Rising number of Canadians taking Employment Insurance: Statistics Canada

The number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance () benefits increased by 25,000 (+6.0%) to 438,000 in July. This was the third consecutive monthly increase and the largest increase since May 2021. From April to July 2023, the number of Canadians receiving regular  benefits has increased by 10.5% (+42,000), says a report by Statistics Canada.

According to the Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 5.5% in July, marking the third consecutive monthly increase, said the federal agency.

It said the number of regular  beneficiaries increased in seven provinces in July, led by New Brunswick (+19.4%; +4,500), Manitoba (+14.9%; +2,000), Prince Edward Island (+13.9%; +900) and Quebec (+13.5%; +14,000). Meanwhile, the number of people collecting regular  benefits fell in Ontario (-3.0%; -3,600) and was little changed in Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan.

“In July, New Brunswick saw its first increase in the number of regular  beneficiaries since a year earlier. Likewise, Prince Edward Island recorded its first increase since December 2022 and Nova Scotia recorded its first increase since January 2023. In these three provinces, the number of regular  recipients had generally trended downwards over the past year, before increasing in July,” said StatsCan.

“For a third consecutive month, the number of regular  recipients increased in Quebec (+13.5%; +14,000) in July, bringing the cumulative increase since April to 30,000 regular  beneficiaries.

“Among census metropolitan areas (), the largest proportional increases in regular  beneficiaries were in the  of Moncton (+32.4%; +700), Trois-Rivières (+29.7%; +500) and Saint John (+29.4%; +600). Conversely, the largest proportional decreases in the number of beneficiaries were in the  of Oshawa (-9.8%; -300) and Greater Sudbury (-6.3%; -500).”

The report said the number of people collecting regular  benefits increased among both men (+5.4%; +14,000) and women (+6.9%; +10,000) in July. The number of male regular  beneficiaries has steadily increased since April (+13.3%; +33,000). Among women, July saw the first monthly increase in the number of regular  beneficiaries since February.

“The number of core-aged (25 to 54 years) male regular  beneficiaries increased by 6.0% (+9,800) in July, with a faster pace of growth in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec, compared with the other provinces. This contributed to 68.0% of the monthly increase among men. The number of people collecting regular  benefits rose by 6.4% (+1,900) among young men aged 15 to 24 years, while it increased by 3.8% (+2,700) among men aged 55 years and older,” it said.

“In July, 67.4% of the monthly increase for women collecting regular  benefits was among those aged 55 years and older (+17.3%; +7,000), with gains recorded in all provinces. The number of regular  recipients rose among core-aged women (+2.9%; +2,800) and women aged 15 to 24 (+4.5%; +500).”