The closure of the east coast fishery in Canada in 1992 has affected the lives of individuals and communities both directly and indirectly, causing massive unemployment. Previous research indicates that unemployment negatively affects people's health and other aspects of family functioning. This study assesses the perceived effects of unemployment on the individuals' health, and compares the psychological well-being of the employed and that of the unemployed individuals in the same communities affected by the cod moratorium. The sample consisted of 681 individuals, 16 years of age and older from randomly selected households. They were individually interviewed using structured questionnaires. The GHQ-28 with a high test-retest coefficient (0.90) and split-half reliability (0.92) was used to measure the psychological well-being. The unemployed reported more stress, boredom, high level of uncertainty, less satisfaction with themselves, their life, their educational level, income and health. Implications for health promotion, policy formulation and future research are put forward.