than the levels recorded in 2022‑23 (1.9 million) and before the COVID‑19 pandemic (1.8 million in 2018‑19 and 1.9 million in 2019‑20). This may be partly due to the significant labour force growth and rising unemployment rate at the national level during the reporting period. In comparison, the number of EI claims established in 2023‑24 was lower than the ones observed during the pandemic period (3.0 million in 2020‑21 and 2.1 million in 2021‑22). The total EI benefit payments increased to reach $21.0 billion in the reporting period compared to $19.7 billion in the previous fiscal year (consult Table 2).

• Notes: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes all claims for which at least $1 of Employment Insurance benefits was paid. The sum of claims by benefit type does not add up as multiple benefit types can be combined in one single claim.
• * Due to revisions in EI administrative data, comparisons between 2023-24 and previous fiscal years need to be made with caution. Consult the methodology box in Section 2.1.
• Consult Annex 2.3 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

According to Statistics Canada,^{Footnote 1} there were 754,100 beneficiaries receiving EI benefits on average each month during 2023‑24. This is similar to the previous year, as well as pre-pandemic levels.

New Employment Insurance claims established

The higher number of new EI claims observed during the reporting period relative to 2022‑23 is largely attributed to an increase in claims for EI regular benefits (consult Table 2). The share of regular claims among all new claims established was 68.6% in 2023‑24, whereas the share of claims for sickness benefits ─ which are the second most common benefit type claimed ─ was 21.5% over the same period.

All provinces and territories, except for Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New-Brunswick experienced increases in the number of new EI claims established in 2023‑24 compared to 2022‑23 (consult Table 3). The number of new claims also increased for both genders, with men continuing to account for just over half (54.3%) of all new claims in 2023‑24. All age groups also registered increases in their number of new EI claims established during the reporting period relative to the previous fiscal year.

• Notes: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI benefits was paid.
• Consult Annex 2.3 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

Total amount paid in Employment Insurance benefits

In 2023‑24, the total amount paid for all types of EI benefits combined reached $21.0 billion compared to $19.7 billion in the previous fiscal year. This increase was mainly attributable to the rise in the amount paid in EI regular and sickness benefits over the same period (consult Table 2).

The share of EI regular benefits paid was 61.1% in 2023‑24, while the share of EI special benefits paid slightly increased to 37.1%, mainly due to the higher share of sickness benefits paid in 2023‑24 (13.0%) compared to 2022‑23 (10.2%) (consult Chart 1). The shares of amount paid for the other benefit types in 2023‑24 remained fairly stable compared to 2022‑23. The breakdown of the amount paid by benefit type in 2023‑24 was relatively similar to the shares of claims established by benefit type during the same period.

Text description for Chart 1

Benefit type	Amount paid ($ millions)	Share in percentage (%)
Regular benefits	$12,812.1	61.1%
Work-Sharing benefits	$39.5	0.2%
Fishing benefits	$354.9	1.7%
Special benefits	$7,778.3	37.1%
Parental benefits	$3,488.7	16.6%
Sickness benefits	$2,725.3	13.0%
Maternity benefits	$1,413.0	6.7%
Compassionate care and family caregiving benefits	$151.3	0.7%
Amount paid in Employment Insurance benefits	$20,984.9	100.0%

• * The total amount paid reported in Chart 1 does not correspond to the total reported in Tables 2 and 3 because of some incompatibility of administrative data sources for family caregiver benefits.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

During the reporting period, the Atlantic provinces and Saskatchewan recorded declines in EI benefits paid, while the remaining provinces and territories saw an increase in EI benefits paid. Claimants in Ontario and Quebec continued to receive higher shares of the total amount paid in EI benefits in 2023‑24 (34.5% and 18.7%, respectively), followed by those from British Columbia and Alberta.

In 2023‑24, EI benefits paid to both genders and to each age group, except for those under the age of 25, increased from the previous fiscal year. Women accounted for 50.0% of the EI benefits paid, slightly lower than in 2022‑23 (51.4%), but similar to pre-pandemic levels. The distribution of EI benefits paid across age groups remained relatively similar to 2022‑23.

Levels of benefits

The weekly benefit rate to which EI claimants are entitled is subject to the Variable Best Weeks (VBW) provision.^{Footnote 2} Under this provision, the weekly benefit rate is calculated based on an EI claimant's highest (best) weeks of insurable earnings during their qualifying period. The number of highest (best) weeks used under this provision ranges from 14 to 22, depending on the unemployment rate in the claimant's EI economic region at the time the claim is established (consult Table 4).

Note: The monthly regional unemployment rates used for the EI program are a 3‑month moving average of seasonally adjusted rates of unemployment produced by Statistics Canada, except for EI regions in the territories which use the higher of the 3‑month or 12‑month moving average, as per section 17 of the Employment Insurance Regulations.

Under the EI program, the weekly benefit rate is paid as 55%^{Footnote 3} of the average weekly insurable earnings, up to the maximum weekly benefit rate in a given year. The maximum weekly benefit rate was $650 in 2023 and $668 in 2024 (except for extended parental benefits).^{Footnote 4} Claimants with children (under the age of 18 years) and low annual family income may also be eligible for the Family Supplement provision.^{Footnote 5}

For all claims established in 2023‑24, excluding those for extended parental benefits, the average weekly benefit rate increased by 4.7% nationally to $560. This rise was higher than the 2.8% growth in maximum insurable earnings from 2023 to 2024. All provinces and territories recorded increases. Yukon had the highest average weekly benefit rate ($615), while Nova Scotia and Manitoba had the lowest average weekly benefit rates ($529). On average, men were entitled to a higher weekly benefit rate than women ($587 and $526, respectively). Claimants between 25 to 44 years old had the highest average weekly benefit rate ($576) among the age groups (consult Annex 2.3.2).

Just under half of all claimants (48.6%) who established a claim in 2023‑24 were entitled to the maximum weekly benefit rate. This proportion was the highest in Nunavut (73.7%) and the lowest in New-Brunswick (36.5%). Men were proportionally more likely to receive the maximum weekly benefit rate (59.9%) compared to women (35.0%). A higher proportion of claimants between 25 to 44 years old received the maximum weekly benefit rate (54.6%) than any other age group.

Family Supplement provision

The EI Family Supplement provision provides additional benefits to EI claimants with children under the age of 18 who have an annual family net income equal to or less than $25,921, supporting low-income families. The claimant must also receive the Canada Child Benefit.^{Footnote 6} Under the Family Supplement provision, which is available to claims of all EI benefit types, the weekly amount of family supplement can increase a claimant's benefit rate from 55% to a maximum of 80% of their weekly insurable earnings, up to the maximum weekly benefit rate. The supplement provided to eligible claimants is determined by the claimant's family net income, the number of children in the claimant's family, and the age of the claimant's children.^{Footnote 7}

In 2023‑24, low-income families received a total of $48.6 million in additional EI benefits through the Family Supplement provision. Close to 51,400 claims received the family supplement in 2023‑24, which represents 2.6% of all claims established during the reporting period. The proportion of EI claims receiving the family supplement has decreased for the past 2 decades, from a high of 10.7% of all claims in 2000‑01. This decrease can be explained by the fact that the eligibility threshold for this provision has not been indexed over time, as well as by changes in family composition and wage growth.

Women (81.4%) and claimants aged 25 to 44 (74.1%) continued to be the main demographic groups benefitting from the Family Supplement provision. The average family supplement to the weekly benefit rate was $46 in 2023‑24 and has remained relatively unchanged over the years (consult Annex 2.23).

A departmental study^{Footnote 8} examined claims that would have been eligible to additional benefits under the EI Family Supplement provision if the annual family net income thresholds were adjusted for inflation. The study found that the share of EI claims eligible for the family supplement would be 2.9 percentage points higher if the annual family net income thresholds were adjusted for inflation for claims that started in 2022, whereas the family supplement to the weekly benefit rate would be, on average, $3 higher. If both the family net income thresholds and the family supplement amounts were adjusted for inflation, the family supplement to the weekly benefit rate would be, on average, $25 higher.

Supplemental Unemployment Benefit plans

While EI benefits provide temporary income support for claimants, employers can use a Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) plan to increase their employees' weekly earnings when they are unemployed due to a temporary stoppage of work, training, illness, injury or quarantine.^{Footnote 9} These SUB plans need to be registered with Service Canada so that supplemental payments (or top-ups) are not considered as earnings and are not deducted from EI benefits. The combined weekly payments from the plan and EI weekly benefits cannot exceed 95% of the employee's normal weekly earnings.

Employers can also provide supplemental payments to maternity, parental (including adoption), compassionate care and family caregiver benefits.^{Footnote 10} These plans do not have to be registered with Service Canada. The top-up amounts are not deducted from EI benefits if the combined weekly payments do not exceed 100% of the employee's normal weekly earnings and the plan does not use the supplemental payments to reduce other accumulated employment benefits (such as banked sick leave, vacation leave credits or severance pay).

Results on average weekly benefit rates presented in this chapter do not include any supplemental payments made to EI claimants by their employers.

Employment Insurance regular claims and amount paid by province or territory, gender and age

Table 7 outlines the number of new EI regular claims established and the total amount paid in benefits by province and territory, gender and age category. The number of claims established for EI regular benefits in 2023‑24 was lower in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick than in 2022‑23. The relative share of claims established across regions was similar in 2023‑24 to the previous fiscal year, except for a slight decrease in the Atlantic provinces compared to a small increase in Ontario.

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• Consult Annex 2.5 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

Chart 5 illustrates the distribution of the labour force across provinces in comparison with the distribution of EI regular claims in 2023-24. There was a higher share of EI regular claims established in the Atlantic provinces and in Quebec in 2023-24 than their relative share of the labour force.

Text description for Chart 5

Province	Share of labour force (%)	Share of regular claims established (%)
Newfoundland and Labrador	1.2%	4.2%
Prince Edward Island	0.5%	1.1%
Nova Scotia	2.5%	3.9%
New Brunswick	1.9%	4.4%
Quebec	21.9%	28.7%
Ontario	39.5%	30.8%
Manitoba	3.5%	3.3%
Saskatchewan	2.9%	2.6%
Alberta	12.1%	10.2%
British Columbia	14.0%	10.5%

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Since the Territories represent a small share of EI regular claims established, they were not included in this chart.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data. Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0287-01.

The regular benefits paid out decreased in 6 out of 13 jurisdictions in 2023‑24 compared to the previous fiscal year. The largest decline was recorded in the Atlantic provinces due, in part, to a smaller number of new EI regular claims established during 2023‑24. There was also a decrease in the regular benefits paid out in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, while the rest of the provinces and territories had an increase. The share of benefits paid to claimants from Ontario went from 27.7% in 2022‑23 to 29.7% in 2023‑24, representing the highest share of EI regular benefits paid in 2023‑24.

