Extra EI help to hard-hit regions tops $1 billion, surpassing budget estimates
OTTAWA — A federal program designed to give extra financial help to out-of-work Canadians in the hardest-hit economic regions of the country has blown past Liberal budget estimates with more than $1 billion in payouts.
The payments to date are double what the government anticipated it would spend to provide extra weeks of employment insurance benefits to workers in 15 regions smarting from a sharp downturn in energy prices.
When the plan was set up last year, the government initially estimated that 235,000 people would use the extra benefits.
By October, just over three months into the program, the take-up rate was almost half of forecast numbers.