The Economic Effects of Unemployment Insurance in Canada

It is undeniable that the current state of the Canadian economy is grim. Unemployment rates are at unprecedented highs and the labour market is at an all time low. During times of economic uncertainty and general unease about the market, social programs experience particular scrutiny and pressure.

Canadian Unemployment Insurance

Unlike the United States, where federal unemployment programs are run at the state level, the Canadian unemployment system is exclusively federal. The Canadian insurance policy is financed directly by employers’ and employees’ contributions. Up until 1991, general federal revenues also supplemented these contributions. The program is highly regional in that it provides for greater support in terms of duration of benefits and qualification periods to areas that suffer from higher unemployment.

Traditionally, unemployment insurance programs in Canada were designed to serve as a broad instrument of income supplementation that would sustain small communities and protect traditional occupations from forces of economic modernization. Those smaller communities with more traditional lifestyles happen to also be within the regions that see more support from the federal unemployment system.

Since the 1980’s, Canadian unemployment insurance programs have seen several different types of cuts, including duration of benefits, qualification periods, and amounts awarded. The government has withdrawn significant resources from these programs. These cutbacks have tended to hit harder in more affluent regions, while areas with higher unemployment still enjoy nearly the same levels of unemployment support.

Today’s Effects on the Canadian Economy

The combination of reduced benefits and the greater dependence on unemployment by the masses are culminating in an interesting end result. Since unemployment is up across all regions, the effect is greater economic fragmentation. We are seeing that smaller and poorer communities continue to uphold more traditional occupations and ways of life, arguably held up by strengthened support from federal social programs. On the other hand, the increasing level of unemployment throughout more affluent regions has created a mad scramble for more modernized industrialization.

EI’s New Pilot Programs

The Canadian government realizes that adjustments need to be made to the overall system. In 2008, it launched a series of unemployment insurance pilot programs to test different methods. The Working While on Claim project incentivizes the acceptance of all types of work while on EI benefits. The New Entrant/Re-entrant project is testing whether enabling new or newly returned members of the labour market to receive benefits quicker (along with providing greater awareness about the program) can reduce the individual’s future reliance on EI benefits. The Best of 14 Weeks project is testing a method to make EI benefit levels more closely tied to full-time work earnings for individuals with irregular work patterns, (such as freelancers and seasonal workers) and to convince workers to accept any and all available work by formulating their EI benefits based on the "best 14 weeks" of earnings over the 52 weeks prior to filing their initial claim.

These pilot programs inspire hope for improvement and more positive effects of the system on the greater Canadian economy.