91% spike in employment insurance recipients in Alberta: Stats Can

Alberta has seen an astounding spike in employment insurance recipients since January 2015. New Statistics Canada data shows a year-over-year spike of 91% in people receiving EI, which is the primary reason Canada saw a 7% increase nationally.

[am2_see_also]

The total number of Canadians receiving EI in January was 543,100, with 63,800 of those people hailing from Alberta. On a month-to-month basis, Calgary saw a 1.7% increase, while Edmonton saw a 2.4% increase.

Comparatively, B.C. saw a year-over-year increase of 6%, but on a month-to-month basis, the province saw a decrease of 1.2%. Abbotsford-Mission saw a nearly 5% decrease, while Vancouver saw a nearly 2% decrease; there was little change in the rest of the province.

Ontario saw some major decreases in EI recipients on a month-to-month basis. Overall all, the province saw 4% fewer recipients from December to January, while Thunder Bay and Windsor saw decreases of more than 7%.

With EI numbers like these in Alberta, it’s hardly surprising that people in the province are feeling some pessimism about the economy. In a recent poll, 35% of Albertans believe the economy will get worse before it gets better, and only 36% of Canadians overall would rank our economy as “good.”

Employment insurance claims for the month of January totalled 250,000 for January.