EI explained
Employment Insurance is a federal social insurance program, run by Service Canada under the Employment Insurance Act. Almost every employee in Canada is covered automatically: your employer deducts EI premiums from your paycheque, adds an employer share equal to 1.4 times your premium, and remits both to the government. When you lose a job through no fault of your own and meet the program's conditions, you can claim a weekly benefit for a limited time while you look for new work.
EI has two families of benefits. Regular benefits replace part of your income after a job loss. Special benefits replace part of your income when you must stop working for a specific life reason: your own illness or injury, the birth or adoption of a child, or caring for a family member who is critically ill or at end of life. Both families use the same 55% benefit rate and the same annual maximum, but they have different qualifying rules and different week limits.
- EI is insurance: employees are covered automatically through premiums deducted from insurable earnings. The self-employed are not covered by default — they must opt in for special benefits only.
- Regular benefits are for job loss. Special benefits are for sickness, maternity, parental, compassionate care, and family caregiver situations.
- The benefit rate is 55% of average weekly insurable earnings, up to the annual maximum ($695/week in 2025, $729/week in 2026).
- EI benefits are taxable income. Service Canada deducts income tax from your payments, and you receive a T4E slip for your tax return.
Regular benefits vs special benefits
| Regular benefits | Special benefits | |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Job loss through no fault of your own | Illness, birth or adoption, or caring for a family member |
| Hours needed | 420 to 700, by regional unemployment rate | 600 hours in the last 52 weeks (for employees) |
| Weeks payable | 14 to 45, by hours and regional rate | Fixed maxima per type (15 to 69 weeks) |
| While receiving | Must be available for work and looking for work | Must meet the condition for that benefit type |
One claim can combine both families: for example, a worker who is laid off, then becomes ill during the claim, can receive regular benefits and then sickness benefits, up to a combined maximum of 50 weeks in the benefit period (with an exception for extended parental benefits). The benefit period itself lasts 52 weeks from the start of the claim. See hours and weeks for the tables and the special-benefits guide for the individual maxima.
Who pays for EI
Employees pay a premium on insurable earnings up to the annual maximum insurable earnings (MIE). For 2025 the employee rate is $1.64 per $100 of insurable earnings, up to a maximum annual premium of $1,077.48; for 2026 the rate is $1.63 per $100, up to $1,123.07. Employers pay 1.4 times the employee premium — $2.296 per $100 in 2025 — and handle the deductions and remittances. If you work in Quebec, your EI premium is lower, because part of the program (maternity and parental benefits) is delivered separately through the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, which charges its own premium.
Premiums are deducted automatically; you do not apply to join EI as an employee, and you cannot opt out. The self-employed are the exception: they are not covered at all unless they enter into an agreement with the Canada Employment Insurance Commission, which covers special benefits only — never regular benefits for a business slowdown. See self-employed workers.
What EI is not
EI is not welfare, and it is not a pension. It does not pay indefinitely, it does not replace your full salary, and it does not cover every reason for being out of work: quitting without just cause, being dismissed for misconduct, or being unavailable for work will disqualify a regular claim. It is also separate from provincial social assistance (which is needs-based and has no premium history requirement) and from the Canada Pension Plan (which pays retirement, disability, and survivor benefits). If you do not qualify for EI, a provincial or territorial social assistance program may still be worth checking — but it is a different program with different rules.
Sources to check: Service Canada, Employment Insurance; Employment Insurance Act, ss. 7, 12; Canada.ca, EI premium rates and maximums (2025 and 2026).