Employment Insurance Act
(Canada)
The Employment Insurance Act is administered by the department of Human Resources and Skills Development.
Eligibility
stopped receiving earnings, and
held insurable employment for the number of hours set out in the qualifying period.
The 52-week period preceding the benefit period or the period that has elapsed since the beginning of the last established benefit period, whichever period is shorter.
The qualifying period may be extended to a maximum of 104 weeks when an individual has not been able to maintain insurable employment for one or more weeks due to illness, injury, quarantine or pregnancy, preventive withdrawal, imprisonment or if he has been receiving assistance as part of employment benefits or if the individual has been unable to establish interruption of compensation due to the way compensation received is distributed after the total rupture of the employer - employee link.
Contributions, for the purposes of the system, are calculated on each hour of insurable employment worked. Insurability no longer requires the accumulation of a minimum salary. Insured earnings are not subject to a weekly maximum. Earnings are insured on an annual basis which cannot exceed $43,200.
The number of insurable hours of employment required to establish a benefit period varies as to whether the employee is a new arrival on the labour market or a regular claimant.
New Arrival on the Labour Market
The individual who enters or re-enters the labour force, after having already been part of the labour force (as defined in the Act and Regulations) for at least 490 hours during the 52 weeks prior to his qualifying period, or who has not received any maternity or parental benefits during the 208 weeks preceding the 52 weeks before the qualifying period, must:
have accumulated 910 hours of insurable employment during the qualifying period, unless he is making a claim for special benefits;
have accumulated 600 hours of insurable employment during the qualifying period if he is making a claim for special benefits (illness, maternity, parental or compassion).
Ordinary Claimant
The individual who has been part of the labour force (as defined in the Act and Regulations) for at least 490 hours during the 52-week period prior to his qualifying period, or who has received maternity or parental benefits for one week or more during the 208 weeks preceding the 52 weeks before the qualifying period, must:
have accumulated between 420 and 700 hours of insurable employment, depending on the current unemployment rate in his economic region;
have accumulated 600 hours of insurable employment during the qualifying period if he is making a claim for special benefits (illness, maternity, parental or compassion).
However, anyone who has fraudulently claimed or received benefits must accumulate between 525 and 1,400 hours of insurable employment, depending on the gravity of the infraction and the current unemployment rate in his economic region, even if the individual is making a claim for special benefits.
Regular Benefits
Benefits are payable to eligible claimants for each week of their claim, but only after a two-week waiting period calculated as of the beginning of the benefit period.
Moreover, a claimant has the right to receive benefits if he can prove that, for each day that he claims benefits, he is able to work, available to work and that he has been unable to find suitable employment, unless he is claiming special benefits.
Subject to other provisions of the Act, a benefit period lasts a maximum of 52 weeks. The number of weekly benefit payments is calculated according to the number of insurable employment hours used to calculate the benefit period and in accordance with the current unemployment rate in the economic region of the claimant; the number of weekly benefit payments can therefore vary between 14 weeks (unemployment rate of 6% or less) and 45 weeks (unemployment rate of more than 12%) for a maximum benefit period of 52 weeks.
The benefit period may be extended up to 104 weeks (without change to the number of weeks for which benefits are payable) only if the insured was deprived of benefits while being held in detention, while receiving an income replacement benefit due to an industrial accident or occupational illness, received compensation paid as the result of the rupture of the employer-employee link or received preventive withdrawal benefits.
Exclusions
A person who voluntarily quits his job without just cause or is fired for misconduct is disqualified indefinitely from receiving benefits. Furthermore, a claimant may be excluded from receiving benefits for a period of 7 to 12 weeks, after the waiting period, during which he would otherwise be entitled to benefits if, without just cause, he refuses or fails to apply for suitable employment or fails to take advantage of an opportunity to obtain suitable employment. He will be excluded for a period of 1 to 6 weeks if he fails to follow the instructions of an HRSD official to assist him in finding suitable employment, fails to appear for an interview at which he was ordered to appear by HRSD or fails to follow the training or instructional courses he was required to follow.
Benefit Rates
Most claimants can receive 55% of their weekly average insurable earnings. Claimants who are members of a low income family (less than $25,921) with children and who receive the Federal Child Tax Benefit (CTB) are entitled to a supplement based on their net family income, the number of children in the family and their ages. The rate of their benefits can be raised to as much as 80% of the average weekly insurable earnings.
In no case may the amount received exceed the maximum weekly benefit ($457).
Special Benefits
Benefits are payable when a person suffers loss of employment and earnings because of illness, injury or quarantine:
if he held insurable employment for 600 hours during his qualifying period;
if he accumulated less than 600 hours of insurable employment and the cessation of employment does not result from disability;
if he had been available for work had he not been ill, injured or quarantined;
if he supplied medical evidence.
Benefits are payable for the duration of the disability, up to a maximum of 15 weeks.
Compassionate care benefits may be paid to persons who have to be absent from work to provide care or support to a gravely ill family member at risk of dying within 26 weeks, if they:
have suffered a loss of employment earnings;
have accumulated 600 hours of insurable earnings during the qualifying period;
provide medical evidence.
The compassionate care benefits weeks can be shared with other family members.
Since January 1, 2006, the province of Quebec is responsible for paying maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits for Quebec residents. For more information on Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), please call 1 888 610-7727 or go the Web site at: www.rqap.gouv.qc.ca
Please note that maternity and parental benefits continue to be available for all other Canadian provinces and territories.
