The number of people in Canada who regularly receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits has increased.

According to new research conducted by Statistics Canada, 697,000 people received the benefits in April.

This is up 18,600 when compared to the previous month, the findings indicated.

However, in terms of the size of the increase in the number of claimants, the 2.7 per cent rise is actually the smallest seen in six months.

The data also showed that following a decrease of 2.1 per cent in March, the number of initial and renewal claims received were down 1.7 per cent.

Since October last year, the largest percentage growth in EI beneficiaries was recorded in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Nonetheless, the rate of unemployment in the first three of these provinces remains among the lowest in Canada.