Update - Statistics Canada has suspended monthly publication of EI statistics:
In light of circumstances surrounding COVID-19, Canadians who are currently not employed and seeking assistance are now accessing new Government of Canada benefit programs such as the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). As a result, EI data for March 2020 will not be published on May 21 as previously indicated, as their utility in the current form has been significantly reduced. Once the situation changes, dates for future releases will be announced. Please consult the range of products and analysis on Statistics Canada’s COVID-19 webpage for the most recent information on the labour market situation and its impact on Canadians.
This survey is conducted to release the official statistics which report on the operation of the Employment Insurance Program and to provide complementary labour market statistics at the national and provincial level, as well as for sub-provincial areas which are not usually covered by other Statistics Canada surveys. Statitic's Canada's Guide to Employment Insurance Statistics (EIS) is available here.
To respond to the needs of municipalities and community-level organizations to get a clear picture of unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic response, Statistics Canada is making Employment Insurance Statistics available at the Census Subdivision level.
The release of March 2020 data at the Census Division level was originally scheduled for May 21, 2020, but as the note above indicates, publication has been suspended. The CDP team will continue to request these data at the CSD level.
Due to the relatively poor quality of the coverage for some CSDs (mostly in rural areas and low population areas), EIS data at the CSD level should be used with caution.
Estimates by census subdivision (CSD) provide an approximate picture of the local area and should be used with caution, in particular in smaller areas. The methodology assigns beneficiaries to a CSD based on their postal code. A postal code that crosses CSDs is associated to the CSD for which the postal code has the most population. In some cases, no postal code is associated to a CSD because no postal code is dominant and the count of beneficiaries shown is zero. This does not mean there are no beneficiaries in that area, but rather illustrates the limits of this methodology.