Employment Insurance (EI) in Canada: How It Works

Employment Insurance (EI) replaces part of your income when you lose your job through no fault of your own, can’t work because you’re sick, have or adopt a child, or care for someone who is seriously ill. It’s run by Service Canada and paid for by premiums from workers and employers. This page covers how it works; the EI calculator estimates your benefit.

Types of EI benefits

Source: Service Canada, EI benefits. The special benefits have their own pages: sickness, maternity and parental and caregiving. Quebec residents claim maternity and parental benefits from QPIP instead.

Who qualifies for regular benefits

• You worked in insurable employment (most jobs where your employer deducts EI premiums).
• You lost your job through no fault of your own, such as a layoff or shortage of work.
• You have been without work and pay for at least 7 days in a row.
• You worked enough insurable hours in the last 52 weeks (or since your last claim started): from 420 to 700, depending on your region's unemployment rate.
• You are ready, willing and able to work each day.
• You are looking for work and keeping a written record of the employers you contact.

Quitting without just cause or being fired for misconduct usually disqualifies you; see can you get EI if you quit and can you be denied EI.

Source: Service Canada, EI regular benefits eligibility.

If you couldn’t work for some of those 52 weeks because of illness, injury, quarantine or pregnancy (or a few other reasons the Act lists), the period can be extended by those weeks, up to 104 weeks in total. Source: Employment Insurance Act, s. 8.

How much EI pays

Regular EI pays 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings, up to a maximum. The average uses your best 14 to 22 weeks of earnings in the last 52 weeks: 14 in the regions with the highest unemployment, 22 in the lowest.

If your net family income is up to $25,921, you have children, and you or your spouse receive the Canada Child Benefit, the family supplement can raise your rate to as much as 80%. Source: Service Canada, EI benefit amount. The maximum EI payment page has more detail.

How long it lasts

Regular benefits last 14 to 45 weeks. The number comes from the table of weeks in the Employment Insurance Act (Schedule I), using your insurable hours and your region’s unemployment rate:

Source: Employment Insurance Act, Schedule I. The EI calculator uses the whole table. You have 52 weeks from the start of your claim (the benefit period) to use them. When regular and special benefits are combined in one benefit period, the usual limit is 50 weeks.

Temporary EI measures and their dates

Four temporary measures, introduced in response to major changes in economic conditions such as U.S. tariffs, cover claims that start within set dates, and each has its own end date. A claim that starts after a measure’s end date doesn’t get it, unless the government extends it:

• No waiting week for claims that start between March 30, 2025 and October 9, 2027. Otherwise the first week of a claim is unpaid.
• Severance and other separation money doesn’t delay benefits for claims (or allocations) that start between March 30, 2025 and October 9, 2027.
• Only your most recent reason for leaving a job is reviewed for claims that start between October 11, 2026 and October 9, 2027. Normally, the hours from a job you quit without just cause or lost through your own misconduct during the qualifying period aren’t used to establish your claim. Under this measure, if you lost your most recent job through no fault of your own, all your insurable hours in the qualifying period are used.
• Extra weeks for long-tenured workers. Long-tenured workers whose claims start between June 15, 2025 and June 12, 2027 can get up to 20 extra weeks of regular benefits (to a maximum of 65). You qualify if:

• You have received at least 1 week of regular benefits on the claim.
• You received fewer than 36 weeks of regular or fishing benefits in the 3 years before your claim.
• You paid at least 30% of the maximum annual EI premium in at least 7 of the last 10 years.

Source: Service Canada, temporary EI measures.

Applying, reporting and payments

1. Apply online as soon as you stop working. If you apply more than 4 weeks after your last day of work, you may lose benefits. You can apply before your employer files your Record of Employment. See how to apply for EI.
2. Expect the first payment about 28 days after you apply, if you’re eligible and Service Canada has what it needs. See how long the first payment takes.
3. Report every 2 weeks, online through the Internet Reporting Service or by phone at 1-800-531-7555. You need your social insurance number and the four-digit access code on the benefit statement Service Canada mails you after you apply. Payment is deposited 2 to 3 business days after you complete your report. See EI payment dates.
4. Report any work. You keep 50 cents of EI for every dollar you earn, up to 90% of the weekly insurable earnings your benefit is based on; above that, earnings are deducted dollar for dollar, and a full week of work pays no EI. See how much can I earn while on EI.

If a payment stops or looks wrong, see why did my EI payment stop; to challenge a decision, see can you be denied EI.

Tax and repayment

EI benefits are taxable. Service Canada withholds tax and sends a T4E slip. The benefit repayment is worked out when you file: If your net income for the year is above $86,125 (2026), you repay 30% of the lesser of the excess and the regular benefits you received, unless you received less than 1 week of regular benefits in the previous 10 tax years. Special benefits are never repaid. See how much can I earn on EI before repaying.

Premiums

Employees pay 1.63% of insurable earnings up to $68,900 in 2026, and 1.64% up to $70,800 in 2027. Employers pay 1.4 times the employee premium. Quebec rates are lower because Quebec runs QPIP. See EI contribution rates.

EI guides