On the flip side, EI provides temporary benefits to eligible workers who lost their jobs, yet they are policyholders in employment insurance. Unlike CERB, EI is not dependent on the pandemic, and many insurance companies have offered employment-related benefits for almost a century.
Additionally, permanent residence who doubled up as students qualified for financial relief through the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) program, an emergency benefit designed for Canadian and permanent-resident students.
More Numbers
In June, only a third of immigrant workers and permanent residents were able to file unemployment claims under EI successfully. That’s a significant increase, considering the percentage was lower in April, only 13%.
Over the same time, 48% of all applicants who used CERB to get economic boost had successfully received the funds. It was a considerable hike in the number since only 19% managed that in April.
Another notable finding from the WES report is that the largest proportion of CERB- and EI-worthy applicants consisted of permanent residents and foreign workers. They accounted for 90% of all applicants.
Only a handful of international students will benefit from their CERB applications. Why? Most of them cannot meet the criteria. For one to be eligible to CERB relief, s/he has to have earned over CAD$5,000 in 2019. The CERB program is scheduled to end in October, beyond which eligible candidates will receive financial support via EI.
That leaves out many freelance and “gig economy” employees because they do not qualify for Employment Insurance. To cater to this population, the government has set aside a transitional benefit. That comes as good news to immigrants and students since most of them do not meet EI requirements.
Over 2 million Canadian’s lost their jobs during the pandemic, but the country has made great strides toward full economic recovery in recent months.
