B.C’s percentage of EI beneficiaries declined in January

The number of British Columbians accessing Employment Insurance (EI) benefits declined in January.

Preliminary figures from Statistics Canada showed that 57,310 British Columbians accesses EI benefits in January 2022, a 4.2 per cent decrease from the 59,820 beneficiaries in December.

The total figure was also 61.2 per cent less than the 147,520 British Columbians who collected EI in January of 2021.

Men in B.C. accounted for the most beneficiaries at 31,850, down 4.4 per cent on a month-to-month basis and a 58 per cent annual decrease, while B.C. women accounted for the remaining 25,470, down 3.9 per cent from December and 64.5 per cent from last January.

It was also noted that British Columbians of any sexes age 25 to 54 accounted for the majority of EI beneficiaries at 35,850, down 3.5 per cent monthly and 61.2 per cent annually. British Columbians age 55 and older accounted for 14,910 beneficiaries while the 15 to 24 demographic made up the remaining 6,550.

The StatsCan data did not include specific figures for Vernon or regional data for the North Okanagan, but did show that Kelowna was home to 2,860 EI beneficiaries in January. That marks a month-to-month decrease of 8.9 per cent and a decline of 54.3 per cent from January of 2021.

B.C. had the fourth highest number of beneficiaries in the country after Ontario (184,770), Quebec (163,610), and Alberta (67,540).

Nationally, 633,130 Canadians accessed EI benefits in January of 2022, which marks a 0.4 per cent decrease from December, and a 58.9 per cent decline annually.

The data also showed that there were 350,000 EI claims in January of 2022 marking a 19 per cent annual decline.