OSHAWA, Ont. - The number of Oshawa, Ont., residents receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits rose a dramatic 96.4 per cent from last year, according to Statistics Canada numbers that show the national average was up 3.9 per cent.
The agency reports 480,370 Canadians received regular EI benefits in September, an increase of 13,100 from September 2007.
Among cities, the largest year-over-year increases in the number of regular beneficiaries occurred in Ontario - Oshawa was up 96.4 per cent and Windsor was up 30.4.
Both cities' economies rely heavily on the automotive sector, which the CEO and general manager of the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce says could be one explanation for the rise.
Bob Malcolmson says the downturn in the U.S. economy has hurt Oshawa because about 85 per cent of the cars and trucks built in Ontario are shipped across the border.
Malcolmson says while some sectors of the local economy are seeing slumps, others are not because Oshawa's economy is becoming increasingly diversified.
Statistics Canada also reported that regular benefit payments increased 5.5 per cent to $772.4 million from August to September.
The number of men receiving benefits increased 5.7 per cent while the number of women receiving benefits rose 1.7 per cent.
Ontario, at 14 per cent, and British Columbia, at 11.2, had the largest year-over-year provincewide increases in regular EI beneficiaries, partly offset by declines in some other regions.
Saskatoon, with a 19.8 per cent drop, and Thunder Bay, Ont., at 19.7, had the largest year-over-year decreases.
