The Economic Effects of Unemployment Insurance in Canada

It is undeniable that the current state of the Canadian economy is grim. Unemployment rates are at unprecedented highs and the labour market is at an all time low. During times of economic uncertainty and general unease about the market, social programs experience particular scrutiny and pressure.

Canadian Unemployment Insurance

Unlike the United States, where federal unemployment programs are run at the state level, the Canadian unemployment system is exclusively federal. The Canadian insurance policy is financed directly by employers’ and employees’ contributions. Up until 1991, general federal revenues also supplemented these contributions. The program is highly regional in that it provides for greater support in terms of duration of benefits and qualification periods to areas that suffer from higher unemployment.

Traditionally, unemployment insurance programs in Canada were designed to serve as a broad instrument of income supplementation that would sustain small communities and protect traditional occupations from forces of economic modernization. Those smaller communities with more traditional lifestyles happen to also be within the regions that see more support from the federal unemployment system.

Since the 1980’s, Canadian unemployment insurance programs have seen several different types of cuts, including duration of benefits, qualification periods, and amounts awarded. The government has withdrawn significant resources from these programs. These cutbacks have tended to hit harder in more affluent regions, while areas with higher unemployment still enjoy nearly the same levels of unemployment support.

Today’s Effects on the Canadian Economy

The combination of reduced benefits and the greater dependence on unemployment by the masses are culminating in an interesting end result. Since unemployment is up across all regions, the effect is greater economic fragmentation. We are seeing that smaller and poorer communities continue to uphold more traditional occupations and ways of life, arguably held up by strengthened support from federal social programs. On the other hand, the increasing level of unemployment throughout more affluent regions has created a mad scramble for more modernized industrialization.

EI’s New Pilot Programs

The Canadian government realizes that adjustments need to be made to the overall system. In 2008, it launched a series of unemployment insurance pilot programs to test different methods. The Working While on Claim project incentivizes the acceptance of all types of work while on EI benefits. The New Entrant/Re-entrant project is testing whether enabling new or newly returned members of the labour market to receive benefits quicker (along with providing greater awareness about the program) can reduce the individual’s future reliance on EI benefits. The Best of 14 Weeks project is testing a method to make EI benefit levels more closely tied to full-time work earnings for individuals with irregular work patterns, (such as freelancers and seasonal workers) and to convince workers to accept any and all available work by formulating their EI benefits based on the “best 14 weeks” of earnings over the 52 weeks prior to filing their initial claim.

These pilot programs inspire hope for improvement and more positive effects of the system on the greater Canadian economy.

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Most Common Variables Considered When Calculating Small Business Insurance Rates

Small business use insurance in a variety of ways to protect itself from different types of loss. Whether it is loss of a key employee due to death or disability or loss of profits due to shoplifting, both of these occurrences are both measurable and insurable since they produce financial services.

The price or rating used in small business insurance is based on the type of coverage and the experience of the business. This is influenced by the risk assessment that the insurance company conducts in its underwriting process. The assessment involves a process of evaluating the type of business and the probability that loss will occur.

Insurance provides an indemnity, which is meant to restore the small business owner to their original value. Indemnity is an important concept because it means that the policy provides the small business with a way to be reimbursed or made whole relative to their loss. This is true whether talking about life or health insurance, employee benefits or for the benefit of the small business only.

Knowing the type of small business, where it is located, how profitable it is, how many employees work for the small business, are all important variables for the insurer when calculating the premium rate.

Insurance companies pool risks to determine the likelihood of a loss occurring that results in a reduction in value or risk. Risk pools or small businesses must consist of a homogenous group, such as all car dealers or all convenient storeowners. The risks associated with operating a small manufacturing firm differ from the risk to operate a small trucking company. The measurements or factors that go into rating risk take in to account the experience throughout the homogenous risk pool.

A small business owner may purchase an insurance policy indemnifying them against loss due to theft. Looking at the community experience for the risk pool associated with the small business owner, other factors come into play. A small business owner who operates a convenient store in a high crime area will pay a higher premium than a small business owner of a convenient store located in a suburban neighborhood with a lower crime rate. This rating disparity is acceptable and common among insurers if the same standard and rating is applied uniformly and does not target a specific type of business owner.

Small business insurance ratings vary based on the type of small business activity. It should be noted that to qualify for an insurance risk pool in order to purchase or transfer risk to the insurance company, the business must be engaged in a commercial activity and not be organized solely for the purpose of acquiring insurance.

Insurers are concerned about moral and physical hazards, which must be assessed relative to small businesses and small business insurance. Moral hazards are those things such as lying or filing a false report. Physical hazards can be the presence on unruly teens in the parking lot of a liquor store. Hazards in it of themselves do not cause risk but create a peril or an increase in the probability a risk occurs. A higher amount of hazards present translates into higher ratings for the small business.

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