The majority of EI regular claims in 2023‑24 were established by men (60.3%), similar to previous years. In terms of regular benefits paid out, the total amount increased for men and decreased for women compared to 2022‑23. Women accounted for a lower share of EI regular benefits paid in 2023‑24 (34.3%) than in 2022‑23 (36.1%) and returned to pre-pandemic levels (33.6% in 2019‑20). This lower share of EI regular benefits paid to women compared to the pandemic period (44.2% in 2021‑22) can be partly attributed to the end of the EI temporary measures, which, among other things, likely increased the weekly benefit rate of women to a greater extent than that of men.

All age groups registered an increase in their number of EI regular claims established in 2023‑24. In contrast, only claimants aged between 25 to 54 years recorded a rise in regular benefits paid out in the reporting period compared to 2022‑23. Claimants aged between 25 and 44 years accounted for the largest share of claims established for EI regular benefits (46.6%) and benefits paid out (46.1%) in 2023‑24. Conversely, claimants aged 24 years and under accounted for the smallest share of both EI regular claims (9.2%) and benefits paid out (8.6%) during the fiscal year. The relative share of claims established across age groups was similar in 2023‑24 to the previous fiscal year.

Employment Insurance regular claims and amount paid by industry

As outlined in Table 8, the number of new EI regular claims established in 2023‑24 increased in both goods-producing and services-producing industries from the previous year. Services-producing industries accounted for the majority (60.4%) of EI regular claims established in 2023‑24. This represented a small increase of 0.3 percentage points (p.p.) from 2022‑23. The Educational services industry continued to account for the largest share of new EI regular claims among the services-producing industries in 2023‑24 (13.5%), although recording a decrease in its share from the previous fiscal year (‑1.5 p.p.).

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Percentage shares are based on unrounded numbers. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * This industry sector comprises the industries with codes 55 (Management of companies and enterprises) and 56 (Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services).
• ** This industry sector comprises the industries with codes 51 (Information and cultural industries) and 71 (Arts, entertainment and recreation).
• *** For some claims, this information was not available in the data.
• Consult Annex 2.6 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

Goods-producing industries accounted for 37.4% of the share of new EI regular claims established in 2023‑24. The Construction industry continued to hold the largest share of new EI regular claims (22.3%) and had the highest increase in its share (+0.6 p.p.) among the goods-producing industries compared to the previous fiscal year.

In terms of amount paid, services-producing industries accounted for 57.2% of regular benefits paid out in 2023‑24, down from 57.5% in 2022‑23, whereas goods-producing industries represented 40.5% of regular benefits paid out, up from 39.5% over the same period. The breakdown of regular benefits paid across industry group in 2023‑24 was similar to the one observed before the pandemic. Of all industries, the Construction industry accounted for the highest share (23.9%) of benefits paid in the fiscal year examined.

Employment Insurance benefit repayments

EI benefit payments are taxable income, regardless of the type of benefits. Depending on their net income and whether they received EI regular benefits, including fishing benefits, individuals may be required to repay some of the EI benefits at the time they file income tax returns.

In accordance with the Employment Insurance Act, claimants must repay a percentage of EI benefits they received if their net income^{Footnote 17} in a given year exceeds 1.25 times the maximum yearly insurable earnings.^{Footnote 18} Claimants whose net income exceeded that threshold were required to repay 30% of the lesser of:

• the net income in excess of the threshold, or
• the total regular benefits, including fishing benefits, paid to the claimant in the taxation year

Claimants who received EI special benefits are exempt from the benefit repayment requirement.^{Footnote 19} In addition, claimants who received less than one week of EI regular or fishing benefits in the preceding 10 taxation years are also exempt from repaying benefits.

The threshold was $75,375 for the 2022 taxation year, which was the most recent data available at the time this report was produced. In the 2022 taxation year, almost 178,000 EI claimants repaid a total of $289.2 million in EI benefits. These numbers decreased compared to the 2021 taxation year in which 245,000 EI claimants repaid a total of $450.6 million in EI benefits. This decrease is attributed in part to the lower number of claims established for EI benefits in 2022‑23 compared to 2021-22, and to the end of the EI temporary measures put in place in response to the COVID‑19 pandemic. On average, each EI claimant subject to the benefit repayment provision repaid $1,628 in 2022, while they received $6,871 in EI benefits in the same year.

In 2022, Quebec and Ontario together accounted for slightly more than half of EI claimants who repaid benefits, while they accounted for slightly less than half of all benefits repaid (consult Table 9). This was also the case in previous years.

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding.
• Consult Annex 2.28 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Men continued to account for the majority of EI claimants who repaid benefits in 2022. They also accounted for the majority of benefits repaid, their share of the total amount repaid increasing from 83.4% in 2021 to 86.6% in 2022.

In terms of age groups, claimants aged between 25 and 44 years continued to account for the largest share of individuals who repaid benefits and of benefits repaid in 2022.

Claimants who had worked in the goods-producing industries continued to account for the majority of individuals who repaid benefits and of the total benefits repaid in 2022. Their share among all claimants who repaid benefits increased in 2022 (+3.0 p.p.) compared to 2021. Similarly, their share of the total benefits repaid increased during the same period (+5.5 p.p.). The Construction industry continued in 2022 to account for the largest share of EI claimants who repaid benefits (43.9%) and of benefits repaid (38.8%) (consult Annex 2.28).

Employment Insurance regular benefits and firms

According to the 2022 tax data,^{Footnote 20} which were the most recent data available at the time this report was produced, approximately 1.32 million firms^{Footnote 21} were operating in Canada in 2022 (consult Table 10). Among them, 26.0% (341,600 firms) employed at least one employee who had received EI regular benefits during that year.

• Note: Data may not add up due to rounding.
• * Small-sized firms are defined as those that employ 1 to 19 employees. The category also includes tax records for which the firm's size could not be determined. Small-to-medium sized firms employ 20 to 99 employees. Medium-to-large sized firms employ 100 to 499 employees. Large-sized firms employ 500 employees or more.
• ** The number of workers in a firm is the number of individuals with employment income in that firm, as indicated on a T4 form. The number of workers is adjusted so that each individual in the labour force is only counted once and individuals who work for more than one firm are taken into account. For example, if an employee earned $25,000 in firm 1 and $25,000 in firm 2, then he or she was recorded as 0.5 employees at the first firm and 0.5 employees at the second firm.
• *** These are based on the number of people receiving EI regular benefits in 2022.
• Sources: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of EI administrative data. Canada Revenue Agency, CRA administrative data. Results are based on 100% of CRA data.

As in the past, the proportion of firms which employed at least one employee receiving EI regular benefits increased with firm size. In 2022, 20.6% of small-sized firms had at least one former employee who received EI regular benefits. That ratio increased to 75.1% for small-to-medium sized firms, 95.6% for medium-to-large sized firms and 99.7% for large-sized firms.

Similar to previous years, employees from smaller firms are found to be overrepresented among claimants for EI regular benefits when comparing the distribution of claimants by firm size to the distribution of the workforce by firm size. As shown in Table 10, small firms accounted for 21.0% of the total workforce, while they represented 28.2% of the claimants for EI regular benefits in 2022. Similarly, small-to-medium sized firms accounted for 19.4% of the workforce and 23.6% of claimants. On the other hand, large-sized firms accounted for 43.4% of the workforce, but only 31.8% of claimants. This suggests that smaller-sized firms are more vulnerable to difficult business or economic conditions than large firms are (for instance, economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic). As a result, these firms may be more likely to make broader adjustments to their workforces, resulting in a larger share of employees claiming EI regular benefits because of layoffs. Moreover, industry-related characteristics such as the greater prevalence of seasonal jobs in small-sized firms may have an influence, as these firms are generally more likely to rely on EI benefits, relative to the national average in some industries.^{Footnote 22}

Employment Insurance regular claims and amount paid by EI claimant category

This report assigns EI regular claims to 1 of 3 claimant categories based on the claimant's EI premiums paid and EI benefits used in the past few years. Prior to their current claim, long-tenured workers generally had strong labour market attachment and low EI benefits usage. Frequent claimants had established multiple EI claims and received several weeks of EI benefits over the past few years. Claims that do not fall in these first 2 categories are classified as occasional claimants.^{Footnote 23} When it comes to the relationship between claimant category and age group, long-tenured workers tend to be spread out across claimants aged 35 to 44 years, 45 to 55 years, and 55 years and over. Frequent claimants tend to be men, aged 55 years and over, from the Atlantic provinces and in the goods‑producing industries.

Table 11 outlines the number of claims established for EI regular benefits and the amount paid by EI claimant category. The number of claims established in 2023‑24 slightly decreased among frequent claimants but increased among long-tenured workers and occasional claimants compared to the previous fiscal year. Overall, occasional claimants continued to account for more than half (57.0%) of the share of EI regular claims established in 2023‑24.

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• Consult Annex 2.5 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

In terms of EI regular benefits paid, all claimant categories had an increase in 2023‑24 compared to 2022‑23. Occasional claimants accounted for more than half (55.0%) of benefits paid in 2023‑24, followed by frequent claimants (24.5%) and long-tenured workers (20.5%).

In general, the shares of both claims established for regular benefits and benefits paid appear to be trending towards pre-pandemic level across claimant categories (consult Annex 2.5.1).

Employment Insurance regular claims by hours of insurable employment and unemployment rate in the Employment Insurance economic region of establishment

Claimants must have worked a minimum number of hours of insurable employment in their qualifying period, ranging from 420 to 700 hours, in order to qualify for EI regular benefits. The number of required hours to qualify depends on the unemployment rate in the EI economic region where the claimant resides at the time of submitting the application for EI and is known as the Variable Entrance Requirement (VER) (consult Table 12). The higher the unemployment rate in a given region, the lower the number of hours needed to qualify for EI regular benefits and vice versa (consult Annex 2.2 for the full breakdown). A detailed discussion on the eligibility and access to EI regular benefits is provided in subsection 2.2.2.

Chart 6 illustrates the distribution of EI regular claims by the number of hours of insurable employment that were used to qualify for these benefits, for men and women. In general, men accumulate more hours of insurable employment than women prior to establishing a claim. In 2023‑24, claimants who accumulated 1,820 or more hours of insurable employment during their qualifying period accounted for the largest share (31.6%) of EI regular claims established by men, while it accounted for only 21.3% of EI regular claims established by women. Claimants who accumulated between 420 and 699 hours accounted for the smallest share for both genders, but women had a slightly higher share (2.8%) than men (2.5%). Overall, almost half (49.0%) of EI regular claims established by men had 1,540 hours of insurable employment or more, while it was 38.3% for women.

Text description for Chart 6

Hours of insurable employment	Share of claims (% of total) men	Share of claims (% of total) women
420 to 699 hours	2.5%	2.8%
700 to 979 hours	15.7%	17.5%
980 to 1,259 hours	16.6%	19.3%
1,260 to 1,539 hours	16.2%	22.0%
1,540 to 1,819 hours	17.4%	17.0%
1,820 hours and more	31.6%	21.3%

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• Consult Annex 2.7 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Table 13 details the number and distribution of EI regular claims established in 2023‑24, as well as the labour force and the unemployed population by regional unemployment rate. Consult Table 12 for the minimum number of hours of insurable employment required to qualify for EI regular benefits, depending on the regional unemployment rate. In general, the distribution of EI regular claims across regional unemployment rates during 2023‑24 remained similar to the distribution of unemployed individuals reported in the Labour Force Survey. EI economic regions with an unemployment rate at 6% and lower represented the majority of EI regular claims established (61.6%), of the labour force (62.6%) and of the unemployed population (53.4%).

