There were more Canadians on the pogey this summer.
Numbers released Thursday by Statistics Canada show the number of regular Employment Insurance beneficiaries in Canada totaled 575,200 in July, an increase 4.4% from the previous month, due in part to legislative changes effective that month.
While some of these changes affect all regions across Canada, eligible claimants located in 15 EI regions that posted significant increases in unemployment received additional weeks of EI regular benefits.
The agency goes on to say that in Nova Scotia, Halifax reported 5,200 beneficiaries in July, down 0.8% from June.
At the same time, in New Brunswick, the number of EI beneficiaries totaled 3,200 in Moncton and 2,800 in Saint John in July, both unchanged from June.
In Quebec, the total number of beneficiaries increased in each of the province's CMAs. Sherbrooke (+12.6%) reported the largest increase, offsetting declines in the previous month, followed by Trois-Rivières (+4.0%), Saguenay (+3.5%), Gatineau (+3.0%), Québec (+2.9%) and Montréal (+1.8%).
In July, the number of EI regular beneficiaries in Ontario declined in all CMAs unaffected by the recent changes to the EI program. The largest decreases were recorded in Oshawa (-23.8%), Kingston (-20.4%), Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (-17.0%), Barrie (-16.2%), Guelph (-15.8%) and Ottawa (-14.4%).
In Manitoba, the number of beneficiaries in Winnipeg was down 6.3% to 7,200 in July.
At the same time, in Saskatchewan, the number of beneficiaries in Regina declined 7.8% to 2,000.
In British Columbia, the number of people receiving regular benefits in July decreased 4.2% in Vancouver, while it was little changed in Abbotsford–Mission and Victoria.
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