The number of Canadians seeking Government assistance increased. In June, 410,000 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, up 7,300 (+1.8%) from a month earlier. Quebec (+8,800), Alberta (+1,200) and Saskatchewan (+300) accounted for all of the national net monthly increase. Despite successive increases in May and June, the number of regular EI beneficiaries in June remained far below the levels seen in June 2022 (-17.8%; -89,000).
According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the unemployment rate in Canada rose to 5.4% (+0.2 percentage points) in June 2023, bringing it to its highest level since February 2022 (when it was also 5.4%).
In general, variations in the number of beneficiaries can reflect changes in the circumstances of different groups, including those becoming beneficiaries, those going back to work, those exhausting their regular benefits, and those no longer receiving benefits for other reasons.
Chart 1 
The upward trend in the number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries continues in June
More people collecting regular Employment Insurance benefits in Quebec
The largest proportional increase in EI beneficiaries occurred in Quebec (+9.4%; +8,800) in June, for a second consecutive month. The increase in regular EI recipients was spread across the province, but the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) of Trois-Rivières (+9.9%; +200) and Montréal (+8.1%; +3,000) were the CMAs where the largest proportional increases were observed.
The number of EI beneficiaries was also up in Alberta (+2.8%; +1,200) and Saskatchewan (+2.3%; +300). The CMA of Edmonton (+16.8%; +2,300) posted the largest proportional increase in regular EI beneficiaries among all CMAs in June, accounting for the entire net increase in Alberta.
In contrast, Newfoundland and Labrador posted the largest proportional decrease (-4.7%; -1,400) in the month, followed by Nova Scotia (-1.4%; -300) and Ontario (-1.3%; -1,500).
There was little change in the number of people receiving regular EI benefits in British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Increase in regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries concentrated among men
The number of men receiving regular EI benefits continued to increase across all age groups in June. From May to June, the largest proportional increase was seen among core-aged men aged 25 to 54 (+6.3%; +9,700), followed by men aged 55 years and older (+3.8%; +2,700), and male youth aged 15 to 24 years (+2.2%; +600). Men accounted for the majority of EI beneficiaries in June (64.9%), up 6.3 percentage points compared with 12 months earlier. The proportion of men receiving regular EI benefits in June exceeded its pre-COVID-19 pandemic average of 62.2% in the month of June from 2017 to 2019.
The number of women receiving regular EI benefits decreased in June 2023 by 3.8% (-5,700), following little change a month earlier. Core-aged women aged 25 to 54 had the largest proportional decrease in the number of EI beneficiaries (-3.9%; -3,800) in June, fully offsetting cumulative increases of 1,400 from January to May in this age group. The number of women aged 55 years and older receiving regular EI benefits fell by 1,600 (-3.8%) in June. In addition, fewer young women aged 15 to 24 (-3.4%; -400) collected regular EI benefits in June, the first monthly decline since February.
Infographic 1
The proportion of men collecting regular Employment Insurance benefits exceeded its pre-pandemic level in June
Note to Readers
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In Canada, benefits are funded by a compulsory governmental insurance system, not taxes on individual citizens. Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.
Unemployment benefits are generally given only to those registering as becoming unemployed through no fault of their own, and often on conditions ensuring that they seek work.