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Unemployment rates used for the Employment Insurance program are a 3-month moving average of seasonally adjusted rates of unemployment produced by Statistics Canada, as per section 17 of the Employment Insurance Regulations.
• Consult Annex 2.7 for more details.
• Sources: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data (for EI regular claims). Statistics Canada, special tabulations from the Labour Force Survey (for labour force and unemployment).

The share of EI regular claims established in EI economic regions with an unemployment rate at 6% or lower has increased significantly over the past fiscal years. As presented in Chart 7, these regions accounted for 29.6% of EI regular claims established in 2017‑18 compared to 50.1% in 2019‑20 and 61.6% in 2023‑24. This was likely due to the decrease in the unemployment rate in Canada in the years before the COVID‑19 pandemic, as well as the relatively low unemployment rate recorded in 2023‑24.

Text description for Chart 7

Category	Share of claims (%) 2017‑18	Share of claims (%) 2018‑19	Share of claims (%) 2019‑20	Share of claims (%) 2022‑23	Share of claims (%) 2023‑24
Regional unemployment rate: 6.0% or less	29.6%	31.8%	50.1%	64.9%	61.6%
Regional unemployment rate: 6.1% to 8.0%	43.1%	47.1%	30.6%	21.1%	24.2%
Regional unemployment rate: 8.1% to 10.0%	11.0%	4.2%	3.3%	2.5%	5.7%
Regional unemployment rate: 10.1% to 13.0%	6.3%	7.0%	6.4%	5.9%	4.7%
Regional unemployment rate: 13.1% or more	10.1%	9.9%	9.6%	5.7%	3.8%
National unemployment rate	6.2%	5.8%	5.9%	5.1%	5.6%

• Note: Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Unemployment rates used for the Employment Insurance program are a 3-month moving average of seasonally adjusted rates of unemployment produced by Statistics Canada, as per section 17 of the Employment Insurance Regulations.
• ** Results are not presented for 2020‑21 and 2021‑22 because a minimum unemployment rate of 13.1% was in effect between September 27, 2020 and September 25,2021 due to the first set of EI temporary measures.
• Consult Annex 2.7 for more details.
• Sources: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2017‑18 to 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24 (for EI regular claims). Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0287-01 (for unemployment rate).

Claimants' obligations to search for and accept suitable employment

Under the Employment Insurance Act, EI regular benefits claimants must be capable of and available for work and be unable to obtain suitable employment. This requirement, which must be met in order to receive EI regular benefits, can be demonstrated through reasonable and customary efforts to obtain suitable employment. ^{Footnote 24}

Claimants may be disentitled from receiving EI regular benefits when they fail to meet a specific entitlement condition. A disentitlement applies on a day-to-day basis for as long as the claimants' situation remains unchanged. Claimants may be disqualified from receiving EI regular benefits due to their specific action or inaction. The disqualification can be either indefinite or for a specific number of complete weeks.

Table 14 outlines the number of disqualifications and disentitlements related to refusal of suitable work and failure to search for work in past fiscal years. In 2023‑24, there were a total of 450 disqualifications and disentitlements related to failure to search for work and 80 related to refusal of suitable work. These results are higher than the previous fiscal year but remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels. However, refusal of suitable work and failure to search for work represent only a fraction (less than 1.0%) of all disqualifications and disentitlements in the fiscal year. The results also do not take into consideration that benefits would generally have been reinstated after claimants who were disentitled demonstrated that they were once again fulfilling their responsibilities, or after claimants who were disqualified served their weeks of disqualification.

• * The total for 2019‑20 is calculated using monthly estimates from April 2019 to February 2020, and excludes data for the month of March 2020. Additionally, 2020‑21 is excluded from the table because no new claims for EI regular benefits could be established between March 15 and September 26, 2020, when the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was introduced. As a result, the Employment Insurance Statistics program was suspended between the March and September 2020 reference months. Consequently, data on the number of EI disqualifications and disentitlements are not available for this period.
• Source: Statistics Canada, monthly Employment Insurance disqualifications and disentitlements, Table 14-10-0004-01.

Coverage of Employment Insurance regular benefits

The coverage rate of EI regular benefits shows the proportion of unemployed individuals who contributed to the EI program by paying EI premiums in the preceding 52 weeks prior to becoming unemployed. Thus, the coverage rate is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed individuals who had insurable employment and paid EI premiums within the previous 52 weeks by the number of total unemployed individuals in Canada. In 2023, the coverage rate was 66.0%, 6.8 p.p. higher than what was observed in 2022 (59.2%).

Higher coverage rates of EI regular benefits are usually observed during economic slowdowns, as slowing economic activities lead to layoffs that increase the share of unemployed EI contributors among all unemployed individuals. For example, the coverage rates were higher in 2015 and 2016, during the downturn in commodity prices, and in 2021 due to layoffs following the COVID-19 pandemic (consult Chart 10). The higher coverage rate in 2023 compared to 2022 (+6.8 p.p.) and to the average rate of 62.7% in 2018 and 2019 (+3.3 p.p.) can be explained by the easing of labour market conditions in 2023. This resulted in a relative higher share of unemployed individuals who had paid EI premiums among all unemployed individuals in 2023 compared to 2022 and to pre-pandemic years.

Text description for Chart 10

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020*	2021	2022	2023
Coverage rate of Employment Insurance regular benefits	64.5%	61.7%	62.5%	61.0%	65.3%	65.3%	63.0%	63.9%	61.5%	Not available	71.0%	59.2%	66.0%

• * Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data collection on EI regular benefits was suspended in the EICS 2020.
• Source: Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2011 to 2023.

Table 15 outlines the coverage rates of EI regular benefits in 2023 by province,^{Footnote 26} gender, age, and previous work patterns. Consistent to the historical pattern, the Atlantic provinces have higher coverage rates than the rest of the country. This may be explained by the composition of unemployed individuals, such as the prevalence of the seasonal employment pattern in that region.^{Footnote 27} Ontario continued to have the lowest coverage rate in 2023 (59.8%).

• ^E As per the EICS release guidelines, this estimate should be used with caution.
• * Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data collection on EI regular benefits was suspended in the EICS 2020.
• ** The coverage rates of unemployed individuals for most of the work pattern categories are higher than the national average. This can be explained by the 0% coverage rate of unemployed individuals for whom a previous work pattern is not applicable because they never worked before. The national average is lower because these individuals are included.
• *** Seasonal employment is temporary work that is expected to last only until the end of a ‘season'—the period for which services are in demand.
• **** Other non-standard refers to non-permanent paid jobs that were either temporary, term, contractual, casual or other non-permanent (but not seasonal) employment. This excludes unemployed individuals who were self-employed.
• Source: Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2018 to 2023.

Consistent with trend in previous years, the coverage rate for men was higher than that for women in 2023. The lower coverage rate for women can be explained by the fact that unemployed women are less likely to have recent insurable employment compared to unemployed men. The coverage rate of younger unemployed individuals was still the lowest and the coverage rate for those aged 45 years and older remained the highest in 2023.

When the unemployed population is categorized by their previous work patterns, results show that a higher share of unemployed individuals with previous non-permanent jobs paid EI premiums in the previous 52 weeks than those who had permanent jobs. This can be explained by the higher coverage rate of unemployed individuals who worked in non-permanent seasonal jobs. As these individuals work for a few weeks or months on a cyclical pattern over a year, they are more likely to have paid EI premiums in the previous 52 weeks than those who were in permanent jobs and might be unemployed for more than a year. Among unemployed individuals who previously held permanent jobs, the coverage rate in 2023 for those who had part-time jobs was slightly lower than the one for those who had full-time jobs. Among unemployed individuals who previously were in non-permanent employment, those who had seasonal work had a significantly higher coverage rate in 2023 compared to those who had non-seasonal non-standard work, consistent to historical trend.

Eligibility for Employment Insurance regular benefits

As mentioned at the beginning of this subsection, claimants for EI regular benefits must meet 3 criteria to be considered eligible (they must have paid EI premiums, have a valid reason for job separation, and have accumulated the required hours of insurable employment during their qualifying period). The eligibility rate is expressed as the share of unemployed individuals with sufficient hours of insurable employment among those who meet the other 2 eligibility criteria.

As illustrated by the "all unemployed individuals" line in Chart 11, the eligibility rate for EI regular benefits in Canada has ranged from 78.4% to 87.4% in the past decade. The rate for 2023 stood at 83.1%, slightly higher than its pre-pandemic level of 82.4% observed in 2019. The comparable eligibility rate between 2019 and 2023 can be partly attributed to similar national unemployment rates in both years (5.7% in 2019 and 5.4% in 2023),^{Footnote 28} which translated into relatively similar entrance requirements for EI regular benefits at the national level for those years. The eligibility rate for unemployed individuals who previously had permanent employment has historically been higher than the one of those who had non-permanent employment.

Text description for Chart 11

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020*	2021**	2022**	2023
Eligibility rate for all unemployed individuals	78.4%	81.9%	85.8%	83.1%	82.8%	85.4%	84.3%	87.4%	82.4%	Not available	Not available	Not available	83.1%
Eligibility rate for unemployed individuals who were in permanent employment	87.2%	89.9%	91.4%	87.7%	90.0%	92.8%	91.7%	92.8%	89.3%	Not available	Not available	Not available	86.8%
Eligibility rate for unemployed individuals who were in non-permanent employment	68.3%	72.2%	79.0%	77.7%	72.2%	75.7%	76.7%	80.0%	74.4%	Not available	Not available	Not available	78.3%

• * Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data collection on EI regular benefits was suspended in the EICS 2020.
• ** Due to the EI temporary measures related to the COVID‑19 pandemic in place from September 2020 to September 2022, eligibility rates for 2021 and 2022 were incomparable to the other years.
• Source: Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2011 to 2023.

The eligibility rates for EI regular benefits are sensitive to economic conditions and specific employment patterns during the qualifying period, such as the incidence of full-time versus part-time employment, and permanent versus temporary employment. Because of this, significant variations are found when unemployed individuals are classified based on regional, demographic and previous employment characteristics.

As outlined in Table 16, unemployed individuals in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan had slightly lower eligibility rates compared to the national average in 2023. In comparison, those in the Atlantic provinces had generally higher eligibility rates.

• ^E As per the EICS release guidelines, this estimate should be used with caution.
• * Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data collection on EI regular benefits was suspended in the EICS 2020. Due to the EI temporary measures related to the COVID‑19 pandemic in place from September 2020 to September 2022, eligibility rates for 2021 and 2022 were incomparable to the other years.
• ** Seasonal employment is temporary work that is expected to last only until the end of a ‘season'—the period for which services are in demand.
• *** Other non-standard refers to non-permanent paid jobs that were either temporary, term, contractual, casual or other non-permanent (but not seasonal) employment. This excludes unemployed individuals who were self-employed.
• Source: Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2016 to 2023.

