Introduction

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

Official title: Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022, and ending March 31, 2023: Introduction

On this page

• List of abbreviations
• The Employment Insurance program
• The Canada Employment Insurance Commission
• The report

List of abbreviations

This is the complete list of abbreviations for the Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022 and ending March 31, 2023.

Abbreviations

AD

Appeal Division

ADR

Alternative Dispute Resolution

AI

Artificial Intelligence

ASETS

Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy

B

Beneficiary

B/C Ratio

Benefits-to-Contributions ratio

B/U

Beneficiary-to-Unemployed (ratio)

B/UC

Beneficiary-to-Unemployed Contributor (ratio)

BDM

Benefits Delivery Modernization

BEA

Business Expertise Advisor

BOA

Board of Appeal

CAWS

Client Access Workstation Services

CCAJ

Connecting Canadians with Available Jobs

CCDA

Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship

CCIS

Corporate Client Information Service

CEGEP

College of General and Professional Teaching

CEIC

Canada Employment Insurance Commission

CERB

Canada Emergency Response Benefit

CESB

Canada Emergency Student Benefit

CEWB

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy

CFP

Call for Proposals

COEP

Canadian Out of Employment Panel Survey

COLS

Community Outreach and Liaison Service

CPI

Consumer Price Index

CPP

Canada Pension Plan

CRA

Canada Revenue Agency

CRB

Canada Recovery Benefit

CRCB

Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit

CRF

Consolidated Revenue Fund

CRSB

Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit

CSO

Citizen Service Officer

CWLB

Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit

CX

Client Experience

EAS

Employment Assistance Services

EBSM

Employment Benefits and Support Measures

ECC

Employer Contact Centre

EI

Employment Insurance

EI-ERB

Employment Insurance Emergency Response Benefit

EICS

Employment Insurance Coverage Survey

EIPR

Employment Insurance Premium Ratio

eROE

Electronic Record of Employment

ESDC

Employment and Social Development Canada

eSIN

Electronic Social Insurance Number

FY

Fiscal Year

G7

Group of Seven

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GIS

Guaranteed Income Supplement

HCCS

Hosted Contact Centre Solution

HR

Human Resources

ID

Identification

IQF

Individual Quality Feedback

IS

Income Security

ISET

Indigenous Skills and Employment Training

IT

Information Technology

IVR

Interactive Voice Response

IWW

Integrated Workload and Workforce

JCP

Job Creation Partnership

LFS

Labour Force Survey

LMDA

Labour Market Development Agreements

LMI

Labour Market Information

LMP

Labour Market Partnerships

LTU

Long-Term Unemployment or Long-Term Unemployed

LTUR

Long-Term Unemployment Rate

LWF

Longitudinal Worker File

MAR

Monitoring and Assessment Report

MBM

Market Basket Measure

MIE

Maximum Insurable Earnings

MSCA

My Service Canada Account

MUS

Monetary Unit Sampling

NAICS

North American Industry Classification System

NERE

New entrant re-entrant

NESI

National Essential Skills Initiative

NHQ

National Headquarters

NIS

National Investigative Services

NOC

National Occupation Classification

NOM

National Operating Model

NQCP

National Quality and Coaching Program

OAG

Office of the Auditor General of Canada

OAS

Old Age Security

OASIS

Occupational and Skills Information System

OSC

Outreach Support Centre

PAAR

Payment Accuracy Review

PEAQ

Processing Excellence, Accuracy and Quality

P.p.

Percentage point

PPE

Premium-paid eligible individuals

PRAR

Processing Accuracy Review

PRP

Premium Reduction Program

PTs

Provinces and Territories

QPIP

Quebec Parental Insurance Plan

RAIS

Registered Apprenticeship Information System

RCMP

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

R&I

Research and Innovation

ROE

Record of employment

ROE Web

Record of employment on the web

RPA

Robotics Process Automation

SAT

Secure Automated Transfer

SCC

Service Canada Centre

SCT

Skills and Competency Taxonomy

SD

Skills Development

SD-A

Skills Development – Apprenticeship

SD-R

Skills Development – Regular

SDP

Service Delivery Partner

SE

Self-Employment

SEPH

Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours

SFS

Skills for Success

SIN

Social Insurance Number

SIP

Sectoral Initiatives Program

SIR

Social Insurance Registry

SRS

Simple Random Sampling

SST

Social Security Tribunal

SST-GD-EI

Employment Insurance Section of the General Division of the Social Security Tribunal

STDP

Short-term disability plan

STVC

Status Vector

SUB

Supplemental Unemployment Benefit

SWSP

Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program

TES

Targeted Earning Supplements

TIS

Telephone Interpretation Service

TRF

Targeting, Referral and Feedback

TTY

Teletypewriter

TWS

Targeted Wage Subsidies

U

Unemployed

UC

Unemployed contributor

UV

Unemployment-to-job-vacancy

VBW

Variable Best Weeks

VER

Variable Entrance Requirement

VRI

Video Remote Interpretation

WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

WISE

Work Integration Social Enterprises

WWC

Working While on Claim

As per Section 3 of the Employment Insurance Act, the Canada Employment Insurance Commission is pleased to present this report to Parliament. Its objective is to monitor and assess the impact and effectiveness of benefits and other assistance offered under the Employment Insurance (EI) program. The intention is to provide a clear understanding of the impact of EI on the Canadian economy and the way it works to address the needs of Canadians.

