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EI Calculator: Weekly Benefit and Weeks of EI

Updated

This calculator estimates your weekly Employment Insurance (EI) benefit and the most weeks you can get. Enter your average weekly insurable earnings (or your salary), the type of benefit, the year your claim starts, your region’s unemployment rate and your insurable hours. For how EI works, see the EI guide.

Estimated weekly EI benefit (before tax)
Weekly earnings used
Benefit rate
Maximum weekly benefit
Your weekly benefit
Weeks of benefits (maximum)
Total if paid for every week
Insurable hours / minimum needed

EI benefits are taxable. The one-week waiting period was waived for claims that start between March 30, 2025 and October 9, 2027; otherwise the first week is unpaid. Service Canada uses your best weeks of earnings, and your region's rate when you apply.

Maximum weekly benefit

The most Employment Insurance (EI) pays is $729 a week for a claim that starts in 2026, and $749 for one that starts in 2027. Most people get less, because the benefit is 55% of their own average earnings. This page explains the maximum and how your amount is worked out; the EI calculator estimates it.

The maximum by year

Claim starts inMaximum insurable earningsMaximum weekly benefit
2026$68,900$729
2027$70,800$749

The maximum weekly benefit is 55% of the maximum insurable earnings divided by 52: 55% × $1,325.00 = $728.75, published as $729. Your maximum is set by the year your claim starts and stays the same for the whole claim. Sources: Service Canada, EI benefit amount; CEIC, 2027 premium rate.

How your amount is calculated

  1. Take your best weeks. Service Canada looks at your insurable earnings in the last 52 weeks (or since your last claim) and picks your highest-paid weeks. How many depends on your region’s unemployment rate.
  2. Average them. Total earnings in those weeks, divided by that number of weeks.
  3. Take 55%, up to the maximum.
Regional unemployment rateBest weeks used
6% or less22
6.1% to 7%21
7.1% to 8%20
8.1% to 9%19
9.1% to 10%18
10.1% to 11%17
11.1% to 12%16
12.1% to 13%15
More than 13%14

Source: Employment Insurance Act, s. 14(2).

Example. In a region at 8.5% unemployment, the best 19 weeks are used. If those weeks total $19,000, the average is $1,000.00, and the benefit is 55% of that, $550.00 a week.

By salary (steady full-time earnings, 2026)

Annual earningsWeekly earningsWeekly EI
$30,000$577$317
$45,000$865$476
$60,000$1,154$635
$68,900 or more$1,325 or more$729 (maximum)

The family supplement

If your family’s net income is up to $25,921 a year and you or your spouse receive the Canada Child Benefit, the family supplement can raise your rate to as much as 80% of your earnings, still subject to the maximum weekly benefit. Source: Service Canada, EI benefit amount.

Maximum by type of benefit (2026)

BenefitRateMaximum a weekMaximum weeks
Regular55%$72914 to 45
Sickness55%$72926
Maternity55%$72915
Standard parental55%$72940 shared (up to 35 for one parent)
Extended parental33%$43769 shared (up to 61 for one parent)
Family caregiver, child55%$72935
Family caregiver, adult55%$72915
Compassionate care55%$72926

Quebec residents get maternity and parental benefits from QPIP, which has its own higher maximums; see QPIP.

What reduces the amount you actually receive

  • Tax is withheld from each payment; EI is taxable.
  • Earnings while on claim reduce it; see how much can I earn while on EI.
  • The waiting week is unpaid on most claims (it was waived for claims that start between March 30, 2025 and October 9, 2027).
  • Repayment at tax time if your net income is above $86,125 (2026); see EI repayment.

How it works

  1. Weekly benefit. 55% of your weekly insurable earnings, capped at the yearly maximum divided by 52 ($68,900 ÷ 52 in 2026), so the most you can get is $729 a week for a claim starting in 2026 and $749 in 2027.
  2. Eligibility. Regular benefits need 420 to 700 hours depending on your region; sickness and caregiving benefits need 600.
  3. Weeks. For regular benefits, the calculator reads the Employment Insurance Act’s table of weeks (Schedule I) for your hours and region. Sickness, compassionate care and family caregiver benefits have fixed maximums.

Service Canada uses your best weeks of earnings: from the best 14 weeks in the highest-unemployment regions to the best 22 in the lowest. Enter the average of those weeks if you know it; otherwise your salary divided by 52 is a reasonable estimate for steady full-time work.

Weeks of regular benefits

The most weeks you can get depends on both your hours and your region. A few rows of the table:

Insurable hours6% or less8.1% to 9%11.1% to 12%More than 16%
700 to 73414202636
1,050 to 1,08419253141
1,400 to 1,43424303645
1,820 or more36424545

Source: Employment Insurance Act, Schedule I. From 1,820 hours, the most is 36 weeks in a region at 6% or less and 45 weeks where unemployment is above 10%. 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).

