Employment Insurance
The number of Employment Insurance beneficiaries represents a count of persons who lose their jobs and who are available for and able to work, but can't find a job. For this indicator seasonally adjusted estimates are shown.
1 year5 year10 yearAll available

Employment Insurance

Trend % CHANGE
Employment Insurance
TREND: INC DEC NO CHG POS NEG
Employment Insurance
TREND: INC DEC NO CHG POS NEG

Analysis

PUBLISHED - Mar 23, 2023
In January 2023, there were 40,660 people receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in Alberta, a decrease of 28,030 people (-40.8%) compared with January 2022. Nationally, EI beneficiaries decreased by 43.9% year-over-year. In Alberta, females saw the largest decrease in EI (-48.9%), from 27,690 to 14,140 year-over-year. The number of regular EI beneficiaries increased in March and April 2020, as those with active claims remained in the EI program. It then declined sharply beginning in May, as all new claims were redirected to CERB. The large spike in October 2020 is due to the transition from CERB to EI.