Title page
Contents
Executive Summary 4
Introduction 6
Where We Are 7
Financing Employment Insurance 9
Qualifying for Employment Insurance 12
Discussion 27
Conclusion 32
Appendix: EI Funding-Looking Forward 33
References 37
About the author 41
Acknowledgments 41
Publishing Information 42
Supporting the Fraser Institute 43
Purpose, Funding, and Independence 43
About the Fraser Institute 44
Editorial Advisory Board 45
Table 1. EI benefits and contributions (2018 $) per member of the labour force, 2007-2018 10
Table 2. Number of hours required for regular EI benefits 13
Table 3. Three-month seasonally adjusted unemployment rate by EI region, June 9-July 6, 2019 14
Table 4. Three-month seasonally adjusted unemployment rate by EI region, April 12-May 9, 2020 15
Table 5. Three-month seasonally adjusted unemployment rate by EI region, May 10-June 6, 2020 16
Table 6. Three-month seasonally adjusted unemployment rate by EI region, June 7-July 11, 2020 17
Table 7. Projected EI regional requirements in August-September, 2020, based on unemployment in May, 2020 19
Table 8. Changes in EI requirements between June-July 2019 and June-July 2020 20
Table 9. Changes in EI requirements between April-May 2020 and projected 3-month average in July-August 2020 21
Table 10. Changes in EI requirements between May-June 2019 and projected 3-month average in July-August 2020 23
Table 11. Changes in EI qualifications for the unemployed in selected EI regions 24
Table 12. Average EI qualifications in the 56 provincial EI regions 25
Table 13. A comparison of EI and unemployment in urban and rural areas of Atlantic Canada 31
Figure 1. Average EI qualifications, June-July 2019 to projected August-September 2020 based on current unemployment levels 25
Figure 2. Unemployment rates, annual averages, Canada and Atlantic Canada, 1946-1975 29
Figure 3. Unemployment rates, annual averages, Canada and Atlantic Canada, 1976-2019 30
Table A1. EI benefits and contributions (× 1,000,000), 2007-2018 35
Table A2. EI benefits and contributions 2018 dollars (× 1,000,000), 2007-2018 36