Consistent to previous years, unemployed men registered higher eligibility rates than unemployed women in 2023, probably due to the fact that a higher proportion of men hold full-time jobs or permanent jobs or both, while a higher proportion of women work in part-time jobs or temporary jobs or both. This means that unemployed women are less likely to accumulate sufficient hours of insurable employment. By age, unemployed youth aged 24 years and under continued to have the lowest eligibility rate in 2023, compared to unemployed individuals aged between 25 and 44 years and those aged 45 years and over.

Additionally, unemployed individuals who had part-time or non-permanent employment were less likely to accumulate the required number of hours of insurable employment in 2023 due to their work pattern, resulting in lower eligibility rate compared to the national average.

Access to Employment Insurance regular benefits

Access to EI regular benefits is another way to measure how the EI program is providing financial support to Canada's unemployed individuals following a job loss and helping them transition to new employment. For the purpose of the EI Monitoring and Assessment Report, access to EI regular benefits is measured by 2 rates: the Beneficiary-to-Unemployed (B/U) rate and the Beneficiary-to-Unemployed Contributor (B/UC) rate.

The rates' numerator (B) and denominators (U and UC) are both obtained from the EICS. The number of unemployed individuals who received EI regular benefits (B) includes those who received EI regular benefits at the time they were surveyed (including those who had their benefits temporarily interrupted or waiting to receive benefits) as well as those who received but exhausted their EI regular benefits within 12 months of the time they were surveyed to incorporate all beneficiaries in the year.

The Beneficiary-to-Unemployed (B/U) rate is the share of unemployed individuals who received EI regular benefits among all unemployed individuals. As such, it includes a significant segment of the unemployed population who are ineligible for EI regular benefits (such as those who did not work in the previous year or never worked, who did not have a valid job separation, and those who were self-employed). As a result, the B/U rate is sensitive to changes in the composition of the unemployed population and the proportion of the unemployed individuals outside the scope of the EI program's coverage.

The Beneficiary-to-Unemployed Contributor (B/UC) rate is the share of unemployed individuals who received EI regular benefits among the unemployed individuals who contributed EI premiums in the previous 12 months. The B/UC rate measures accessibility among unemployed individuals for whom EI regular benefits are designed to provide coverage and excludes those who did not contribute EI premiums during their last employment period or did not have any labour force attachment. As a result, this rate provides a better assessment of accessibility to EI regular benefits.

Chart 12 illustrates the B/U and B/UC rates over the 2011-2023 period. In 2023, the B/U rate was 39.9%, 2.3 p.p. lower than that in 2022. In the meantime, the B/UC rate was 60.4% in 2023, down from 71.3% in 2022, representing a 10.8 p.p. drop. The lower share of unemployed individuals who received EI regular benefits among the total unemployed individuals and unemployed individuals who paid EI premiums in 2023 compared to 2022 could be partially due to the end of the EI temporary measures in September 2022 that facilitated access to EI benefits. In addition, the larger drop in the B/UC rate than the B/U rate in 2023 could be explained by the number of unemployed individuals who paid EI premiums that outpaced the total number of unemployed individuals over the period due to the tight labour market conditions observed right after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. Compared to the pre-pandemic years, both B/U and B/UC rates were higher in 2023 than in 2018 and 2019.

Text description for Chart 12

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020*	2021	2022	2023
B/U rate	37.6%	34.7%	37.2%	33.9%	40.0%	41.7%	37.9%	37.1%	34.7%	Not available	62.3%	42.2%	39.9%
B/UC rate	58.3%	56.2%	59.6%	55.6%	61.3%	63.8%	60.1%	58.0%	56.4%	Not available	87.7%	71.3%	60.4%

• * Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data collection on EI regular benefits was suspended in the EICS 2020.
• Source: Statistics Canada, Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2011 to 2023.

Duration of Employment Insurance regular benefits

As illustrated in Chart 14, the average maximum entitlement of completed EI regular claims was 28.5 weeks in 2023‑24. This was similar to 28.0 weeks recorded for claims completed in 2022‑23 that were established on or after September 26, 2021. These latter claims were established when the maximum entitlement returned to the pre‑pandemic range of between 14 to 45 weeks. For simplicity, for the rest of the subsection, they are referred to as claims completed in 2022‑23. The average actual duration, on the other hand, was 16.7 weeks for claims completed in 2023‑24, virtually unchanged from 16.8 weeks for claims completed in 2022‑23. Both durations in 2023‑24 were lower than the ones observed before the pandemic (average maximum entitlement of 30.0 weeks and average actual duration of 18.3 weeks over the period of 2018‑19 to 2019‑20). This is attributable in part to the relatively low unemployment rate observed in 2023‑24 compared to before the pandemic.

Text description for Chart 14

Year	2014‑15	2015‑16*	2016‑17*	2017‑18*	2018‑19	2019‑20	2020‑21**	2021‑22***	2022‑23****	2023‑24****
Average maximum entitlement	31.6	32.1	33.7	32.6	30.3	29.7	31.1	Not comparable	28.0R	28.5P
Average actual duration	19.4	19.3	20.7	20.3	18.5	18.2	21.1	Not comparable	16.8R	16.7P
Unemployment rate	6.9%	7.1%	6.9%	6.2%	5.8%	5.9%	10.2%	6.8%	5.1%	5.6%

• Note: Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• *A temporary measure extended the number of weeks of EI regular benefits for claimants in 15 EI economic regions that were hit the hardest by the downturn in commodity prices during this period.
• **Includes claims established before March 15, 2020 and completed in 2020‑21.
• ***Most claims completed in 2021‑22 were entitled 50 weeks of EI regular benefits, therefore their average actual duration is not comparable with the other fiscal years.
• ****Includes claims established on or after September 26, 2021 and completed in 2022‑23 or 2023‑24.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• ^R Revised data.
• Sources: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2014‑15 to 2020‑21 and 100% of data for 2022‑23 and 2023‑24 (for average maximum entitlement and average actual duration). Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0287-01 (for data on unemployment rates).

The average proportion of EI regular benefit weeks used by completed claims in 2023‑24 was 62.0%. This was lower than the proportion recorded by completed claims in 2022‑23 (64.1%), as well as claims completed before the pandemic (63.7% in 2018‑19 and 64.1% in 2019‑20).

Duration of Employment Insurance regular claims by province or territory, gender, age, claimant category and industry

The duration of EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24 varied significantly across provinces and territories, reflecting differences in regional labour market and labour market characteristics in 2023‑24, as outlined in Table 22. EI regular claims established in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut had the highest average maximum entitlement (36.7 weeks and 37.5 weeks, respectively). These significantly higher maximum entitlements compared to the national average can be explained in part by the high unemployment rates observed in these jurisdictions (the unemployment rate was 9.8% in Newfoundland and Labrador and 12.7% in Nunavut in 2023‑24).^{Footnote 34} These 2 jurisdictions also had the highest average actual duration (26.1 weeks and 26.6 weeks, respectively) and among the highest average proportion of regular benefit weeks used (73.1% and 71.7%, respectively) (consult Table 23 for proportions of EI regular benefit weeks used). In comparison, among provinces, EI regular claims established in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec had the lowest average maximum entitlement (from 27.3 weeks to 27.5 weeks) corresponding to the low unemployment rates generally observed in these provinces. Claims established in Quebec (14.4 weeks), Ontario (15.8 weeks) and British Columbia (16.3 weeks) also registered the lowest average actual duration among all provinces in 2023‑24. This resulted in a relatively low average proportion of EI regular benefit weeks used in these provinces.

• Note: Percentage changes are based on unrounded numbers. Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Includes claims established on or after September 26, 2021 and completed in 2022‑23 or 2023‑24.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• ^R Revised data.
• Consult Annex 2.5 for more details on average actual duration.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

• Note: Changes in percentage points are based on unrounded numbers. Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Includes claims established on or after September 26, 2021 and completed in 2022‑23 or 2023‑24.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• ^R Revised data.
• Source:  Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

The average maximum entitlement of EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24 was lower for women (27.3 weeks) than men (29.2 weeks) partly because they are more likely to work in part-time jobs and to accumulate less hours of insurable employment. Women also used on average less weeks of regular benefits compared to men in 2023‑24 (16.1 weeks and 17.1 weeks, respectively). In terms of proportion, women used on average a slightly lower share of their entitlement of regular benefits than men in 2023‑24 (61.1% for women compared to 62.5% for men).

In terms of age groups, claimants aged 24 and under had the lowest average maximum entitlement (26.8 weeks) and the lowest average actual duration (15.0 weeks) of EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24. In comparison, claimants aged 55 and over used, on average, the highest number of weeks of regular benefits (18.9 weeks) and the highest proportion of their entitlement of regular benefits (70.5%) in 2023‑24.

With regard to claimant categories, long-tenured workers generally have higher maximum entitlements than occasional and frequent claimants, as they are more likely to accumulate hours of insurable employment well above the minimum requirements for EI regular benefits. This was true for completed claims in 2023‑24 (31.4 weeks, 27.4 weeks and 28.2 weeks, respectively). On average, occasional and frequent claimants used more weeks of EI regular benefits than long-tenured workers. This was reflected in their average proportion of regular benefit weeks used, as frequent (76.4%) and occasional (62.6%) claimants used proportionally more weeks of regular benefits than long-tenured workers (46.8%) in 2023‑24. This discrepancy between categories of claimants can be explained by the fact that long‑tenured workers generally have stronger labour market attachment, tend to have more weeks of entitlement to regular benefits, and collect fewer weeks of benefits. As such, they use a lower proportion of their benefit weeks.

In terms of industry breakdown, EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24 with the highest average actual durations were from Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (20.4 weeks), Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (19.6 weeks), and Wholesale and retail trade (19.3 weeks). These industries also used a higher share of their entitlement of regular benefits on average than the national level (75.4%, 69.0% and 69.4%, respectively). Conversely, claims established by claimants from the Educational services industry had the lowest average actual duration (10.6 weeks) and the lowest average proportion of regular benefit weeks used (44.1%) due to the seasonal nature of this sector and the relatively short and well‑defined "off-season" over the summer months (consult Annex 2.6.2).

Similar to the national level, the average actual duration of EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24 stayed relatively unchanged in almost all provinces and territories, genders, age groups, claimant categories and industries compared to 2022‑23. However, there were some exceptions in the Northwest Territories (‑1.8 weeks or ‑10.5%), Nunavut (+3.4 weeks or +14.9%) and the Professional, scientific and technical services industry (+1.8 weeks or +10.0%).

Proportion of Employment Insurance regular benefit weeks used by weeks of entitlement, EI regional unemployment rate and working while on claim status

As with the duration of EI regular benefits, a few factors may influence the proportion of entitlement used by claimants; for instance, the number of hours of insurable employment, the EI regional unemployment rates and working while on claim.

Claimants with a greater number of hours of insurable employment and those residing in EI regions with lower unemployment rates are more likely to find employment following a job separation before they exhaust their weeks of EI benefits. Therefore, they use a lower proportion of their maximum entitlement for EI regular benefits.

