Sickness, maternity and parental benefits
Special benefits exist for the weeks when you cannot work for a reason other than job loss. Employees need 600 insurable hours in the last 52 weeks to qualify for special benefits — a flat requirement that does not vary by region, unlike regular benefits. The weekly amount is the same 55% formula (33% for extended parental benefits), capped at the same annual maximum, and the same 1-week waiting period applies to most special claims. What differs is how many weeks each type can pay, and how parents can share.
Quebec residents are the exception for maternity and parental benefits: those benefits are paid under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), not federal EI. If you live in Quebec, apply to QPIP for maternity and parental benefits; you can still claim federal EI for sickness, compassionate care, and family caregiver benefits.
- Employees need 600 insurable hours in the last 52 weeks for special benefits (flat, regardless of region).
- Sickness: up to 26 weeks, with a medical certificate. Maternity: up to 15 weeks for the person giving birth.
- Standard parental: up to 35 weeks for one parent, or 40 weeks if shared — at 55%. Extended parental: up to 61 weeks for one parent, or 69 if shared — at 33%.
- Parents must choose the same option (standard or extended) if they share, and the choice cannot be changed once benefits start.
- Combined regular + special benefits: maximum 50 weeks in a benefit period (extended-parental exception applies).
Sickness benefits: up to 26 weeks
Sickness benefits are for workers who cannot work because of illness, injury, or quarantine, including mental health conditions. You need a medical certificate confirming that you are unable to work and for how long, and you must otherwise meet the EI conditions (600 hours, and an interruption of earnings). The maximum is 26 weeks per claim — extended from 15 weeks in December 2022 — and the weeks do not have to be consecutive if your condition allows intermittent work, though each week claimed must meet the conditions. If your illness is work-related, a provincial workers' compensation claim may apply instead or in addition; payments from workers' compensation are generally deducted from EI sickness benefits for the same period, so report them.
Maternity and parental: the two options
| Standard option | Extended option | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | 55% of average weekly insurable earnings | 33% of average weekly insurable earnings |
| Parental weeks, one parent | 35 | 61 |
| Parental weeks, shared | 40 (one parent max 35) | 69 (one parent max 61) |
| Claim window | Within 52 weeks of birth or placement | Within 78 weeks of birth or placement |
Maternity benefits (up to 15 weeks) are for the person who gives birth, and can start up to 12 weeks before the expected due date. Parental benefits are for any parent — biological, adoptive, or legally recognized — to care for a newborn or newly placed child. Parents can take parental benefits at the same time or one after the other, but if they share, both must use the same option, and the total cannot exceed the shared maximum. The choice between standard and extended is made when the first parent applies and cannot be changed later, so it is worth doing the arithmetic first: extended benefits pay less per week but for much longer, and the total paid over the full period is roughly similar — the choice is about cash flow, not about getting more money overall. Note that the extended option's lower rate also means the annual maximum caps it at a lower dollar amount (33% of the MIE-based weekly earnings).
Combining benefits and the 50-week cap
Different special benefits can be combined in one benefit period — for example, maternity followed by parental, or sickness followed by compassionate care — as long as you qualify for each type separately. The combined total of regular and special benefits in a benefit period is normally capped at 50 weeks; the exception is extended parental benefits, which can push the total higher. If only special benefits are paid (no regular benefits) and more than one type is paid, the benefit period can be extended up to 104 weeks, with up to 102 weeks of combined special benefits payable. These caps are the reason to plan the order of benefits: taking regular benefits first can reduce the room left for later special benefits, so if you know a parental or sickness claim is coming, check with Service Canada before the first claim is finalized.
Sources to check: Service Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits; EI sickness benefits; Canada.ca, Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles, Chapters 12, 13 and 22 (special-benefit maxima); Employment Insurance Act, s. 12.