Example

Someone earning $55,000 a year has weekly insurable earnings of $1,058. Their benefit is 55% of that, $582 a week. With 1,000 insurable hours in a region at 6% or less they qualify for 18 weeks, up to $10,471 in total before tax.

What the estimate doesn’t include

  • The family supplement, which can raise the rate to 80% for families with children and net income up to $25,921.
  • Earnings and separation pay. Work while on claim reduces EI (how much can I earn while on EI), and severance or vacation pay normally delays it (that was suspended for claims or allocations that start between March 30, 2025 and October 9, 2027).
  • Tax. EI is taxable, and tax is withheld from each payment. If your net income is above $86,125 (2026), you may repay part of your regular benefits when you file; see EI repayment at tax time.
  • Your region’s rate. Service Canada uses the rate for your EI economic region in effect when your claim starts, and the rates are updated regularly.

Maternity and parental benefits have their own rules; use the parental leave calculator or see maternity and parental benefits.

Parental leave calculator

Parental Leave Calculator

This calculator estimates what you’d receive on EI maternity and parental leave outside Quebec: the weekly benefit, the number of weeks, the total, and how much of your pay it replaces with or without an employer top-up. It is part of our guide to life stages and life events.

How this calculator works

Enter your weekly insurable earnings (or annual salary), choose a leave type and your province, and add an employer top-up percentage if you have one. The leave options:

  • Maternity only: 15 weeks for the birth parent, at 55% of earnings.
  • Standard parental: up to 35 weeks for one parent at 55%, or 40 weeks when both parents share.
  • Extended parental: up to 61 weeks for one parent at 33%, or 69 weeks when both share.
  • Maternity plus standard or extended parental, for a birth parent taking both.
Weekly Insurable Earnings
Annual Salary (optional)
Leave Type
Province / Territory
Employer Top-Up (%)
Estimated Weekly Benefit
Weekly Insurable Earnings
EI Benefit Rate
Maximum Insurable Earnings (2026)
Weekly EI Benefit
Employer Top-Up (weekly)
Total Weekly Income
Leave Duration
Total Benefits (before tax)
Income Replacement %

Note: EI maternity and parental benefits are taxable income. A one-week waiting period applies before benefits begin (not included in totals above). Quebec residents receive benefits through QPIP instead of EI.

The weekly maximum

EI pays 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings (33% on extended parental), up to a maximum set by the year’s maximum insurable earnings of $68,900 in 2026: $729 a week at the standard rate and $437 on extended parental. Earnings above the maximum don’t raise the benefit, so higher earners replace a smaller share of their pay.

Example: a parent earning $60,000 a year has average weekly insurable earnings of about $1,154. At the standard rate the benefit is $635 a week; on extended parental it is $381. Over 35 standard weeks that is $22,212, and over 61 extended weeks $23,227: extended leave spreads a similar total over more weeks, at a lower weekly amount. Before tax, and before any employer top-up.

Standard or extended, and sharing the leave

You choose standard or extended parental benefits when you apply, and both parents must make the same choice. When both parents share, the total rises above what one parent can take alone, because some weeks are available only to the second parent. How the weeks, the choice and the sharing rules work is explained in the EI maternity and parental benefits guide.

Employer top-ups

Many employers top up EI for part of the leave, often through a supplemental unemployment benefit plan that brings pay to a set percentage of salary for a set number of weeks. The terms (the percentage, how many weeks, and whether you must return to work afterwards) are in your employment contract or collective agreement; the calculator’s top-up field shows the effect.

Who qualifies, and how to apply

You need 600 insured hours in the 52 weeks before your claim (or since your last claim), and your regular weekly earnings must have dropped by more than 40% because you're pregnant, recently gave birth, or are caring for a newborn or newly adopted child.

You apply to Service Canada once your earnings stop, with the Record of Employment your employer issues. The waiting period, the documents and how payments start are covered in the maternity and parental benefits guide. EI benefits are taxable income.

Quebec: QPIP instead of EI

Quebec parents receive parental benefits from the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, not EI. QPIP’s basic plan pays 70% for 18 weeks of maternity benefits, has paternity weeks of its own, and insures earnings up to $103,000 (2026). This calculator doesn’t compute QPIP.

Planning the gap

The difference between your benefit and your pay is the amount to cover during leave. How much to save for maternity leave works that out month by month, and the first baby financial guide lists the other applications due around the birth.

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 23, 2026 and October 7, 2026. How we check facts.