More Canadians are running out of jobless benefits without finding work, a national report said Monday, suggesting many will have to turn to savings, loans, family members or welfare for financial help.
Even before the recession, about one in four people came to the end of their benefits without finding a job, said the report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, citing 2006/2007 federal government statistics. About two million new claims were filed last year, so the report estimates about half a million people may be running out.
A separate Statistics Canada report last week showed the number of people getting employment insurance fell to 795,900 in November after peaking at 829,300 in June. Unlike in the United States, the monthly report doesn't say how many recipients run out of claims without finding work. Canada's unemployment rate is 8.5 per cent, near an 11-year high.
“As many as 500,000 Canadians who initiated an EI claim in 2009 will exhaust their benefits because new jobs remain very difficult to find,” said Andrew Jackson, CCPA research associate and chief economist at the Canadian Labour Congress. “As the number of EI exhaustees increases, so will provincial social assistance caseloads and the number of families living in poverty.”
The duration of EI benefits varies. The report estimated that a new EI claimant, on average, qualifies for about 38 weeks, or nine months of benefits.
Monday's report called on the federal government to extend EI benefits for all unemployed workers by at least 26 weeks.
The report comes as the federal government has taken steps to make the EI system more accessible, by extending the number of weeks people are eligible by five weeks and letting companies adopt work-sharing programs where employees can work fewer hours at a firm and still qualify for EI.
“Our Conservative government acted early to help those hardest hit by the global recession” said Ryan Sparrow, spokesman for Diane Finley, minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, in an e-mail Monday.
Expanding the federal work-sharing program has protected 225,000 jobs since February and is currently protecting more than 165,000 positions, he added. Under the program, companies can apply to reduce their workweek by one to three days, with workers receiving EI for the off-the-job time.
The federal Finance Department said Friday the deficit has ballooned to more than $36-billion so far in the fiscal year as the recession drove up spending on employment insurance and stimulus programs. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government is planning to cut the deficit – and limit spending – with the recession's end.
The best way to help unemployed Canadians is to get them back to work, Mr. Sparrow said, which is why the government is investing in job retraining programs and initiatives to help older workers.
