November 2011
CEIFB Sets EI Premium Rate for 2012 at $1.83: Who Cares?
On November 14, 2011, the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB) released its 2012 Employment Insurance (EI) Premium Rate Report. It announced that the employee rate for all residents, with the exception of Quebec, would be set at $1.83 per $100 of insurable earnings for 2012, an increase of 5 cents from the rate for 2011. The employee rate for Quebec residents would be set at $1.47 (Quebec provides maternity, parental and adoption benefits and therefore employees/employers pay a lower rate). There was little news coverage of this announcement.
Read MoreDeficit Outcome for 2011-12 to be Lower than Forecast in November Update
For the first six months of fiscal year 2011-12, the federal government posted a deficit of $13.2 billion, down $4.2 billion from the $17.4 billion reported in the same period in 2010-11. Of the $4.2 billion year-over-year improvement, budgetary revenues were up by $4.3 billion, while program expenses were down by $0.4 billion. Public debt charges were up by $0.5 billion.
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