Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Employment Insurance
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGO01 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Learning, Skills Development and Employment
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
Employment Insurance (EI) benefits provide eligible workers with temporary support to partially replace lost employment income. These benefits include regular and fishing benefits for eligible unemployed workers looking for employment or upgrading their skills. Special benefits are available for workers who take time off due to illness, pregnancy, to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, or to provide care or support to a critically ill or injured family member or a family member requiring end of life care.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Insurance | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $32.3B |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of the unemployed individuals eligible to receive Employment Insurance benefits, among those who had a recent job separation that met program eligibility criteria; Proportion of regular Employment Insurance claimants who do not exhaust all their weeks of benefits | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2019-20 | Spending $4.84B, against $76M in 2018-19 (+6262%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Employees (FTEs) 11,246, against 8,462 in 2019-20 (+33%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $27.5B, against $4.84B in 2019-20 (+468%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators added: Beneficiary to unemployed contributor ratio (B/UC ratio) | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators dropped: Proportion of Employment Insurance maternity and parental benefits used by parents of newborns.; Proportion of regular Employment Insurance claimants who receive benefits and are not frequent claimants. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $164M, against $27.5B in 2020-21 (−99%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators added: Percentage of Employment Insurance (regular benefits) claimants who do not exhaust their benefits; Percentage of workers losing their job that were eligible for Employment Insurance | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators dropped: Beneficiary to unemployed contributor ratio (B/UC ratio) | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Spending -$346M, against $164M in 2021-22 (−312%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending -$66.4M, against -$346M in 2022-23 (+81%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024 | Budget 2024 measure “Employment Insurance Revenues for Measures Included in Budget 2024”: -$1,182M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2024, PDF page 369 |
| 2024-25 | Spending $130M, against -$66.4M in 2023-24 (+295%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025 | Budget 2025 measure “Employment Insurance Support for Workers Affected by Wildfires”: $6M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2025, PDF page 281 |
| 2025 | Budget 2025 measure “Stabilising Service Delivery for the Employment Insurance Program”: $1,222M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2025, PDF page 286 |
| 2025-26 | Indicators added: Employment Insurance Coverage Rate | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of Employment Insurance (regular benefits) claimants who do not exhaust their benefits; Percentage of workers losing their job that were eligible for Employment Insurance | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $164M, against $130M in 2024-25 (+26%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2028-29 | Planned employees (FTEs) 8,078, against 11,318 in 2027-28 (−29%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2028-29 | Planned spending $120M, against $164M in 2027-28 (−27%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Percentage of Employment Insurance (regular benefits) claimants who do not exhaust their benefits
Expected result: Workers are protected against income loss during an interruption of employment income
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | ≥ 66.7% | 2023 | 70.4% The result is preliminary because the percentage calculated is based on completed claims that can be reactivated. The final result will be reported in the 2022-23 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. Please note this percentage is for claims completed in 2021-22 that were established between September 27, 2020, and September 25, 2021. | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 66.7% | 2024 | 64.1% There is a 1-year lag in data availability, the results shown are for fiscal year 2022-23 and for claims completed in 2022-23 that were established on or after September 26, 2021. The results are preliminary and will be revised in the 2023-24 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. A small portion of claims completed in 2022-2023 had been established prior to September 26, 2021; The result for these… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 66.7% | 2025 | 65.5% As there is a 1-year lag in data availability, the results shown are for claims completed in fiscal year 2023-2024 and reported in the EI Monitoring and Assessment report that was tabled in Parliament in June 2025. Although the 2023-2024 result of 65.5% is an improvement compared to 2022-2023 (63.6%), it is still slightly below the target set which may be partly due to the unemployment rate incre… | Not met |
Percentage of workers losing their job that were eligible for Employment Insurance
Expected result: Workers are protected against income loss during an interruption of employment income
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | ≥ 84.7% | 2023 | 94.6% Due to emergency and temporary changes to the EI program introduced in response to COVID-19, which have now ended, along with changes to the EI eligibility requirements in place until September 24, 2022, a different methodology was used for calculating this result. Records of Employment were used instead of the EI coverage survey. Results were reported for two periods because of the change in eli… | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 84.7% | 2024 | 73.5% As there is a 1-year lag in data availability, the results shown are for fiscal year 2022-23. The 2022-23 actual result provided is lower than expected due to a different methodology being used temporarily to estimate eligibility. The current result is thus not comparable to results from years that were calculated using the standard method (based on the EI Coverage Survey [EICS]). In addition, th… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 84.7% | 2025 | 83.1% As there is a 1-year lag in data availability, the results shown are for claims completed in fiscal year 2023-24 and reported in the EI Monitoring and Assessment report that was tabled in Parliament in June 2025. The lower than target result is due to regular variations from year to year in the eligibility rate due to variations in the unemployed population for which the EIP program has no contro… | Not met |
Beneficiary to unemployed contributor ratio (B/UC ratio)
Expected result: Workers are protected against income loss during an interruption of employment income
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 64.1% | 2022 | 64.4% The B/UC ratio result for 2021 will be available when the 2021-22 Monitoring and Assessment Report is published in Spring 2023. The latest result currently available is for 2019 (64.4%). The B/UC ratio for 2020 was not reported because the Employment Insurance Coverage Survey (EICS) was put on hold during the pandemic. | Met |
Proportion of Employment Insurance maternity and parental benefits used by parents of newborns.