IMPORTANT
A. An individual cannot accumulate more than 50 weeks of special benefits (illness, maternity, parental) during the same benefit period. This number can be increased to 65 weeks for beneficiaries who did not receive regular benefits but who received illness, maternity or parental benefits during the period of benefits.
B. A person entitled to benefits under the plan can earn an income equivalent to 25% of the rate of benefits to which he is entitled or $50 per week, which ever is the greater, with no reduction of his weekly benefits. Earnings in excess of those mentioned are deducted from the benefits of the corresponding week. It must be noted that earnings received during the waiting period are 100% deductible from the first 3 weeks of payment. In addition, all earnings received are deductible at 100% from illness, injury or quarantine and/or maternity benefits.
C. Claimants who are excluded from benefits because they voluntarily left their job or were fired for misconduct may still be eligible for special benefits.
Pilot Projects – Temporary Measures / Canada's Economic Action Plan
Calculating Benefits Based on Best 14 Weeks
The goal of this pilot project is to adjust the benefits payable to claimants residing in regions with high rates of unemployment. EI benefits are calculated based on income earned during the 14 best weeks in the reference period. For intermittent workers, this means that benefits will more accurately reflect their weeks of full-time employment. The project applies to eligible claimants who, at the time their claim is submitted, reside in areas of high unemployment.
The first pilot project came into effect on October 30, 2005, and ended on October 25, 2008. It was then extended to run from October 26, 2008 to October 23, 2010, in those Employment Insurance (EI) economic regions where the level of unemployment is currently 8% or higher. In Québec, it is the same economic regions that benefit from the project.
Improved Access to Employment Insurance Benefits
The goal of this pilot project is to change the eligibility standards for individuals entering or returning to the workforce, from the current 910 hours of insurable employment to 840 hours over the reference period. The project applies to all claimants whose benefit payments begin on or after December 11, 2005, and who, at the time the claim is submitted, reside in an economic region with a high rate of unemployment.
The pilot project originally ran from December 11, 2005 to December 6, 2008; it was then extended according to the same parameters for an additional two years, from December 7, 2008 to December 4, 2010, in those EI economic regions where the level of unemployment is currently 8% or higher.
The goal of this pilot project is to increase the amount of allowable earnings that claimants may receive during a benefit period (regular, fishing, parental or compassionate care). Under this project, claimants are authorized to earn up to 40% of their weekly benefits rate, or $75 per week, whichever amount is higher, with no deductions being made from their EI benefits.
The pilot project in effect from December 11, 2005, to December 6, 2008, in economic regions with a high level of unemployment, ended. A new amended pilot project was re-introduced with the same format from December 7, 2008, to December 4, 2010, but was expanded to apply to all EI economic regions across the country.
Within the framework of Canada's Economic Action Plan, a measure to extend Employment Insurance (EI) benefits came into force on March 1, 2009, which will continue until September 11, 2010. It provides claimants with five additional weeks of benefits, on top of what they would have had otherwise, and as such, the maximum number of weeks increases from 45 to 50 for all regular benefit claims (except claims from fishers). The duration of benefits is calculated based on the unemployment rate for the region in which a claimant lives. This measure replaces pilot project number 10, which formerly provided for the payment of five weeks of extra benefits for claimants living in specific regions with high unemployment.
Extension of EI benefits for long-tenured workers (Bill C-50)
Another temporary measure came into force on October 25, 2009, to help long-tenured workers who lose their jobs. Long-tenured workers are typically older workers having contributed to Employment Insurance (EI) for many years, who have paid at least 30% of maximum EI contributions in seven of last 10 calendar years preceding the claim and made very limited use of the EI system (less than 36 weeks of EI benefits paid during the 5 years preceding the claim). These claimants are eligible for a number of extra weeks, up to a maximum of 20, which varies based on the employment history of the past 15 years. The benefit period is extended to allow for the payment of these extra weeks.
This measure applies retroactively to benefit claims that began on or after January 4, 2009, and will continue to apply on claims submitted up to September 11, 2010.This initiative is in addition to the temporary career Adjustment Assistance measure designed to help long-tenured workers develop skills while receiving benefits through participation in training programs provided through Emploi-Québec. This most recent initiative came into effect on May 31, 2009, and will end on May 29, 2010.
Premium Contributions Yearly maximum insurable earnings:
2009
$42,300
2010
$43,200
Employee premium rate per $100 of gross insurable earnings:
$1.73
$1.38
Québec*
$1.73
$1.36
Québec
Employer premium rate per $100 of gross insurable earnings (1.4 X employee contribution):
$2.42
$1.93
Québec*
$2.42
$1.90
Québec*
*These premium rates are lower than rates applicable elsewhere in Canada because, effective January 1, 2006, Quebec have its own parental benefits program.
Yearly maximum insurable earnings: | 2009 $42,300 | 2010 $43,200 | ||
Employee premium rate per $100 of gross insurable earnings: | $1.73 | $1.38 Québec* | $1.73 | $1.36 Québec |
Employer premium rate per $100 of gross insurable earnings (1.4 X employee contribution): | $2.42 | $1.93 Québec* | $2.42 | $1.90 Québec* |
*These premium rates are lower than rates applicable elsewhere in Canada because, effective January 1, 2006, Quebec have its own parental benefits program. | ||||
Additional information
1-800-206-7218
Web site: www.servicecanada.gc.ca
