March 29th, 2016

NDP Reality Check: Liberals Failing Canadians in Need of EI

Only 39% of Canadians who have lost their jobs have access to employment insurance.

There are 850,000 unemployed people in Canada who don’t qualify for employment insurance benefits.

According to Liberal figures, the newly released budget will only give another 50,000 people access to employment insurance.

That leaves 800,000 Canadians in need without support.

The Liberal government is also failing our seasonal workers who aren’t getting the assistance they were promised.

The Liberals also excluded certain regions of the country where residents won’t have access to extended benefits.

Among the regions excluded:

Edmonton: 81.7% increase in EI beneficiaries since January 2015[1]
Regina: 37.1% increase in EI beneficiaries since January[2]
Moncton: 10.8% increase in EI beneficiaries since January 2015[3]
All regions of Quebec: 2.7% increase in unemployment rates between February 2015 and February 2016[4]

The Liberals plan to raid the EI fund while leaving hundreds of thousands of Canadians in need.

Canadians deserve better.

Canada's NDP