OTTAWA - Just 17 per cent of unemployed Torontonians are collecting employment insurance benefits, one of the city's lowest rates ever as it confronts a higher jobless rate than the provincial and national average.
There are more than 307,000 jobless Torontonians, according to the latest Statistics Canada figures. Fewer than 54,480 of them are collecting EI.
Experts point out that while many are chronically unemployed citizens who don't qualify for benefits, others are part of an evolving labour market that isn't being reflected by Canada's EI system.
Matthew Mendelsohn, director of the University of Toronto's Mowat Centre, says EI is out of step with labour market realities in the country's biggest cities, leaving tens of thousands of workers without a social safety net.
Mendelsohn says people living in big cities often hold down multiple part-time jobs. Some are in contract positions, and contracts run out. Some work for temp agencies. Many are self-employed and see work dry up.
A lot of those workers don't pay EI premiums, meaning they're unable to access employment insurance when they find themselves out of work. Others pay into the system but can't collect because they haven't logged enough hours in a set time period.
Mendelsohn suggests an overhaul of the system that would result in Canadians in non-traditional employment arrangements contributing to the system so they can collect benefits if they lose their jobs.
Andrew Cash, a Toronto NDP MP, says Toronto and other big cities are ill-served by the current system. There's lots of cyclical work in cities, like film and television work, and the EI system needs to protect those employees.
