EI harder to get in Ontario, Western Canada during last recession

Canadians who lost their jobs in Ontario and Western Canada had a much harder time qualifying for employment insurance benefits during the recession, according to a new study assessing one of the country's key social safety nets.

The report by the University of Toronto's Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation also found that far fewer out-of-work Canadians qualified for EI benefits during the last recession in comparison with the previous two.

In 2008-2009, only 46 per cent of unemployed Canadians received EI benefits, compared with 71 per cent and 76 per cent in the recessions of 1981-82 and 1990-91.

The report attributes the difference to changes brought in under the Liberals in the 1990s.

"One reason why the EI program served greater numbers of Canadians during past recessions is simply that EI was once a more generous program that offered easier access to benefits," the report states. "It is not, however, clear that a simple restoration of the EI program of the past is the best route forward. There is credible evidence that changes to the system in the 1990s encouraged some Canadians to become more active participants in the labour market."

The current EI program is designed so that benefits become easier to access in each region of the country as unemployment increases. However, the report finds that partly because of regional programs in high unemployment areas - such as those that assist seasonally employed workers in Atlantic Canada - the program never fully adjusts to serve unemployed Canadians in Ontario and parts of Western Canada.

"Because of the regional inequities within the EI system, some provinces more than others may be required to shoulder greater social assistance costs for their residents, all the while seeing their residents continue to support Canadians in other provinces through the EI system," it states.

The report is part of a series of studies on EI that will lead to a full set of recommendations in the spring.