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Appendix VI - Employment Insurance Benefits Summary

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This section summarizes the types of Employment Insurance benefits as of the date of this report.

A. General

You must serve a 2-week unpaid waiting period before your Employment Insurance (EI) benefits begins to be paid. Generally, this period is the first 2 weeks of your claim.

In general (except for fishing benefits), the qualifying period is the shorter of:

the 52 week-period immediately before the start date of your claim, or
the period since the start of a previous EI claim if that claim started during the 52 week-period

Violations from previous EI claims may increase the number of hours required to qualify for EI benefits.

B. Amount of benefit

The amount of weekly benefit payment depends on total earnings before deductions including tips and commissions, in the last 26 weeks, and is calculated in the following manner:

Total earnings that have been paid in the last 26 weeks ending with last day of work.
Taking into consideration the number of weeks worked in the last 26 weeks.
The unemployment rate of the economic region in which the claimant resides and the minimum divisor that applies to the corresponding unemployment rate.
Determine the average weekly insured earnings, by dividing total earnings in the last 26 weeks by the greater of:
- I. the number of weeks worked in the last 26 weeks; or
- II. the minimum divisor number.
Then multiply the result by 55% to obtain the weekly benefit. The maximum amount is $457 per week.

C. Regular benefits

Regular benefits can be paid if a person loses their job through no fault of their own, for example, due to shortage of work, seasonal or mass lay-offs, and they are available to work but is unable to find a job.

To be eligible for regular benefits a person must show that:

they have been without work and without pay for at least 7 consecutive days; and
they have worked for the required number of insurable hours during the qualifying period.

The number of hours necessary is based on where the claimant lives and the unemployment rate in the relevant economic region at the time of filing the claim.

Most people will need between 420 and 700 insurable hours of work in their qualifying period to qualify, depending on the unemployment rate in their region at the time of filing their claim for benefits. In some instances, a minimum of 910 hours in the qualifying period may be needed to qualify :

if in the work force for the first time;
if re-entering the work force after an absence of two years.

D. Maternity, Parental and Sickness benefits

To be entitled to Maternity, Parental or Sickness benefits you must show that:

that regular weekly earnings have been decreased by more than 40%; and
that you have accumulated 600 insured hours during the qualifying period.

A combination of maternity, parental and sickness benefits can be received up to a combined maximum of 50 weeks. It is possible to receive up to a maximum of 65 weeks of combined sickness, maternity and parental benefits instead of the normal combined maximum of 50 weeks.

E. Compassionate Care benefit

Compassionate care benefits may be paid up to a maximum of 6 weeks to a person who has to be absent from work to provide care or support to a gravely ill family member at risk of dying within 26 weeks. Unemployed persons on EI can also ask for this type of benefits.

To be eligible for compassionate care benefits you must apply and show that:

your regular weekly earnings from work have decreased by more than 40%; and
you have accumulated 600 insured hours during the qualifying period.

You can receive compassionate care benefits to care for one of the following family member:

your child or the child of your spouse or common-law partner;
your wife/husband or common-law partner;
your father/mother;
your father's wife/mother's husband;
the common-law partner of your father/mother; and
since June 14 2007, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, foster parents, guardians and wards.

You can share the 6 weeks compassionate care benefits with other members of your family who must also apply and are eligible for these benefits.

F. Fishing benefits

A fisher is a self-employed person engaged in fishing.

To qualify for fishing benefits, fishers need sufficient earnings from self-employment in fishing in a maximum 31 week period before their claim starts -this period is called the qualifying period.

You will need to earn at least between $2,500 and $4,200 to qualify for fishing benefits. This amount varies based on the unemployment rate in your region.

However, if you have just started working as a self-employed fisher, or have returned to fishing after an absence of a year or more preceding your qualifying period, you may need to earn a minimum of $5,500 of fishing earnings to qualify.

G. Work Sharing benefit

Work-Sharing is designed to help employers and workers avert temporary layoffs. The measure provides income support to workers eligible for Employment Insurance benefits and who are willing to work a temporary reduced work-week when there is a reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer. Work-Sharing agreements must be approved by both employee and employer representatives and by the Commission and can range from 6 to 26 weeks with an extension of up to a maximum of 38 weeks.

H. Employment Benefits and Support Measures

To be eligible for employment benefits, individuals must be unemployed and have a current EI claim as an “active EI client” or a claim that ended in the preceding three years as a “former EI client.”

Those who began a maternity or parental claim in the preceding five years, after which they left the labour market to care for their newborn or newly adopted child, also qualify as former EI clients and are eligible for employment benefits upon re-entry into the labour market.

Unemployed individuals who are neither active nor former EIclients are considered “non-insured” and are eligible only for those employment services available under the Employment Assistance Services (EAS) support measure or other employment services provided by the National Employment Service.

Employment Assistance Services provide funding to organizations to enable them to provide employment services to unemployed persons. These services may include counselling, action planning, job search skills, job finding clubs, job placement services, the provision of labour market information, case management and follow-up.

I. The Family Supplement

The Family Supplement is a feature of Employment Insurance (EI) that provides additional benefits to low-income families with children. You do not have to apply for it, if you are eligible your entitlement will automatically be added to your Employment Insurance payment.

If you or your spouse receive the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), a program administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, then you are eligible to receive the EI Family Supplement on your family net income up to and including $25,921 per year.

The Family Supplement rate is based on :

your family net income up to a maximum of $25,921 per year; and
the number of children in the family and their ages.

The maximum Family Supplement could make your benefit rate reach as high as 80% of your average insurable earnings.

If you or your spouse claims Employment Insurance benefits at the same time, only one of you can receive the Family Supplement. Usually, it would be better for the spouse with the lower benefit rate to receive the Family Supplement.

As your income level rises, the Family Supplement gradually decreases, so that when the maximum income of $25,921 is reached no supplement is payable.

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Date Modified:: 2011-08-02

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