Shrinking EI

Statistics Canada reported today that 2,500 fewer Canadians received Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in March. In total, only 549,400 out of 1,356,200 officially unemployed workers got benefits.

The context for proposals to clamp down on EI is that only 40% of unemployed Canadians currently receive benefits. The Harper government wants to exclude even more jobless workers from a program they paid into.

UPDATE (May 24): I discussed today’s announcement with Brian Lee Crowley on CTV’s National Affairs (video clip).