CALGARY—The COVID-19 economic shutdowns and recession have caused unemployment to rise, placing financial pressure on the Employment Insurance program and amplifying the need to substantially reform Canada’s EI system, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.
“The federal government has acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need for a ‘21st century’ employment insurance system, but tweaks to the status quo likely won’t be sufficient to address the underlying problems of Canada’s inefficient system,’” said Jake Fuss, a senior economist at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Reforming Employment Insurance for the 21st Century.
