All answers use 2026 ESDC rates. For an official determination, apply at canada.ca/ei. EICalc.ca is not affiliated with Service Canada.
It depends entirely on where you live. The required hours range from 420 to 700, set by the unemployment rate in your EI economic region. If you live in Toronto (8.1% unemployment), you need 595 hours. If you're in Quebec City (2.8%), you need 700. If you're in Northern Manitoba (27.8%), the minimum is 420 hours.
Enter your city in the calculator on the homepage — it maps your location to its EI region and shows your exact threshold using current Statistics Canada data.
Generally no — voluntarily leaving without just cause disqualifies you from regular EI benefits. However, "just cause" covers more situations than most people realize: leaving due to harassment, a major pay cut, genuinely unsafe working conditions, domestic violence, or to follow a relocating spouse can all qualify.
Being constructively dismissed — where your employer makes working conditions so unacceptable that leaving is functionally the same as being fired — can also qualify. Service Canada makes the determination case-by-case. If there's any argument for just cause, apply anyway and explain your circumstances.
If you were fired for misconduct (dishonesty, insubordination, repeated policy violations), you won't qualify either. If you were fired due to shortage of work, restructuring, or position elimination, that's involuntary and you should qualify.
The basic benefit is 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum of $729 per week (based on the 2026 maximum insurable earnings ceiling of $68,900). If you earn $900 per week on average, you'd receive $495/week. If you earn $1,500/week, you'd receive $729 — the weekly cap.
Service Canada uses a "best weeks" calculation rather than a simple average — it looks at your highest-earning weeks in the qualifying period. The number of best weeks used (14 to 22) depends on your region's unemployment rate. Benefits are fully taxable, so your take-home will be lower depending on your tax situation.
Use the homepage calculator to get an estimate based on your actual hours and earnings.
After you apply, Service Canada processes the claim (typically within 28 days, often faster for straightforward claims), and there's a mandatory one-week waiting period at the start of your claim before benefits begin. In practice, most people receive their first payment within three to four weeks of applying.
Apply immediately after your last day of work — don't wait. Late applications can cost you benefit weeks. You can apply online at canada.ca even before your ROE has been issued by your employer.
If you set up direct deposit, payment arrives faster than a cheque. You also need to complete biweekly reports to keep receiving payments — missing a report can pause your benefits.
Between 14 and 45 weeks, depending on two things: how many insurable hours you accumulated, and the unemployment rate in your EI region when you filed. The benefit weeks matrix cross-references your total hours against your regional unemployment band.
A Toronto worker with 700 hours gets 20 weeks. That same worker with 1,200 hours gets 28 weeks. In Eastern Nova Scotia (10.6% unemployment), 700 hours yields 24 weeks. The higher your regional unemployment and the more hours you have, the longer your benefits can last — up to the 45-week ceiling.
Enter your details in the homepage calculator to see your specific estimate.
Yes. EI benefits are taxable income at both the federal and provincial level. Service Canada withholds income tax from your payments based on standard federal withholding tables, but the actual amount you owe depends on your total annual income for the year.
You'll receive a T4E slip in February showing your total EI received and taxes withheld. If your only income for the year was EI, you may receive a refund since the standard withholding is often higher than what you'd actually owe at lower income levels.
If you received a large severance payout and also collected EI in the same year, your total income may push you into a higher bracket, potentially resulting in additional tax owed at filing.
Yes, and it often makes financial sense to do so. Under the working-while-on-EI rules, you keep 50 cents of your benefit for every dollar you earn, up to 90% of your weekly insurable earnings. Earnings above that threshold are deducted dollar-for-dollar from your benefit.
For example, if your weekly EI benefit is $500 and you earn $200 working part-time, you'd keep $100 of your benefit reduction (50% of $200) and receive $400 in EI instead of $500. Your total income for that week: $600 — more than EI alone.
You must report all earnings on your biweekly reports — failure to do so is considered fraud and can result in repayment demands, penalties, or disqualification from future claims.
Yes — severance, termination pay, and pay in lieu of notice all create an allocation period that delays the start of your EI benefits. Service Canada divides your total severance amount by your normal weekly insurable earnings to calculate how many weeks are allocated.
If you received $10,000 in severance and normally earned $1,000 per week, your EI start date is pushed back 10 weeks. Your total benefit entitlement doesn't shrink — the clock just starts later. Once the allocation period ends, your claim continues as normal.
Vacation pay paid out on termination is also allocated. Retiring allowances (long-service recognition payments) may or may not be allocated depending on the specific amount and circumstances — Service Canada makes this determination on your ROE.
Not regular unemployment benefits — but self-employed Canadians who voluntarily registered with the EI program can access special benefits: maternity (15 weeks), parental (up to 69 weeks), sickness (up to 26 weeks), compassionate care, and critical illness. You must have registered at least 12 months before claiming and paid premiums during that period.
The 2026 premium rate for self-employed individuals is 1.63% on insurable earnings — the same as the employee rate, but without the employer's 1.4× multiplier that salaried employees effectively benefit from.
A self-employed person who incorporated their business and paid themselves a T4 salary may qualify for regular EI benefits under the standard rules, since their T4 employment is insurable. The key distinction is T4 employment versus self-employment income reported on a T1.
EI maternity benefits cover the 15 weeks around childbirth — available only to the birth parent. They pay 55% of average insurable weekly earnings, up to $729/week. You need 600 insurable hours to qualify for special benefits — the threshold doesn't vary by region the way regular EI does.
