The cost of benefits is derived from the average that the private sector forecasts that underpins all the budget documents, which provides an unemployment rate, which provides a forecast of the number of unemployed, which can be used to calculate the number of beneficiaries. That's how you essentially calculate the cost of benefits.
The assumption was that the rate-setting mechanism that will be employed by the CEIFB will be in place. With their mandate to break even over time from January 1, 2009, onwards, there is the accumulated deficit in the EI program from that date forwards because the premium rates being held at $1.73 as part of the economic action plan—well below break-even—are generating significant deficits in 2009 and 2010. So the rate-setting mechanism in the legislation was assumed to apply. The premium rates will increase by 15¢ per year for four years.