A day after the Liberal government released their first budget, many Edmontonians have been left questioning why the city has been left out of changes to Employment Insurance.
On Tuesday, Albertans learned all workers in the province – with the exception of workers living in the Capital Region – were eligible for a short-term boost to the EI program.
Duncan Young is one of the laid-off workers affected by the change – who, after 15 years working in materials management in the oil and gas sector, was laid off in December. Since then, he says he’s sent out 120 resumes, with no luck.
“What’s got me really riled, is the lack of support from our federal government,” Young said.
Young said he’s worked throughout northern Alberta, but his permanent address is in Edmonton, and he doesn’t qualify for the new EI benefits.
“I think they made an effort trying to be fair to the whole country, but they haven’t done enough research and fact-finding to find out exactly who really is affected,” Young said.
The boost announced Tuesday adds five weeks to EI benefits, and long-tenured employees will also receive an extra 20 weeks, retroactive to January, 2015.
Employment insurance is based on where workers live, not where they work – so the changes announced Tuesday sparked frustration for Edmonton residents who worked in the energy sector and have been laid off.
Specifically, residents of Edmonton, in addition to Strathcona, Leduc, Parkland and Sturgeon Counties are not included in the change.
Edmonton’s Chief Economist John Rose said Ottawa used unemployment rates over the past year to make their decision. In Edmonton, the unemployment rate rose by only 1.8 percent, instead of two.
“Saskatoon got those benefits, even though their unemployment rate is relatively low, simply because they had very low unemployment rates and their unemployment rate went up,” Rose said.
Rose said he believes the federal government should take other factors, like the industries involved in job losses, into consideration when it comes to EI changes.
It’s an idea Macewan University Professor Michael Roberts agrees with.
“Why pick winners and losers for something like this?” Roberts said. “Either you’re going to offer the program, or you’re not going to offer the program.”
As for the future, Rose expects Edmonton’s unemployment rate to grow to seven percent in the coming months. If that’s the case, it’s believed the federal government will revisit Edmonton’s qualification for the boost.
With files from Kim Smith
