Approximately 636,000 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in December, down by 56,000 (-8.1%) from a month earlier.
December EI statistics reflect labour market conditions during the week of December 5 to 11, 2021.
Public health measures in early December were largely similar to those in place in November, and were among the least restrictive seen during the pandemic. The widespread emergence
of the Omicron variant, and associated adjustments to public health measures, occurred later in December.
Fewer Canadians collect regular Employment Insurance benefits in December
The number of Canadians receiving regular EI benefits dropped by 56,000 (-8.1%) in December to 636,000.
According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), unemployment held steady at 1.2 million in December, including 1.1 million Canadians who were looking for work and 100,000 who had a connection
to a job, either because they were on temporary layoff or had arrangements to begin a new job in the near future.
Chart 1 Chart 1: Fewer regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in December
Fewer regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in December
Chart 1: Fewer regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in December
The number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries decreases in all provinces
The number of regular EI beneficiaries fell in all provinces in December. British Columbia (-10.1%; -7,000) posted the largest proportional decline, followed by Ontario (-9.8%; -20,000) and Alberta
(-8.7%; -7,000), while Newfoundland and Labrador (-4.4%; -2,000) and Prince Edward Island (-4.5%; -400) posted the smallest declines. December LFS results indicated that employment increased
in Ontario (+47,000), decreased in Newfoundland and Labrador (-4,600), and was little changed in the other three provinces mentioned.
On a regional basis, all census metropolitan areas (CMAs) recorded a decline in the number of regular EI beneficiaries in December. The CMAs of Guelph (-16.4%; -300), Hamilton (-15.6%; -2,000)
and Vancouver (-13.1%; -4,000) posted the largest percentage declines in the month.
Compared with February 2020, the number of regular EI recipients was up in all provinces in December 2021, led by Ontario (+53.7%; +65,000), Quebec (+53.2%; +54,000) and British Columbia
(+43.5%; +18,000). The number of regular EI beneficiaries was closest to February 2020 levels in Prince Edward Island (+16.6%; +1,000). Among all CMAs, the Vancouver CMA (+6.5 percentage
points) accounted for the largest increase in the proportion of regular EI beneficiaries in its respective province.
Bigger drop in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries among core-aged men than core-aged women
In December, the number of core-aged (25 to 54 years) men receiving regular EI benefits fell by 21,000 (-9.2%), more than 1.5 times larger than the decrease among core-aged women (-13,000; -7.2%).
According to the December LFS, core-aged men (+63,000; +1.0%) led monthly employment growth, while employment among core-aged women was little changed.
Over half of longer-term regular Employment Insurance recipients last worked in sales and service occupations or trades, transport and equipment operations and related occupations
In December, the LFS showed that 293,000 Canadians had been unemployed continuously for 27 weeks or more. At the same time, 309,000 (46.4%) EI recipients received regular EI benefits in at
least 7 of the last 12 months (not seasonally adjusted). Of these beneficiaries, almost one-third were core-aged men (30.6%) and almost one-quarter were core-aged women (23.9%). By province,
the proportion of EI recipients who had received regular EI benefits in at least 7 of the last 12 months ranged from 37.6% in Manitoba to 64.0% in Newfoundland and Labrador.
EI statistics provide some insights into the occupations in which the long-term unemployed last worked. Among those who received regular EI benefits in December and who received regular EI benefits
in at least 10 of the previous 12 months, more than half (55.9%) last worked in either sales and service occupations (32.2%) or trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (23.7%)
(not seasonally adjusted).
