9 Months of Unemployment - Key Takeaways

I have spent the vast majority of 2025 unemployed. Here's what worked well, here's what I would have done differently.

What worked well

Emergency Fund

Prior to being unemployed, I saved up an emergency fund. I first learned about this idea from Melissa Leong, who is a Canadian financial expert and author of Happy Go Money. This was an enormous peace of mind thing for me, knowing that I had this ready for when my EI ran out. Most Canadian banks  and financial institutions have articles about emergency funds if you want to learn more, here is some from Scotiabank, TD, RBC, Vancity, and the government (note, I am not endorsing any of these banks, its just the education piece here.)

Self education

As I always do whenever I'm unemployed, I toyed with the idea of transitioning careers and industries. I work in a very volatile industry, so requalifying is always in the back of my mind. I dipped my toes in the water via heading to the library and researching and studying various new topics. I also joined some professional organizations so that I could learn from their resources and member workshop series. 

I also did some basic, fairly accessible stuff - I got my Serving it Right license, my ProcessSafe, and double-checked to make sure my FoodSafe Level 1 was up to date.

Connect with Community

Normally, my job is so all-consuming that I can't commit to anything like regular classes or activities during the week as I might be summoned to do OT at the last minute. This round of unemployment, I was thrilled to be able to participate in programming like cooking classes at my local community centre, I was able to explore my heritage, and I learned a bunch of stuff through the quality, informative workshops put on by Women Transforming Cities (which has a very accessible membership fee/sliding scale AND is for anyone in any Canadian city).

What I would have done differently

Volunteering

This is definitely my biggest regret. I have done a bit of volunteering during my time off, but I wish that I had committed to even a 1-2 day a week volunteering commitment. It would have been nice to give back to my community, had structure to my days, and plus, many volunteer opportunities help you build skills and experience for paid roles. My only excuse is that I was suffering pretty badly from burnout (as I often do after doing a big sprint of work).

Saved for post-secondary education

I wish I had, in addition to the emergency fund, saved for even a course or two at a post secondary institution for when my EI runs out. This one is tricky because you can't be enrolled at a post-secondary institution and receive EI, it's one or the other here in Canada. As I write this in December 2025, I'm hopeful that I will have a job come January, however, it is also entirely possible that I will still remain jobless and my EI will run out. It would have been nice if I could have formally started to requalify by going to school and working part time in a job outside my industry, as it stands, I will have to dig into my savings if I want to go to school.