Expected result: Canadians receive financial support during employment transitions such as job loss, illness, or maternity/parental leave.
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 90% | 2019 | — Actual result is 95.4% for 2017-18. The 2017-18 target was 90%. 2018-19 data will be available in April 2020 with the release of the 2018/19 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 90% | 2020 | — Results will be released in Spring 2021 in the 2019-2020 EI Monitoring And Assessment Report. For reference, the actual result for 2018-2019 was 95.9%, as per the 2018-2019 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. | No result reported |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 90% | 2021 | 95.1% The result reported is for fiscal year 2019-2020 as there is a one year lag in data. This means that results for 2020-2021, which will be available in April 2022, will be reported in the next Departmental Results Report for 2021-2022. | Met |
Proportion of regular Employment Insurance claimants who receive benefits and are not frequent claimants.
Expected result: Canadians receive financial support during employment transitions such as job loss, illness, or maternity/parental leave.
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 75% | 2019 | — Actual result is 77.7% for 2017-18. The 2017-18 target was 75%. 2018-19 data will be available in April 2020 with the release of the 2018/19 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 75% | 2020 | — Results will be released in Spring 2021 in the 2019-2020 EI Monitoring And Assessment Report. For reference, the actual result for 2018-2019 was 77.0%, as per the 2018-2019 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. | No result reported |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 75% | 2021 | 79% The result reported is for fiscal year 2019-2020 as there is a one year lag in data. This means that results for 2020-2021, which will be available in April 2022, will be reported in the next Departmental Results Report for 2021-2022. | Met |
Percentage of the unemployed individuals eligible to receive Employment Insurance benefits, among those who had a recent job separation that met program eligibility criteria
Expected result: Eligible workers receive temporary income support during employment or life transitions.
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 83.7% | 2019 | — 2018-19 data will be available in December 2019 with the release of the EI Coverage Survey. | No result reported |
Proportion of regular Employment Insurance claimants who do not exhaust all their weeks of benefits
Expected result: Eligible workers receive temporary income support during employment or life transitions.
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 73% | 2019 | — 2018-19 data will be available in April 2020 with the release of the 2018/19 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. | No result reported |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Employment Insurance Coverage Rate
Expected result: Workers are protected against income loss during an interruption of employment income
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 60% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $69.7M | $76M |
| 2019-20 | $69M | $4.84B |
| 2020-21 | $76.9M | $27.5B |
| 2021-22 | $94.5M | $164M |
| 2022-23 | $92.6M | -$346M |
| 2023-24 | $138M | -$66.4M |
| 2024-25 | $126M | $130M |
| 2025-26 | $164M | — |
| 2026-27 | $167M | — |
| 2027-28 | $164M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $120M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 6,709 | 8,277 |
| 2019-20 | 6,569 | 8,462 |
| 2020-21 | 7,618 | 11,246 |
| 2021-22 | 9,048 | 12,524 |
| 2022-23 | 8,208 | 13,466 |
| 2023-24 | 12,538 | 12,883 |
| 2024-25 | 11,487 | 12,967 |
| 2025-26 | 12,280 | — |
| 2026-27 | 11,624 | — |
| 2027-28 | 11,318* | — |
| 2028-29 | 8,078* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $69,717,337 | $68,137,031 | $68,137,030 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $68,986,604 | $68,890,237 | $68,671,427 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $76,856,093 | $71,605,883 | $70,757,303 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $94,470,987 | $76,361,430 | $76,048,790 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $92,615,310 | $87,199,886 | $78,251,546 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $137,697,944 | $120,121,155 | $80,711,680 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $126,137,558 | $87,842,482 | $87,575,757 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $163,533,845 | $155,510,455 | $153,004,041 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $166,776,024 | $163,579,857 | $119,834,975 | ||||||||
| Actual | $76,028,851 | $4,836,775,373 | $27,472,297,028 | $163,565,972 | -$345,998,298 | -$66,431,256 | $129,677,065 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
