Mr. Speaker, Canada's employment insurance, or EI, program plays an important role in providing support to workers during periods of temporary unemployment and in helping to stabilize the economy during periods of economic hardship.
Service Canada continues to put in place measures to provide effective and efficient service that meets the needs of clients and ensures that Canadians continue to have timely access to the EI benefits to which they are entitled when they need them most. Service Canada understands that delays in the payment of EI benefits can cause hardship to clients and is committed to ensuring that Canadians receive the benefits they are entitled to in a timely manner.
Between April 1, 2022, and January 31, 2023, Service Canada processed 78.1% of EI claims within 28 days. It sometimes takes longer than 28 days to process an EI claim, especially during peak periods or for the most complex cases. The most common reasons why it takes longer are, one, waiting for information or documentation from the claimant or employer; two, additional fact-finding is required; and three, certain files have been referred to integrity operations for review or investigation.
Once Service Canada has received all necessary information and/or documentation from the applicant or employer, a claim may be fully automated the same day, and payment will be received through direct deposit within two to three days. If a cheque needs to be issued, it could take five to 10 business days for the client to receive the payment. If an officer needs to render a decision about entitlement to benefits, these timelines would be extended depending on the complexity of the issue to be decided.
Between April 1, 2022, and January 31, 2023, the average number of days it took for a client to receive their first EI benefit payment was 23 days in Canada and 25 days in the Quebec region.
The EI workload initial and renewal, or I and R, claim inventory based on the breakdown of available weekly results is as follows. As of February 11, 2023, there were 175,894 I and R claims pending in the inventory. Of these, 74,578, or 42.4%, were 29 days or older, 31,729 were four to six weeks old, 19,344 were six to eight weeks old, 14,283 were eight to 12 weeks old and 9,222 were 12 weeks or older. Our data is reflective of the date of February 11 and not February 10. Data for employment insurance is pulled as of the week ending Saturday, as an EI week goes from Sunday to Saturday. We are unable to pull this breakdown on a Friday, which February 10 was, as it would not portray the true reflection of the pending results for the week.
Of the 175,894 I and R claims pending, there were 63,147 claims from the Quebec region. Of these, 36,648, or 58%, were 29 days or older, 12,881 were four to six weeks old, 9,213 were six to eight weeks old, 7,998 were eight to 12 weeks old and 6,556 were 12 weeks or older.
On November 3, 2022, the fall economic statement announced approximately $1 billion in funding for Service Canada to process EI claims faster, while reducing EI claim inventory and reducing contact centre wait times.
With regard to fraud in the EI workload, as of February 11, 2023, there were 4,104 claims in the I and R inventory with a stop payment because they were suspected of being fraudulent, and 3,435 were from the Quebec region. These have been referred to integrity operations for review or investigation. Of these, 2,797, or 68.2%, are 29 days or older and 2,371 are from the Quebec region.
Service Canada officers make every effort to finalize the processing of EI claims. In addition, officers provide claimants with information and options outside the EI program to support them while their claim is being processed.
Claimants must ensure that they have submitted all the information and documentation required to ensure timely processing, and have received their access code to complete their biweekly reports to reduce delays in receiving their benefits. Claimants should also consult the EI benefits web page, at https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/statistics.html#s1, for any additional information.