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Can You Be Denied EI? Common Reasons and What to Do

Updated

Employment Insurance (EI) can be refused when you apply, or stopped partway through a claim. Paying premiums doesn’t guarantee benefits: you also have to meet the rules and keep reporting. These are the common reasons and what to do about each.

Common reasons

ReasonWhat it meansWhat you can do
Not enough hoursYou have fewer than the 420 to 700 insurable hours your region needs (or 600 for special benefits)Check your Records of Employment are complete; apply again when you have enough hours
Quit without just causeYou left voluntarily and had a reasonable alternativeShow just cause; see can you get EI if you quit
MisconductYou were fired for wilful or reckless conductGive your side and evidence
Not available for workSchool, travel, health or limits you put on the jobs you’ll takeShow you’re available and looking; see EI while in school
Outside CanadaYou generally can’t get EI for days you’re outside Canada, with limited exceptionsTell Service Canada before you travel
In prisonNo benefits while you’re in prisonContact Service Canada on release
Missing or wrong reportsReports every 2 weeks were missed or left out earningsFile late reports (within 3 weeks) and correct errors
Record of Employment problemsWrong dates, hours or reason codeAsk your employer for an amended ROE

Misconduct

Misconduct means conduct that was wilful, or so reckless that it was almost wilful, where you knew or should have known it could get you fired. It’s decided by Service Canada, not your employer. Examples often found to be misconduct include theft, repeated unexcused absences after warnings, and serious breaches of workplace rules. Being let go for poor performance, in a restructuring or for a documented medical absence usually isn’t. Being fired for misconduct disqualifies you from regular benefits for that job, but the disqualification is lifted if you later work enough insurable hours to qualify again.

Reason codes on your ROE

The reason code on your Record of Employment tells Service Canada why your job ended, but it doesn’t decide your claim. A quit (code E) or dismissal (code M) leads to questions about just cause or misconduct. If the code is wrong, ask your employer to amend it; see your Record of Employment.

Challenging a decision

  1. Reconsideration. Ask Service Canada within 30 days of the decision. Send new evidence if you have it, such as a corrected ROE, medical notes, emails or a witness statement.
  2. EI Board of Appeal. If you disagree with the reconsideration, appeal within 30 days. The Board has heard first-level EI appeals since April 1, 2026.
  3. Social Security Tribunal, Appeal Division. A further appeal within 30 days, on limited grounds such as an error of law.

Keep filing your reports while you wait, so the weeks can be paid if the decision changes. See why did my EI payment stop for payment problems that aren’t a refusal.

Avoiding problems

  • Apply as soon as you stop working, without waiting for your ROE.
  • Check your ROE for the right dates, hours and reason.
  • Report every 2 weeks, and report all earnings, including self-employment and cash work.
  • Keep a record of your job search.
  • Tell Service Canada before you travel or start a course.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 23, 2026 and September 28, 2026. How we check facts.