As shown in Table 24, on average for EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24, claimants with the lowest number of EI entitlement weeks (between 14 and 19 weeks) used 81.8% of their entitlement compared to claimants with the highest number of weeks of entitlement (45 weeks) who only used 48.5% of their entitlement.

• Note: Changes in percentage points are based on unrounded numbers. Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Includes claims established on or after September 26, 2021 and completed in 2022‑23 or 2023‑24.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• ^R Revised data.
• Source:  Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Conversely, higher proportions of entitlement used are generally associated with EI economic regions with higher unemployment rates. Although these EI regions typically provide higher entitlement, they are also often characterized by weaker labour market conditions. For claims completed in 2023‑24, those in lower EI unemployment rate regions (6% or lower) used on average 60.9% of their entitlement, whereas claims in higher EI unemployment rate regions (13.1% and higher) used on average 71.2% of their entitlement.

Claimants working while on claim generally use a lower portion of their entitlement, as they may have a stronger labour market attachment and may also defer weeks of EI regular benefits. This leads to a lower proportion of their entitlement weeks used compared to claimants who did not work while on claim (on average 56.5% versus 66.3%, respectively, in 2023‑24).^{Footnote 35}

Entitlement exhaustion of Employment Insurance regular benefits

Of the total EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24, 34.5% exhausted their entitlement for EI regular benefits, a 1.9 p.p. decrease compared to claims established on or after September 26, 2021 that were completed in 2022‑23 (consult Chart 15). These latter claims were established when the maximum entitlement returned to the EI original rules of between 14 to 45 weeks. For simplicity, for the rest of the subsection, they are referred to as claims completed in 2022‑23. The entitlement exhaustion rate in 2023‑24 (34.5%) was lower than those recorded in 2020‑21 (36.9%) and 2022‑23 (36.4%) which were likely impacted by the economic slowdown due to the COVID‑19 pandemic and the EI temporary measures introduced to facilitate access to the EI program, respectively. In comparison, it was higher than the entitlement exhaustion rates observed before the pandemic (33.1% on average over the 2018‑19 and 2019‑20 period). This could be explained in part by an increase in the national unemployment rate during the reporting fiscal year‒rising from 5.1% in April 2023 to 6.1% in March 2024‒making it more difficult for unemployed individuals to find employment. In addition, the higher entitlement exhaustion rate could also be explained by the lower average maximum entitlement for claims completed in 2023‑24 than that of claims completed before the pandemic.

Text description for Chart 15

Year	2014‑15	2015‑16*	2016‑17*	2017‑18*	2018‑19	2019‑20	2020‑21**	2021‑22***	2022‑23****	2023‑24****
Entitlement exhaustion rate	33.3%	31.2%	34.9%	34.1%	33.0%	33.1%	36.9%	Not comparable	36.4%R	34.5%P
Benefit period exhaustion rate	22.8%	22.7%	17.8%	18.2%	18.2%	20.4%	26.9%	Not comparable	16.7%R	20.2%P

• Note: Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• *A temporary measure extended the number of weeks of EI regular benefits for claimants in 15 EI economic regions that were hit the hardest by the downturn in commodity prices during this period.
• **Includes claims established before March 15, 2020 and completed in 2020‑21.
• ***Most claims completed in 2021‑22 were entitled 50 weeks of EI regular benefits, therefore their exhaustion rates are not comparable with the other fiscal years.
• ****Includes claims established on or after September 26, 2021 and completed in 2022‑23 or 2023‑24.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• ^R Revised data.
• Source:  Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2014‑15 to 2020‑21 and 100% of data for 2022‑23 and 2023‑24.

All provinces and territories registered entitlement exhaustion rates above the national level for claims completed in 2023‑24, except for Quebec and Ontario. As illustrated in Table 25, despite a decrease at the national level, the entitlement exhaustion rate increased in 6 jurisdictions in 2023‑24 compared to 2022‑23, with the most notable rise in Nunavut (+10.5 p.p.), Newfoundland and Labrador (+6.1 p.p.) and New Brunswick (+4.4 p.p.).

• Note: Changes in percentage points are based on unrounded numbers. Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Includes claims established on or after September 26, 2021 and completed in 2022‑23 or 2023‑24.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• ^R Revised data.
• Source:  Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Claims established by women tend to have a higher entitlement exhaustion rate compared to claims established by men. This may be due to the fact that, on average, women qualified for fewer weeks of entitlement to EI regular benefits than men (27.3 weeks compared to 29.2 weeks, respectively, consult Table 22 in subsection 2.2.4). A higher proportion of women work in part-time or temporary jobs than men, and thus accumulate fewer hours of insurable employment on average, resulting in lower entitlement. However, this trend was reversed for claims completed in 2023‑24, as the entitlement exhaustion rate of EI regular claims established by women (33.8%) was slightly less than that by men (34.9%).

By age group, claimants aged 55 and over had the highest entitlement exhaustion rate (41.9%), followed by those aged 24 and under (35.8%). These claimants tend to exhaust their entitlement more often, which may reflect their lower entitlement on average, as well as the challenges they face in securing new employment following a job loss.

By EI claimant category, long-tenured workers had a lower entitlement exhaustion rate than occasional claimants and frequent claimants for claims completed in 2023‑24. Similar to the national level, the entitlement exhaustion rate of claims established by long-tenured workers and occasional claimants decreased compared to 2022‑23 but increased for claims established by frequent claimants (+1.8 p.p.).

Benefit period exhaustion of Employment Insurance regular benefits

When a claimant's benefit period ends before all weeks of entitlement to EI regular benefits have been paid, unless the claimant has stopped filing EI biweekly reports, the benefit period is considered to have been exhausted. As shown in Chart 15, the benefit period exhaustion rate is generally lower than the entitlement exhaustion rate.

In 2023‑24, 20.2% of all completed EI regular claims exhausted their benefit period (consult Table 25). This rate was 3.5 p.p. higher than that observed for claims completed in 2022‑23 (16.7%) and similar to those recorded in pre-pandemic fiscal years (18.2% in 2018‑19 and 20.4% in 2019‑20).

In general, claims established in the Atlantic provinces, by older claimants and frequent claimants have a higher benefit period exhaustion rate than the national level. This may be explained by the different factors presented below.

Entitlement exhaustion versus benefit period exhaustion

The circumstances that result in benefit period exhaustion are generally different from those associated with entitlement exhaustion. Many variables influence benefit period exhaustion, including regular benefit entitlement, weeks worked while on claim (leading to deferred benefit weeks) and the use of special benefits (adding another type of benefits to the claim).

Table 26 outlines different characteristics of completed EI regular claims by exhaustion type in 2023‑24. For instance, EI regular claims in EI economic regions with lower unemployment rates were generally less likely to exhaust their benefit period in 2023‑24 compared to claims established in EI regions with higher unemployment rates. Likewise, claims established in EI economic regions with lower unemployment rates tend to have lower entitlement exhaustion rates in 2023‑24 than those established in EI regions with higher unemployment rates.

• Note: Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Includes claims established on or after September 26, 2021 and completed in 2023‑24.
• ** Includes only claims with at least one week worked while on claim.
• *** The requalification rate refers to the proportion of claimants who are able to requalify for a new claim within 4 weeks following the termination of their claim.
• ^p Preliminary data.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Furthermore, a much greater proportion of claims that exhausted the benefit period included at least one week worked while on claim (69.6%) compared with claims that exhausted their entitlement (28.7%). This is likely due to the Working While on Claim provision that allows claimants to defer weeks of entitlement to be used later in the benefit period. Claims that had at least one week worked while on claim and exhausted their benefit period had, on average, a greater number of weeks worked while on claim (15.2 weeks) compared with claims that exhausted their entitlement (10.9 weeks).

Because a larger share of claims that exhausted their benefit period also worked while on claim, claimants who exhausted their benefit period are more likely to accumulate enough hours of insurable employment during their benefit period to meet the eligibility requirements to establish a new claim following the end of their claim. As a result, a much greater proportion of claims who exhausted the benefit period (74.5%) requalified for a new claim within 4 weeks following the termination of the claim compared with completed claims that exhausted their entitlement (9.0%).

In addition, completed claims that exhausted their benefit period received fewer weeks of EI regular benefits on average (16.1 weeks) compared with claims that exhausted their entitlement (24.4 weeks) in 2023‑24 (consult Table 26). Completed EI regular claims that exhausted their benefit period used, on average, just over half (52.5%) of their entitlement. Among completed EI claims combining regular and special benefits, the share that exhausted their benefit period was greater than the share that exhausted their entitlement in 2023‑24 (17.4% and 9.8%, respectively).

Level of Employment Insurance regular benefits for seasonal claimants

The average weekly benefit rate for seasonal regular claims established in 2023‑24 was $580 (consult Annex 2.9.3). This was higher than the average weekly benefit rate for non-seasonal regular claims ($551) established during the same period.

Duration and exhaustion of Employment Insurance regular benefits among seasonal claimants

The average maximum entitlement of seasonal regular claims completed in 2023‑24 was 28.8 weeks.^{Footnote 43} This was comparable to the average maximum entitlement recorded for claims completed in 2022‑23 that were established on or after September 26, 2021 (29.7 weeks). These latter claims were established when the maximum entitlement returned to the pre‑pandemic range of between 14 to 45 weeks. For simplicity, for the rest of the subsection, they are referred to as claims completed in 2022‑23. In comparison, the average maximum entitlement of non-seasonal regular claims completed in 2023‑24 was 28.3 weeks.

The average actual duration of seasonal regular claims completed in 2023‑24 was 16.3 weeks, down from 17.5 weeks in the previous fiscal year (‑1.2 weeks or ‑6.7%) (consult Annex 2.9.2). It was 16.9 weeks on average for non-seasonal regular claims completed in 2023‑24, relatively unchanged from 2022‑23 (16.5 weeks). In addition, seasonal regular claims completed in 2023‑24 used on average a slightly lower share of their entitlement of regular benefits than non-seasonal regular claims (60.1% versus 62.8%, respectively).

The average maximum entitlement and the average actual duration of regular claims are usually shorter for seasonal claimants than for non-seasonal claimants. This reflects the fact that seasonal claimants typically accumulate fewer hours of insurable employment prior to establishing a claim than non-seasonal claimants. In 2023‑24, the average maximum entitlement and average actual duration of seasonal regular claims were similar to those of non-seasonal claims in the same period. This was likely due to the additional weeks of EI regular benefits provided to eligible seasonal claimants in targeted EI economic regions under a temporary support measure (consult the subsection ‘Temporary support measure providing additional weeks of EI regular benefits to seasonal claimants in 13 EI economic regions' below).

