Applying and appeals
Applying for EI is a two-part process: the application itself, and the ongoing two-week reports that keep the claim alive. The application should be filed as soon as you stop working — within 4 weeks of your last day of work — even if your Record of Employment has not arrived, even if you are still owed separation money, and even if you are not sure you qualify. Service Canada decides qualification; your job is to apply on time and to report accurately. Most applications are now filed online through My Service Canada Account, and you can also apply by phone or in person.
After you apply, there is normally a 1-week waiting period — a week for which no benefit is paid, similar to a deductible — before payable weeks begin. Separation money (vacation pay, severance, retiring allowance) is allocated over the weeks after your last day of work, and benefits are generally not paid for weeks that allocation covers, so your first payment may arrive later than you expect even on an approved claim. Keep reporting during any waiting or allocation period: weeks you do not report are weeks you are not paid for.
- Apply within 4 weeks of your last day of work. Late applications can lose weeks, even if the claim is otherwise approved.
- A 1-week waiting period applies to most claims. Separation money is allocated after your last day and delays payable weeks.
- Complete your report every two weeks, accurately. False statements can mean an overpayment, a penalty, and a violation.
- If you disagree with a decision, ask for reconsideration within 30 days; after that, you can appeal to the Social Security Tribunal.
- Overpayments must be repaid — but you can ask for relief or a payment arrangement if repayment would cause hardship.
Step by step: from last day of work to first payment
- Apply online through My Service Canada Account as soon as you stop working. You will need your Social Insurance Number, your banking information for direct deposit, and the details of your employment and separation.
- Your employer issues the ROE. Most employers file it electronically; check it in your account and ask for an amendment if the hours or the reason for separation are wrong.
- Service Canada assesses the claim. It verifies your hours, your reason for separation, and any separation money, and sets your benefit rate and weeks of entitlement.
- Serve the waiting period and any allocation period. No benefit is paid for the waiting week or for weeks covered by allocated separation money.
- Report every two weeks and receive payments by direct deposit, normally within a few business days of each report.
If your application is delayed because your ROE is late, Service Canada can still start the claim from other evidence — but only if you applied. That is why the 4-week deadline matters more than any other single date in the process: an application filed in week five can lose the first weeks permanently, even if everything else is in order.
If you disagree: reconsideration and appeal
If Service Canada denies your claim, sets a lower rate or fewer weeks than you expected, or imposes a disqualification, you can ask for a reconsideration — a fresh review by a different officer — within 30 days of the decision. Put your reasons in writing and include any evidence that was missing or misunderstood the first time (for example, a corrected ROE, or a doctor's note for a sickness claim). If the reconsideration upholds the decision, you can appeal to the Social Security Tribunal (General Division), and from there, on a point of law, to the Appeal Division. Tribunal appeals have their own deadlines, so do not let a reconsideration drift: the 30-day clock runs from the decision letter, not from when you feel ready to deal with it.
Overpayments, penalties, and violations
An overpayment happens when you receive benefits you were not entitled to — most commonly because earnings were not reported, or reported in the wrong week, or because a decision was later reversed. Overpayments must be repaid, but Service Canada can arrange a repayment plan, and in cases of genuine hardship you can ask for relief from repayment (a write-off) — the request must explain your financial situation, and it is not granted automatically. Deliberate misrepresentation is different: it can bring a penalty of up to three times the overpayment, a violation on your record, and a higher hours requirement on future claims (for example, a minor violation raises the requirement at 6% or less from 700 to 875 hours). If you discover an error in your own reports, correct it voluntarily and promptly — that is treated far more leniently than the same error found in an audit.
Sources to check: Service Canada, EI — Apply; EI — After you apply; Social Security Tribunal, Appeal process; Employment Insurance Act, ss. 7.1 (violations), 43–46 (overpayments and penalties).