The Employment Insurance program

The program provides temporary income support to replace part of a person’s employment income. It is available for people who are eligible, unemployed, and contributed to the program. The support is available to help them find a new job and stay active in the labour force or if they are absent from work due to specific life circumstances.^{Footnote 1}

EI Part I provides direct temporary income support through EI Regular Benefits, Fishing Benefits, Work‑Sharing Benefits and Special Benefits.^{Footnote 2} EI Part II provides Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSMs). This includes those offered under the Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) and the Indigenous Skills and Employment Training program.

Through the income benefits funded through Part I and the EBSMs funded through Part II, workers across Canada are provided support for optimal employment transitions.

EI regular benefits provide temporary income support to partially replace lost employment income for eligible claimants to help them find a new job and stay active in the labour force. To qualify, individuals must have worked a minimum number of hours of insurable employment, paid EI premiums and had a valid job separation. Individuals must be available for and actively seeking work during their claim period.

EI provides fishing benefits to qualifying self‑employed fishers who are actively seeking work. Unlike EI regular benefits, eligibility is based on earnings, not hours of insurable employment.

Work-sharing is an employee-retention program that allows employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in normal business activity beyond the control of an employer. EI-eligible workers within a given work unit agree to work a reduced workweek, and to share working hours equally, while the employer recovers. The workers receive EI Work-sharing benefits in partial replacement of their reduced working hours.

EI special benefits provide support to employees or self‑employed persons who are sick, pregnant, recently gave birth, caring for a newborn or a newly adopted child, or caring for a family member who is critically ill, injured or requires end‑of‑life care.

Employment Benefits and Support Measures include programs delivered under EI Part II to help individuals in Canada prepare for, find, and maintain employment. These aim to “help maintain a sustainable employment insurance system through the establishment of employment support measures and the maintenance of a national employment service”.^{Footnote 3}  The provinces and territories deliver these programs through LMDAs. In the case of pan‑Canadian programming, the Government of Canada is responsible for program delivery.

The Canada Employment Insurance Commission

The Canada Employment Insurance Commission (CEIC) has the legislated mandate to monitor and assess the EI program. CEIC also oversees a research agenda that supports the preparation of its annual EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. At the end of each fiscal year, the CEIC presents the report to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages (the Minister). The Minister then tables the report in Parliament.

The CEIC has 4 members. 3 are voting members and represent the interests of workers, employers and government. The Commissioners for Employers and Workers are appointed for renewable terms of up to 5 years. Their mandates are to represent the concerns and positions of workers and employers on policy development and program delivery related to EI and the labour market. The Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) represents the federal government and acts as the Chairperson of the CEIC. The Senior Associate Deputy Minister of ESDC acts as the Vice Chairperson, with voting privileges only when acting on behalf of the Chairperson.

The CEIC makes regulations under the authority of the Employment Insurance Act, with the approval of the Governor in Council. The CEIC also plays a key role in overseeing the EI program, reviewing and approving policies related to program administration and delivery. ESDC and Service Canada carry out EI program operations on behalf of the CEIC.

In another key role, the CEIC contributes to the financial transparency of the EI program. Each year, it commissions an EI premium report from the Chief Actuary and prepares a summary report. It delivers both reports to the Minister as well as the Minister of Finance for tabling in Parliament. The Actuarial report is also used by the CEIC to set the maximum insurable earnings, according to legislative requirements. As of 2017, the CEIC is responsible for EI premium rate-setting based on a seven-year-break-even mechanism.

The CEIC advises on which EI appeal decisions to send for review by the Federal Court of Appeal. The Commissioner for Employers and the Commissioner for Workers serve in a tri‑partite committee with the chair of the Social Security Tribunal. The Minister consults this committee regarding Governor‑in‑Council appointments of members for the EI section of that Tribunal.

The report

ESDC and Service Canada produce the Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report under the direction and guidance of the CEIC. The report relies on many sources of information to give a thorough analysis of the impact and effectiveness of the EI program. Sources include EI administrative data, Statistics Canada survey data, internal and external analytical reports and peer‑reviewed evaluation studies.

The first chapter discusses the state of the Canadian economy and labour market throughout 2022‑23. The second chapter studies the usage, impact and effectiveness of EI Part I benefits during the same period, including the impact of the EI temporary measures that were in place. The third chapter assesses supports provided under EI Part II through Employment Benefits and Support Measures. The fourth and final chapter presents information on EI program administration and service delivery.