As mentioned in subsection 2.2.5, claims may end either when the number of weeks of regular benefits paid equals the entitlement to EI regular benefits over the course of the benefit period (referred to as entitlement exhaustion) or when the benefit period ends before all regular benefit weeks of entitlement have been paid (referred to as benefit period exhaustion). When EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24 are categorized by their seasonality status, claims established by seasonal claimants had a lower entitlement exhaustion rate than those established by non-seasonal claimants (26.7% and 37.6%, respectively), but this result was reversed when benefit period exhaustion is considered (32.8% and 15.1%, respectively). This means that seasonal claimants were less likely to collect all their entitled weeks of EI regular benefits than non-seasonal claimants. This is most likely due to the timing of their work seasons.^{Footnote 44}

Overlapping definitions of seasonal and frequent claimants

Frequent EI claimants are defined as those who, within the past 5 years, have had 3 or more regular or fishing claims and have collected benefits for more than 60 weeks in total. Seasonal claimants are not considered frequent if they collected less than 60 weeks of EI regular or fishing benefits or both over the previous 5 years. Frequent claimants are not considered seasonal if they do not have at least 2 prior regular or fishing claims established at around the same time of year as their reference claim. However, there is a significant overlap between frequent claimants and seasonal claimants.

In 2023‑24, the total number of EI regular claims established by seasonal or frequent or both claimants was 442,200. Among them, 224,600 claims were established by claimants who were both seasonal and frequent, representing 50.8% of the total regular claims established by seasonal or frequent or both claimants in 2023‑24 (consult Chart 18). Seasonal claimants who were non-frequent accounted for 37.0% of the total 442,200 regular claims established by seasonal or frequent or both claimants, whereas frequent non-seasonal claimants accounted for 12.2%.

Text description for Chart 18

Category	Frequent, non-seasonal	Frequent and seasonal	Non-frequent, seasonal	Total frequent or seasonal
Number of regular claims	54,100	224,600	163,500	442,200
Share of total frequent or seasonal claims	12.2%	50.8%	37.0%	100.0%

• Note: Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Table 29 compares the average duration, proportion of weeks of EI regular benefits used and entitlement exhaustion rate of EI regular claims established by the 3 groups and completed in 2023‑24. In general, frequent claimants use more EI support than non-frequent claimants. Among frequent claimants, non-seasonal claimants typically receive, on average, EI regular benefits for longer duration, use a greater proportion of their regular entitlement weeks and are more likely to exhaust their entitlement than seasonal claimants. This is likely due to seasonal claimants returning to their seasonal employment.

• Note: Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Temporary support measure providing additional weeks of EI regular benefits to seasonal claimants in 13 EI economic regions^{Footnote 45}

In August 2018, to better support seasonal workers, the government introduced a pilot project (Pilot Project No. 21) in 13 EI economic regions^{Footnote 46} of the country. This pilot project provided up to 5 additional weeks of EI regular benefits—to a maximum of 45 weeks—to eligible seasonal claimants who started a benefit period between August 5, 2018 and September 25, 2021. The parameters of the pilot project, including eligible EI regions, were then temporarily replicated through amendments to the Employment Insurance Act. Most recently, Budget 2024 extended this temporary legislated support for seasonal claimants until October 24, 2026. In addition, in 2022 a legislative fix was introduced to ensure that the timing of the temporary COVID‑19 measures would not affect access to this temporary seasonal measure.^{Footnote 47}

Moreover, to further support seasonal claimants from steep declines in unemployment rates, the government introduced Pilot Project No. 22 in the same 13 targeted EI economic regions. This pilot project provided up to 4 additional weeks, on top of the 5 additional weeks available under the existing temporary seasonal measure, to seasonal claimants who started a benefit period between September 10, 2023, and September 7, 2024, and who met the criteria of the existing seasonal measure. The maximum entitlement of 45 weeks of regular benefits remained in place.

In the 13 targeted EI economic regions, there were about 146,800 regular claims completed in 2023‑24 that were eligible for additional weeks of regular benefits under the temporary seasonal measure. Among them, 129,100 claims were established by seasonal claimants, and 17,700 claims were not eligible according to the original conditions of the seasonal measure but became eligible under the legislative fix. For simplicity, for the rest of this subsection, they are referred to as the eligible claims completed in 2023‑24. Among the 146,800 eligible claims completed in 2023‑24, about 66,300 (45.2%) used at least one additional week of regular benefits. This included 8,200 claims (46.2% out of the 17,700 claims) that became eligible under the legislative fix and used at least one additional week of regular benefits.

Among all eligible claims completed in 2023‑24, the proportion that used at least one additional week of benefits under the temporary seasonal measure ranged from 59.9% in the EI region of Restigouche-Albert to 27.3% in Chicoutimi-Jonquiere (consult Table 30). In addition, more than half of eligible claims established by claimants aged 55 years and over used at least one additional week. A higher proportion of eligible claims established by women used at least one additional week than those established by men (50.5% and 42.8%, respectively). A smaller proportion of eligible claims established by claimants who had worked in the Construction industry used at least one additional week compared to claimants who had worked in the Accommodation and food services industry or the Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry.

• Note: Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Regular claims in this table include claims that were not eligible for the temporary seasonal measure according to the original rules, but became eligible under the legislative fix introduced in 2022.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Among the 146,800 eligible claims completed in 2023‑24, 138,900 were entitled up to 5 additional weeks of EI regular benefits, and 47.2% (65,500 of 138,900) used at least one additional week of regular benefits. Among these 65,500 claims, almost all were entitled to have the full 5 extra weeks, and 72.3% used the full additional 5 weeks of regular benefits. On average, eligible claims entitled up to 5 additional weeks that used at least one additional week of benefits under the temporary seasonal measure received 4.3 additional weeks of EI regular benefits. The number of additional weeks used was, on average, almost identical for men and women, across different age groups, and for claimants who had worked in services-producing industries compared to those who had worked in goods-producing industries.

Furthermore, among the 146,800 eligible claims completed in 2023‑24, the remaining 8,000 were established when the Pilot Project No. 22 was in effect and were entitled to 6 to 9 additional weeks of EI regular benefits (up to 4 additional on top of the 5 additional weeks). Given the short period between the start of the Pilot Project No. 22 on September 10, 2023, and the end of the reporting period (March 31, 2024), a low number of completed claims used at least one of the 4 additional weeks provided under the Pilot Project No. 22. Statistics based on a higher volume of claims completed will be presented in future Monitoring and Assessment Reports. Therefore, results on eligible claims completed in 2023‑24 that were entitled to 6 to 9 additional weeks of regular benefits are not discussed.

As of March 31, 2024, 525,300 claims established by seasonal claimants on or after August 5, 2018 were eligible for additional weeks of regular benefits under the temporary seasonal measure (including 43,700 claims that were not eligible according to the original conditions of the seasonal measure but became eligible under the legislative fix). Among the total, 227,700 (43.4%) used at least one additional week of regular benefits (including 19,000 under the legislative fix). For claims that used one to 5 additional weeks, they received on average 4.2 additional weeks of regular benefits since the start of the temporary seasonal measure. As of March 31, 2024, $422.2 million in additional benefits had been paid to eligible seasonal claimants who used additional weeks of EI regular benefits under either Pilot Project No. 21, the temporary legislative measure for seasonal workers, or Pilot Project No. 22 (including $37.3 million paid under the legislative fix) since Pilot Project No. 21 was first introduced on August 5, 2018.

Entitlement exhaustion of Employment Insurance regular benefits: seasonal and non-seasonal gappers

Claimants of EI regular benefits who have exhausted their entitlement weeks may go through a period without income from either employment or EI benefits before they find work or return to work at the start of the next employment season. These claimants, known as "gappers", have not accumulated sufficient hours of insurable employment during their qualifying period for their entitlement to cover the entire duration of their unemployment spell.

To be considered a gapper, a claimant must have established a regular claim during the reporting fiscal year, have completed their previous regular benefit claim during the reporting fiscal year or the previous fiscal year and must have experienced a period without employment income or EI income immediately following the exhaustion of the preceding claim. The period with no income must be 15 weeks or less. While this is more common for seasonal claimants due to their work and EI claiming patterns, it can affect non-seasonal claimants as well.

Of the 1.37 million EI regular claims established in 2023‑24, approximately 84,900 (6.2%) experienced a gap in income based on the gapper definition (consult Table 31). This is slightly higher than the proportions registered in 2022‑23 (5.8%) and before the pandemic in 2019‑20 (5.5%). The average length of the gap was 5.3 weeks in 2023‑24, similar to 5.2 weeks recorded in 2022‑23.

• Note: Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

The incidence of gappers by region shows that all provinces and territories, except Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, registered a share of gappers above the national average in 2023‑24 (6.2%) (consult Table 31). This is mostly attributable to the composition of the local labour markets.

In 2023‑24, 9.9% of claims established by seasonal claimants experienced an income gap compared to 4.7% for claims established by non-seasonal claimants. Receiving additional weeks of EI regular benefits through the temporary support measure for seasonal claimants (consult the subsection above) helps reduce the length of the period without any income. As a result, among regular claims established in 2023‑24, the proportion of seasonal gappers in the 13 EI economic regions participating in the temporary support measure (9.0%) was lower than the proportion of seasonal gappers in EI economic regions outside the scope of this temporary support measure (10.5%).

Number of Employment Insurance regular claims and claimants working while on claim

The use of the WWC provision is reported using 2 different but complementary approaches. The first approach is based on EI claimants who had an open regular claim during the reporting fiscal year, regardless of when their claim was established. This focuses on the WWC activities in the fiscal year under review and therefore better reflects the labour market conditions during the reporting period. The second approach is based on regular claims completed in the reporting fiscal year. This provides a better estimate of the relative incidence of WWC as it takes into consideration the entire duration of the claim and not only a specific period (such as the reporting fiscal year, as done under the first approach).

Of all EI regular benefit claimants who had an open claim in 2023‑24, around 648,600 (37.6% of total) worked at least one week while on claim during the fiscal year (consult Table 32). This share was lower than the levels recorded before the COVID‑19 pandemic (43.0% on average in 2018‑19 and 2019‑20) and in 2022‑23 (39.9%). The decrease in the share of claimants who worked at least one week while on claim was observed in almost all industries in 2023‑24. This may be attributed to the decline in job vacancies across all industries in 2023‑24 compared to the previous fiscal year that indicates decrease in labour market tightness in Canada.^{Footnote 51} In comparison, based on the second approach, 44.3% of all completed EI regular claims (close to 595,300) included at least one week worked while on claim in 2023‑24 which is also lower than the previous fiscal year (47.9%) (consult Annex 2.24.4).

• Note: Includes claimants (or completed claims) to which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Claimants are not categorized according to seasonality given that the seasonal status is determined at the claims level. Therefore, no results for claimants are reported.
• ^P Preliminary data.
• Consult Annex 2.24 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Based on the first approach examining EI regular benefit claimants with an open claim in 2023‑24 who worked at least one week while on claim, more than half (58.8%) had deferred at least one week of EI benefits. Men, claimants who were from the Atlantic provinces, and older claimants (aged 55 years and over) were more likely to defer weeks of their EI benefits.

The proportion of regular benefit claimants with an open claim who worked at least one week while on claim varies by, among other things, region and industry, which may be partly explained by local labour market conditions in the regions where the claimants resided. Generally, regions that have a higher proportion of seasonal claimants have greater shares of EI regular benefit claimants who worked at least one week while on claim. This may be due in part to seasonal claimants that tend to return to work before their benefit period is exhausted. For example, in 2023‑24, the Atlantic provinces (46.4%) and Quebec (45.0%) had relatively higher share of claimants who worked at least one week while on claim (consult Table 32). In terms of industry, the Educational services industry (58.7%), as well as the Construction industry (43.3%), which had higher proportions of seasonal claimants, had the highest share of claimants who worked at least one week while on claim (consult Chart 19). Similar outcomes are found for completed claims when the second approach is examined.

