The Employment Insurance (EI) program provides temporary income

EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE – FACT SHEET
The Employment Insurance (EI) program provides temporary income support to
individuals if they are unable to work, whether they are temporarily unemployed,
sick, pregnant, caring for a newborn or adopted child or providing care or support
to a gravely ill family member or a critically ill child. In addition, fishing benefits
provide income support to self-employed fishers who are actively seeking work.
All employers and workers in insurable employment pay EI premiums. In 2013,
the EI premiums amount for employees is $1.88 per $100 of insurable earnings
and the employer pays 1.4 times the amount of the employee’s premiums per
$100 of insurable earnings.
Individuals, generally, require between 420 and 700 insurable hours in the
past year to qualify for EI regular benefits and receive a maximum of 14 to 45
weeks of benefits, depending on the unemployment rate of the EI economic
region in which they reside.
EI benefit rate is 55% of average weekly insurable earnings up to the Maximum
Insurable Earnings of $47,400 in 2013, for a maximum weekly benefit of $501.
Under the EI program, insured and self-employed persons may be eligible for the
following special benefits:
 up to 15 weeks of maternity benefits to birth or surrogate mothers that
cover the period surrounding birth.
 up to 35 weeks of parental benefits to biological or adoptive parents
while they are caring for a newborn or newly adopted child. They may be
taken by either parent or shared between them.
 up to 15 weeks of sickness benefits to a person who is unable to work
because of illness, injury or quarantine.
 up to 6 weeks of compassionate care benefits (CCB) to persons who
have to be temporarily away from work to provide care or support to a
family member who is gravely ill with a significant risk of death. Weeks of
CCB can also be shared among family members.
 up to 35 weeks of Parents of Critically Ill Children (PCIC) benefits to
parents unable to work while providing care or support to a child under 18
years of age with a critically illness or injury. Weeks of PCIC benefit can
be shared between parents.
Since 2006, Quebec has been responsible for providing maternity, parental and
adoption benefits to the residents of Quebec through the Quebec Parental
Insurance Plan.
The Government of Canada is making investments to better connect
Canadians with available local jobs that match their skills. Through the
Economic Action Plan 2012, the Government of Canada is investing $21 million
over two years to provide further assistance to EI claimants in finding work, and
for employers to find the workers they need, and ensure claimants fulfil their
obligation to look for and accept suitable employment.
Economic Action Plan 2012 implemented changes to the EI rate setting
mechanism to enhance the predictability and stability of the EI premium rate,
including:
 limiting the amount by which the premium rate can change from year-toyear to five cents per $100 of insurable earnings;
 setting the premium rate in the Fall to provide more notice to employers
and workers of the rate for the coming year; and,
 putting in place a new rate setting mechanism whereby the rate will be set
annually at a seven-year break even rate.
On September 9, 2013, the Government of Canada announced that the premium
rate for 2014 would be frozen at the 2013 level of $1.88, and that the rate will be
set no higher than $1.88 in 2015 and 2016. The Government also announced
that, starting in 2017, the rate will be set annually at a seven-year break-even
rate. This will ensure that EI premiums are no higher than needed to pay for the
EI program over that seven-year period, and will result in sustainable funding,
affordable rates, and ongoing predictability and stability.
Effective April 7, 2013, a new permanent way to calculate EI benefits for most
claimants (excluding fishers and self-employed) came into effect in order to align
the amount of benefits with local labour market conditions. The Variable Best
Weeks uses the highest weeks of insurable earning out of the qualifying period
(generally 52 weeks). The number of weeks used in the calculation ranges from
14 to 22, based on the monthly unemployment rate in each of the 58 economic
regions.
The new approach makes the EI program more responsive to changes in the
local labour market and ensures that those living in similar labour market
conditions are treated similarly.
Economic Action Plan 2013 proposes to expand and extend for one year the
temporary Hiring Credit for Small Business. This temporary credit would
provide up to $1,000 against a small firm’s increase in its 2013 EI premiums over
those paid in 2012 to employers with total EI premiums of $15,000 or less in
2012.
November 2013

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