Parental benefits start after maternity ends (or immediately at birth/adoption for the non-birth parent) and can be split between parents. The standard option gives up to 40 combined parental weeks at 55%, maximum $729/week. The extended option gives up to 69 combined weeks at 33%, maximum $437/week. You can't convert between options after the claim starts.
If both parents claim EI at the same time, Service Canada allows it — but the maximum total parental weeks still caps at 40 (standard) or 69 (extended). The birth parent taking maternity first, then both sharing parental weeks, is the most common arrangement.
The benefit weeks you were assigned at the time of filing don't change when you move. Service Canada locks in your regional unemployment rate — and therefore your benefit duration — when you file the claim, not when you relocate. Your payments continue unaffected by the move.
If you file a new claim in the future from a different province, your required hours and benefit weeks will be based on the unemployment rate of your new region at that time. So a move from a high-unemployment region to a low-unemployment one could mean you need more hours for your next claim.
You should notify Service Canada of your address change, but it won't alter the terms of your current claim.
No — you cannot receive regular EI benefits if you're directly participating in a labour dispute, whether a strike or lockout. This applies to the duration of the dispute for workers at the directly affected workplace.
However, if you were laid off before the strike began and your layoff was genuinely unrelated to the dispute, you may still qualify. Similarly, workers at a different employer who are temporarily laid off due to ripple effects from a strike elsewhere may qualify, depending on the specific circumstances.
These situations are often contested and Service Canada will investigate the connection between the labour dispute and your reason for unemployment. If you believe your layoff is unrelated to an ongoing dispute, apply and let Service Canada make the determination.
Insurable hours are the actual hours worked and paid under insurable employment — every hour on the clock from every job counts, including regular time, overtime, and hours from a second or third job. The total is accumulated across all insurable employers in your qualifying period.
What doesn't count: unpaid hours, volunteer work, self-employment income reported as business income (not T4 wages), or hours worked outside Canada. Your Record of Employment (ROE), which your employer must issue within 5 business days of your separation, is the primary document Service Canada uses to verify your hours.
If you worked for multiple employers, you'll have multiple ROEs. Service Canada totals all of them to determine your qualifying hours. If an employer hasn't issued your ROE, apply anyway — Service Canada can request it directly from your employer.
EI sickness benefits pay 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings (up to $729/week) for up to 26 weeks if you're unable to work due to illness, injury, or quarantine. You need 600 insurable hours to qualify — the threshold doesn't vary by region for special benefits.
You'll need a medical certificate signed by a licensed health professional confirming you're unable to work and estimating your recovery period. You can apply for sickness benefits even if you're currently on regular EI — if you become ill during your regular claim, you can switch to sickness benefits for up to 26 weeks.
Sickness EI is often combined with employer sick leave plans. If your employer's plan pays you 100% of salary for the first two weeks, your EI sickness claim would start after that. The interaction with employer plans varies — check your employment contract or HR policy.
If your net income for the year exceeds a threshold set annually by the federal government (approximately $79,000 for recent years), you must repay 30% of the lesser of: the amount your net income exceeds the threshold, or the total EI benefits you received that year.
For example, if the threshold is $79,000 and your net income was $85,000, you'd repay 30% × $6,000 = $1,800. This is calculated on your T1 return and settled at tax time — you won't be asked to repay during the year.
First-time EI claimants in their first and second year of claiming are generally exempt from the clawback for regular benefits. Recipients of special benefits (maternity, parental, sickness, compassionate care) are also typically exempt. If you're not sure, your T4E and T1 general will sort it out at filing.
If Service Canada denies your EI claim or makes a decision you believe is wrong, you have 30 days from the date of the decision letter to file a Request for Reconsideration. This is a free internal review — you submit it through My Service Canada Account or by mail, explaining why you disagree and providing any supporting documentation.
If reconsideration goes against you, you can appeal to the Social Security Tribunal (SST) General Division within 30 days of the reconsideration decision. The SST process is formal but accessible — you don't need a lawyer, though union representatives and legal aid organizations can help. Hearings can be conducted by telephone or videoconference.
Keep all documentation: your ROE, any letters from your employer, your application confirmation, and every piece of correspondence from Service Canada. Note the exact dates of all decisions and the deadlines for response. Missing a 30-day appeal window ends your recourse through that channel.
Yes. In 2026, the employee EI premium rate is $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings, up to a maximum employee contribution of $1,123.07. Your employer pays 1.4 times that amount — $2.28 per $100 of your insurable earnings, up to $1,572.30 maximum.
The employer's contribution is an additional payroll cost on top of your wages — it doesn't come out of your paycheque, and it doesn't affect your benefit entitlement. Your EI benefits are based entirely on your own insurable earnings and hours, regardless of what your employer paid in premiums.
Employers with approved wage-loss replacement plans (group sickness or disability plans) may qualify for a reduced employer premium rate — currently 1.4× is the standard, but approved plans can lower this multiplier. The premium reduction is shared between employer and employees according to a formula set by ESDC.
Apply immediately. You can apply for EI online at canada.ca even before your final paycheque clears or your ROE has been issued. Waiting costs you — applications filed more than four weeks after your last day of work can result in lost benefit weeks that can't be recovered.
When you apply online you'll need: your Social Insurance Number (SIN), employment history for the past 52 weeks (employer names, addresses, dates, and reason for each separation), banking information for direct deposit, and your ROE if you have it. If your employer hasn't issued the ROE yet, note this in the application — Service Canada can request it directly.
After applying, set up your My Service Canada Account at canada.ca/my-service-canada-account to track your claim status and file your biweekly reports. Missing a biweekly report pauses your payments, so mark the due dates in your calendar.