Text description for Chart 19

Industry	Share of Employment Insurance regular benefit claimants with an open claim working at least one week while on claim
Good-producing industries	40.7%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	35.7%
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	37.7%
Utilities	37.4%
Construction	43.3%
Manufacturing	37.4%
Services-producing industries	36.1%
Wholesale and retail trade	25.7%
Transportation and warehousing	37.5%
Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing	22.0%
Professional, scientific and technical services	30.7%
Business, building and other support services*	27.8%
Educational services	58.7%
Health care and social assistance	37.7%
Information, culture and recreation**	28.3%
Accommodation and food services	34.2%
Other services (excluding public administration)	31.2%
Public administration	33.1%
All industries	37.6%

• Note: Includes claimants to which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * This industry sector comprises the industries with codes 55 (Management of companies and enterprises) and 56 (Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services).
• ** This industry sector comprises the industries with codes 51 (Information and cultural industries) and 71 (Arts, entertainment and recreation).
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Weeks worked while on claim

This subsection analyzes the proportion and the average number of weeks worked while on claim. It examines whether employment income was reported during a week in which a claimant was entitled to receive EI regular benefits.

The first reported measure is the proportion of weeks worked while on claim among weeks for which claimants were entitled to receive EI regular benefits in the reporting fiscal year (regardless of the establishment date of the claim). It reflects the relative frequency of WWC usage among regular benefit claimants and is indicative of local labour market conditions during the reporting period. The proportion of weeks worked while on claim was 21.3% nationally in 2023‑24, lower than the levels observed in the previous fiscal year (24.0%) and in fiscal years before the pandemic (23.8% on average in 2018‑19 and 2019‑20) (consult Table 33).

• Note: Changes in percentage points are based on unrounded numbers. Includes all claims for which at least $1 in EI regular benefit was paid.
• * Data are based on weeks worked while on claim during the reporting fiscal year, regardless of the year in which their claim was established.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

An analysis by demographic characteristics shows that the proportion of weeks worked while on claim generally varied in the same way as the proportion of claimants who worked at least one week while on claim. Seasonal claimants, claimants aged 45 to 54 years, and those in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec had higher proportions of weeks worked while on claim as well as proportions of claimants who worked at least one week while on claim than the national average in 2023‑24 (consult Table 32 and Table 33). This trend has been generally consistent with previous years.

The second measure is the average number of weeks worked while on claim for EI regular claims completed during the fiscal year with at least one week of work during the entire claim period. This measure of WWC frequency is based on the entire duration of the claim, rather than a specific reference period. In 2023‑24, the average number of weeks worked while on claim was 10.3 weeks, down from 11.2 weeks recorded in the previous fiscal year (consult Table 34). It was also slightly lower than those observed in the fiscal years before the pandemic (consult Annex 2.24.2). The average number of weeks worked while on claim generally varied the same way across demographic characteristics than the proportion of weeks worked while on claim.

• Note: Changes are based on unrounded numbers. Includes completed claims for which at least $1 in EI regular benefit was paid.
• ^p Preliminary data.
• ^R Revised data.
• Consult Annex 2.24.2 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Weekly income associated with working while on claim

As outlined in Table 35, there is a difference between the average weekly income of claimants who worked while on claim and those who did not. For EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24, claimants who worked while on claim had lower average weekly EI regular benefits ($387) for the entire claim period compared to the average weekly EI regular benefit of those who did not work while on claim ($526). However, claimants who worked while on claim had significantly higher average weekly total income ($775) compared to that of those who did not work while on claim ($526). When only the weeks worked were considered, claimants who worked while on claim received an average of $935 per week in 2023‑24.

• Note: Includes completed claims for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid.
• * Includes deferred weeks of EI benefits (that have thus $0 of EI benefits paid and high amount of employment earnings). Average incomes for this category are the sum of all regular benefits paid and/or employment earnings divided by the number of weeks the claim was active.
• ** The average weekly employment earnings for this category are total employment earnings divided by the number of weeks worked while on claim.
• Consult Annex 2.24.3 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Employment Insurance claims from apprentices and amount paid

In 2023‑24, there were approximately 52,400 new EI claims established by apprentices, an increase from the total reported in 2022‑23 (consult Table 36). This is in line with an increase in enrollment in apprenticeship programs during the same period. Across Canada, excluding Alberta, there were close to 70,500 new registrations in apprenticeship programs in 2023, an increase of 8.0% from 2022 and higher than pre-pandemic levels reported in 2019.^{Footnote 57},^{Footnote 58} In addition, there were approximately 42,000 certifications in trades issued in 2023, an increase of 3.0% from 2022, but still below pre-pandemic levels.

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims from apprentices referred under Section 25 of the Employment Insurance Act for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid while the claimant was on training.
• * The low number of claims from apprentices in Quebec is due to the unique program design in which apprentices complete all of their technical training prior to beginning on‑the‑job training.
• Consult Annex 2.25 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

As in previous years, the majority of these claims were established by claims from Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, with these 3 provinces accounting for 81.0% of the total in 2023‑24. Men also established the vast majority of claims by apprentices (94.2%) during this period. This is reflected by the fact that women represent a low share of the total apprenticeship registrations among major trade groups (12.2% in 2023).^{Footnote 59}

Among age groups, claimants aged between 25 and 44 years accounted for the largest share of EI claims established by apprentices (53.0%), followed by claimants aged between 15 and 24 years (43.8%). Claimants aged 45 years and over accounted for 44.2% of all EI regular claims established, but only 3.2% of all EI apprenticeship claims in 2023‑24.

The total amount of EI benefits paid to apprentices reached $343.2 million in 2023‑24. Almost all regions had an increase in the amount paid in benefits to apprentices compared to 2022‑23, with the exception of Quebec.

From an industry perspective, claimants from the Construction sector established the majority of new apprentice claims (63.0%) in 2023‑24, similar to previous years (consult Table 37). Among occupational groupings, the majority of EI claims established by apprentices were associated with the Technical trades and transportation officers and controllers grouping^{Footnote 60} (91.4%).

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims from apprentices referred under Section 25 of the Employment Insurance Act for which at least $1 of EI regular benefits was paid while the claimant was on training.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

Outside of periods of full‑time training and during the benefit period of a claim, an apprentice may experience a loss of employment income due to circumstances that may require access to other types of EI benefits, such as regular benefits for lack of available work or special benefits for the care of a newborn child or other life events. The apprentice may access these benefits if they meet the eligibility requirements for the relevant EI benefits. Of all claims established by apprentices in 2023‑24, 28.7% (or approximately 15,100 claims) contained at least 1 week of regular benefits paid outside of periods of full‑time training. Additionally, 1.4% (or approximately 740 claims) contained at least 1 week of special benefits paid outside of period of full‑time training, including approximately 440 claims for sickness benefits.

Of the total $343.2 million paid in benefits to apprentices in 2023‑24, $265.6 million (or 77.4% of all EI benefits paid to apprentices) were paid while apprentices attended full‑time technical training. EI regular benefits paid outside of periods of training accounted for most of the remaining benefits ($68.4 million, or 19.9%), while a small portion was paid as special benefits ($9.2 million, or 2.7%).

Level and duration of Employment Insurance benefits for apprentices

The average weekly benefit rate for claims established by apprentices was $598 in 2023‑24. This was higher than the average weekly benefit rate for EI regular claims established during the same period ($561). Apprentice claimants from the Territories and Alberta had the highest average weekly benefit rate in the country ($619 and $609, respectively). By gender, men received a higher average weekly benefit rate ($600) than women ($571), while among age groups, claimants aged between 25 and 44 years received the highest average weekly benefit rate ($611), followed closely by those aged 45 years and over ($610) (consult Annex 2.25.3).

The average duration of EI regular claims completed in 2023‑24 by claimants while on full‑time technical training was 8.9 weeks. Outside of Quebec, claims established in Prince Edward Island had the highest average duration (9.5 weeks), while claims established in New Brunswick had the lowest (8.3 weeks). There were no significant differences in the average duration across genders and age groups in 2023‑24 (consult Annex 2.25.2).

Employment Insurance claims under Skills Boost and amount paid

In 2023‑24, Service Canada gave permission to (or "referred") approximately 780 claimants to continue receiving EI benefits while training under Skills Boost (consult Table 38). This marks the highest total since the 2019‑20 reporting year (consult Annex 2.26.1). Among all claims established under Skills Boost in 2023‑24, approximately 730 (93.9%) claims contained at least 1 week of EI regular benefits paid while on training, and just under 550 (70.3%) claims contained at least 1 week of EI regular benefits paid outside of training periods.

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which claimants received permission from Service Canada to train.
• ¹ For confidentiality reasons, data for the Territories have been combined with those for British Columbia.
• ² For confidentiality reasons, data for the Utilities industry have combined with those for the Manufacturing industry.
• ³ This industry sector comprises the industries with codes 55 (Management of companies and enterprises) and 56 (Administration and support, waste management and remediation services).
• ⁴ This industry sector comprises the industries with codes 51 (Information and cultural industries) and 71 (Arts, entertainment and recreation).
• ⁵ For some claims, this information was not available in the data.
• Consult Annex 2.26 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Similar to previous years, most of the training referrals by Service Canada in 2023‑24 were in Quebec (26.6%), Ontario (26.4%) and Alberta (15.5%). Men accounted for slightly more than half of referrals (52.8%), compared to 60.3% of all EI regular claims established in 2023‑24. In terms of age, claimants aged 44 years and under established just under three-quarters (70.7%) of all referrals in 2023‑24, while accounting for 55.8% of EI regular claims during the same period.

From an industry perspective, claimants from the Construction sector accounted for the largest share of referrals (13.4%), followed by those from the Manufacturing (11.5%) and the Wholesale and retail trade (10.9%) sectors.

A total of $10.5 million in EI regular benefits were paid to claimants under Skills Boost in 2023‑24, representing the highest amount since the 2020‑21 reporting period. Of this amount, $7.0 million (66.5% of the total amount) was paid while claimants were on training, and $3.2 million (30.0% of the total amount) were paid to claimants outside of training periods.

Level and duration of Employment Insurance benefits for Skills Boost claims

Claimants who requested and received a referral to training by Service Canada had an average weekly benefit rate of $563 in 2023‑24. This is nearly identical to the average weekly benefit rate for EI regular benefits ($561), but lower than the one entitled to long‑tenured workers ($601) during the same period.

Claimants from Ontario received the highest average weekly benefit rate ($582), while claimants from Manitoba received the lowest ($488). In terms of gender, the weekly benefit rate for men was higher than for women, while among age groups, claimants aged 55 years and over received a lower average weekly benefit rate than the other age groups (consult Annex 2.26.3).

