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EI claims jump after Liberals cancel CRB

But that’s probably because there were still 227,000 more people unemployed in October 2021 than there were two years prior, before the pandemic.

Last month, Statistics Canada updated data on employment insurance claims received by the various Canadian provinces. It now includes data for October 2021.

And what we see is that October had the largest number of EI claims received in Alberta for 2021: 38,910

The next largest number of claims was not far behind: 38,340 in May.

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These numbers are seasonally adjusted and include both initial claims and renewal claims.

Alberta wasn’t the only province to see higher numbers either. Every province had higher EI claims received in October 2021 than they did just the month before.

Sep 2021Oct 2021Change
NL8,63017,0108,380
PEI2,9004,5701,670
NS9,89017,0007,110
NB12,90019,7506,850
QC84,92096,76011,840
ON96,310108,29011,980
MB10,31011,6701,360
SK7,7809,6701,890
AB31,98038,9106,930
BC30,98035,3104,330

Not only that, but for every province but Ontario, October 2021 had either the highest number of claims received this year or the second highest.

Even then, October was still Ontario’s 3rd highest month.

None of this should actually be that surprising given that the Trudeau government cancelled the Canada Recovery Benefit that same month, making the employment insurance programme the only option left for people who are still unemployed because of the pandemic.

And there definitely are still people unemployed.

Here, let’s compare 2021’s EI numbers for each province with those of 2020 and 2019.

201920202021
NL8,86040,87017,010
PEI2,57011,6204,570
NS9,31054,63017,000
NB10,67055,98019,750
QC62,640390,29096,760
ON76,220573,740108,290
MB8,57049,22011,670
SK7,63039,8409,670
AB26,230221,30038,910
BC26,070200,66035,310

While numbers are significantly down from 2020, during the first year of the pandemic, they’re still up quite a bit over 2019’s numbers.

This table shows you how much higher the 2021 numbers are over the 2019 numbers.

NL92.0%
PEI77.8%
NS82.6%
NB85.1%
QC54.5%
ON42.1%
MB36.2%
SK26.7%
AB48.3%
BC35.4%

Alberta’s numbers are nearly 50% higher than they were in 2019. Newfoundland and Labrador’s are still nearly double.

And it’s not just simply because there are more claims being submitted. There are literally more people still unemployed. Here, compare the number of people unemployed in each province in October 2019 (before the pandemic), October 2020 (in the middle of the pandemic), and October 2021 (the most recent data.

Oct 2019Oct 2020Oct 2021
NL29,90033,50035,400
PEI7,3009,0008,000
NS41,40044,70042,100
NB31,80041,60036,400
QC234,000352,200255,500
ON422,800773,000567,900
MB36,70049,40037,100
SK32,10039,90037,200
AB168,200265,500185,900
BC134,200224,500160,000
Total1,138,4001,833,3001,365,500

And sure enough, even though unemployment is down compared to 2020, it’s still up from 2019. In fact, there were still over 227,000 more people unemployed in October 2021 than there were in October 2019.

However, what’s really intriguing is when we compare the number of people unemployed with the number of EI claims.

Here’s the number of unemployed people minus the number of EI claims received.

Oct 2019Oct 2021
NL21,04018,390
PEI4,7303,430
NS32,09025,100
NB21,13016,650
QC171,360158,740
ON346,580459,610
MB28,13025,430
SK24,47027,530
AB141,970146,990
BC108,130124,690

For every province but 3, the number of unemployed workers not receiving EI claims actually decreased, compared to 2 years ago. However, for Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC, the number of unemployed workers not receiving EI claims actually increased.

I wonder what that’s all about.

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By Kim Siever

Kim Siever is an independent queer journalist based in Lethbridge, Alberta. He writes daily news articles, focusing on politics and labour.

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