The Economic Effects of Unemployment Insurance in Canada | Car ...

by Adriana Noton

It is undeniable that the current state of the Canadian economy is grim. Unemployment rates are at unprecedented highs and the labour market is at an all time low. During times of economic uncertainty and general unease about the market, social programs experience particular scrutiny and pressure.

Canadian Unemployment Insurance

Unlike the United States, where federal unemployment programs are run at the state level, the Canadian unemployment system is exclusively federal. The Canadian insurance policy is financed directly by employers’ and employees’ contributions. Up until 1991, general federal revenues also supplemented these contributions. The program is highly regional in that it provides for greater support in terms of duration of benefits and qualification periods to areas that suffer from higher unemployment.

Traditionally, unemployment insurance programs in Canada were designed to serve as a broad instrument of income supplementation that would sustain small communities and protect traditional occupations from forces of economic modernization. Those smaller communities with more traditional lifestyles happen to also be within the regions that see more support from the federal unemployment system.

Since the 1980’s, Canadian unemployment insurance programs have seen several different types of cuts, including duration of benefits, qualification periods, and amounts awarded. The government has withdrawn significant resources from these programs. These cutbacks have tended to hit harder in more affluent regions, while areas with higher unemployment still enjoy nearly the same levels of unemployment support.

Today’s Effects on the Canadian Economy

The combination of reduced benefits and the greater dependence on unemployment by the masses are culminating in an interesting end result. Since unemployment is up across all regions, the effect is greater economic fragmentation. We are seeing that smaller and poorer communities continue to uphold more traditional occupations and ways of life, arguably held up by strengthened support from federal social programs. On the other hand, the increasing level of unemployment throughout more affluent regions has created a mad scramble for more modernized industrialization.

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