Claims with a referral to training by Service Canada that were completed in 2023‑24 received, on average, 16.7 weeks of EI benefits while on training and 10.8 weeks of EI regular benefits outside of training periods (consult Annex 2.26.2).

Claimants from the Atlantic provinces received, on average, the highest number of EI weeks while on training (20.3 weeks). In terms of gender, women received more EI weeks than men during training, while that trend was reversed outside of training periods. Among age groups, claimants aged between 35 and 44 years received, on average, the highest number of EI benefits weeks during training (17.9 weeks), while claimants aged 55 years and over received the most weeks outside of training periods (14.7 weeks).

Employment Insurance Work-Sharing claims and amount paid, by region, gender, age and industry

As outlined in Table 45, compared to 2022‑23, the most notable increase in the number of Work-Sharing claims in 2023‑24 was in Quebec (+4,849 claims), followed by Ontario (+1,856 claims). The number of claims established only decreased in 2 provinces: Alberta (‑26 claims) and Manitoba (‑2 claims). Claimants from Quebec established the largest share of total new claims (48.6%), followed by claimants from Ontario (32.8%) in 2023‑24. The same trend can be observed in terms of amount paid, claims established in Quebec received the largest share of total amount paid with 48.2%, followed by claims established in Ontario (34.4%) in 2023‑24. There were no claims established in the Territories during the reporting period.

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of Employment Insurance (EI) Work-Sharing benefits was paid.
• * For some claims, this information was not available in the data.
• ^C For confidentiality purposes, data for some provinces have been combined.
• Consult Annex 2.21 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of data.

Men continued to be more likely to make use of the Work-Sharing program—a trend that has been persistent over the years. In 2023‑24, men accounted for 65.0% of new Work-Sharing claims and 66.0% of total benefits paid, relatively similar to 2022‑23 (65.6% and 66.3%, respectively). The age distribution of claimants in 2023‑24 remained relatively unchanged compared to the previous year, with the exception of a slight increase in the proportion of new claims established by individuals aged 25 to 44 years old (from 35.3% to 38.2%). Youth remained under-represented among newly established Work‑Sharing claims (5.8%), relative to their share of national employment (13.3% in 2023-24).^{Footnote 67}

From an industry perspective, the Work-Sharing program was most frequently used by workers in the Manufacturing industry, which is consistent with historical patterns. They accounted for the largest share of new EI Work-Sharing claims (88.6%) established in 2023‑24, up from 84.4% in the previous fiscal year. These workers received the largest share of the total EI Work‑Sharing benefits paid (84.7%), up from 73.5% in 2022‑23.

Among the services-producing industries, workers in the Wholesale and retail trade and in the Professional, scientific and technical services industries accounted for 4.4% and 1.9% of Work-Sharing claims, respectively, in 2023‑24. In terms of amount paid, workers in the Wholesale and retail trade industry received 4.8% of total Work-Sharing benefits paid in 2023‑24, followed by workers in the Professional, scientific and technical services industry, who accounted for 3.3% of total Work-Sharing benefits paid.

Employment Insurance special benefits and firms

According to 2022 tax data, which is the most recent data available at the time this report was produced, there were approximately 222,900 firms (16.9% of all firms in 2022) which were associated with the establishment of an EI special benefit claim as the claimant's current or most recent employer (consult Table 48).

• Note: Data may not add up due to rounding.
• * Small-sized firms are defined as those that employ 1 to 19 employees. The category also includes tax records for which the firm's size could not be determined. Small-to-medium sized firms employ 20 to 99 employees. Medium-to-large sized firms employ 100 to 499 employees. Large-sized firms employ 500 employees or more.
• ** The number of workers in a firm is the number of individuals with employment income in that firm, as indicated on a T4 form. The number of workers is adjusted so that each individual in the labour force is only counted once and individuals who work for more than one firm are taken into account. For example, if an employee earned $25,000 in firm 1 and $25,000 in firm 2, then he or she would be recorded as 0.5 employees at the first firm and 0.5 employees at the second firm.
• *** These figures are based on the number of people receiving EI special benefits or EI sickness benefits in 2022.
• Sources: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on 100% of EI administrative data. Canada Revenue Agency, CRA administrative data. Results are based on 100% of CRA data.

The distribution of the workforce and of EI special benefit claimants is roughly similar by firm size, unlike EI regular benefits, where larger firms are typically under-represented (consult Section 2.2). For special benefits, the largest difference between employee and claimant distributions was observed in small-sized firms. These firms accounted for 21.0% of the total workforce, while they represented 18.7% of the claimants for EI special benefits in 2022. While workforce adjustment issues during a difficult business or economic context may offer some explanation of the higher relative use of EI regular benefits among small firms, the use of EI special benefits is more likely related to the demographic profile of the workforce, individual circumstances, and the nature of the work in the industry.

However, when the distribution of the workforce is compared solely to the one of EI sickness benefit claimants, larger firms are under-represented. They accounted for 43.4% of the total workforce, while they represented 32.8% of the claimants for EI sickness benefits in 2022. This difference can be largely explained by the fact that large-sized firms are generally more likely to offer short-term disability plans to their employees. As a result, employees who are unable to work because of illness or injury and are covered by their employers' plans may not have to collect EI benefits, as benefits from the registered plans have to be paid before EI benefits are paid.

Employment Insurance maternity claims, amount paid and level of benefits

The total number of new maternity claims established was just under 173,200 in 2023‑24, similar to the previous fiscal year. The breakdown of claims by province showed that Ontario continued to account for half of all maternity claims (consult Table 49).

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI maternity benefits was paid.
• Consult Annex 2.14 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

In 2023‑24, the majority of new maternity claims (89.3%) were established by women between 25 and 39 years old. The distribution of claims across age groups is similar to the one observed in past years.

The total amount paid in maternity benefits reached $1.4 billion in 2023‑24 (consult Table 49). Consistent with the number of claims, Ontario accounted for 52.2% of the total amount paid and mothers aged 25 to 39 years received 90.4% of maternity benefit payments over the reporting period.

In 2023‑24, the average weekly maternity benefit rate was $563, representing a 4.2% increase from the previous fiscal year (consult Annex 2.14.3). Overall, the average weekly maternity benefit rate continued to be higher for claims established in the Territories and by mothers aged 40 years and over. Of all claims established over the period, 54.5% received the maximum weekly benefit rate, compared to 51.3% in the previous fiscal year.

Maternity benefits are frequently combined in the same claim with other benefit types, particularly parental (98.5%) and sickness (14.7%) benefits; 98.4% of all EI maternity claims completed during 2023‑24 included another type of EI benefit (consult subsection 2.1.2).

Duration of Employment Insurance maternity benefits

As observed during previous fiscal years, mothers typically use almost all of the EI maternity weeks to which they are entitled. In 2023‑24, 92.8% of mothers received maternity benefits during the entire 15 weeks available to them. During the reporting period, the average duration of completed maternity claims was 14.7 weeks, similar to the previous fiscal year. The breakdown of the average duration by province and age also remained relatively unchanged compared to 2022‑23.

Employment Insurance maternity and parental benefits: Coverage and accessibility

The Employment Insurance Coverage Survey (EICS) provides a meaningful picture of who does or does not have access to EI benefits, notably EI maternity and parental benefits. This survey complements EI administrative data that only cover EI claimants. According to the 2023 EICS,^{Footnote 72} 75.6% of parents with a child aged 18 months or younger living outside Quebec had insurable employment in 2023. Among these new parents with insurable employment, 91.3% reported having received maternity or parental benefits, which is similar to the previous year (92.4% in 2022).

According to EICS data, the proportion of spouses or partners living outside Quebec who received or intended to claim EI parental benefits increased from 31.3% in 2022 to 39.3% in 2023. This proportion continues to increase as it was only 11.9% in 2017 and 19.5% in 2020. The additional weeks of EI benefits that have been available to new parents sharing parental benefits since March 2019 may have contributed to this increase.

As in previous years, 2023 EICS data continue to show that the share of new parents with insurable employment in Quebec who received maternity or parental benefits under QPIP (95.0%) is greater than that of parents having received EI maternity or parental benefits in the rest of Canada (91.3%), despite having decreased from 99.3% in 2022. The higher share in Quebec can be explained by several factors, most notably the lower eligibility requirement based on earnings under QPIP ($2,000). In addition, despite a decrease of 12.7 percentage points (p.p.) compared to 2022, a larger share of spouses or partners in Quebec received parental benefits or intended to receive them (80.2%), compared to the rest of Canada (39.3%). Historically, this proportion has remained higher for Quebec, however, the gap has narrowed in recent years.

Employers may choose to offer their employees a supplement to EI maternity and parental benefits (consult subsection 2.1.1 for more details). According to the 2023 EICS data, the share of parents with a child aged 18 months or younger living outside Quebec who received top-ups to their EI benefits from their employer (50.2%) increased compared to previous years (41.5% and 43.9% in 2021 and 2022, respectively).

Employment Insurance parental claims, amount paid and level of benefits

The total number of new parental claims established was 244,000 in 2023‑24, higher than the number established in 2022‑23 (consult Table 50). Extended parental benefits accounted for 17.9% of all parental claims established in 2023‑24, relatively unchanged compared to previous fiscal years.

• Note: Data may not add up to the total due to rounding. Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI parental benefits was paid.
• Consult Annex 2.15 for more details.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.

Among those parental claims, some were established by adoptive parents. These claims continued to account for less than 1.0% (about 1,200) of all parental claims. In 2023‑24, 15.7% of parental claims established by adoptive parents were for extended parental benefits. A lower share of parental claims were established by women among adoptive parents (56.0%) compared to all parental claims (69.5%) in 2023‑24. However, a higher share of parental claims were established by claimants 40 years old and over by adoptive parents (41.2%) compared to all parental claims (7.9%) in 2023‑24.

The breakdown of parental claims by province and territory remained relatively stable in 2023‑24 compared to 2022‑23. Over the entire reporting period, the majority of new parental claims were established by women (69.5%). However, the share of claims established by men continued to increase and reached 30.5% in 2023‑24, compared to 29.3% in the previous fiscal year. This share has almost doubled since 2017‑18. The additional weeks of benefits available to parents of a child born or adopted on or after March 17, 2019 who share parental benefits may have contributed to the continued increase in claims by men. Chart 24 illustrates the share of men among parental claimants over the past 10 years.

Text description for Chart 24

Share of EI parental claims established by men, by parental benefit option*	Standard parental benefits	Extended parental benefits
2014-15	13.9%	Not available
2015-16	13.6%	Not available
2016-17	15.0%	Not available
2017-18	16.0%	5.3%
2018-19	17.9%	11.2%
2019-20	22.8%	19.6%
2020-21	24.1%	21.0%
2021-22	29.4%	23.2%
2022-23	29.8%	27.2%
2023-24	31.0%	28.3%

• Note: Includes claims for which at least $1 of EI parental benefits was paid.
• * There are no results for extended parental benefits before 2017‑18 because these benefits started to be available on December 3, 2017.
• Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Employment Insurance (EI) administrative data. Results are based on a 10% sample of data for 2014‑15 to 2022‑23 and 100% of data for 2023‑24.