Employment Insurance (EI) and Regular Benefits
Regular benefits can be paid if you lose your job through no fault of your own, for example, due to shortage of work, seasonal or mass lay-offs and you are available for and able to work but you can’t find a job.
To be eligible for regular benefits you must show that:
you have been without work and without pay for at least 7 consecutive days; and in the last 52 weeks or since your last claim, this period is called the qualifying period, you have worked for the required number of insurable hours. The hours are based on where you live and the unemployment rate in your economic region at the time of filing your claim for benefits.
The qualifying period is the shorter of :
the 52-week period immediately before the start date of a claim, or the period since the start of a previous EI claim if that claim had started during the 52 week-period. Only the insurable hours that fall within the qualifying period are used to start a benefit period. However, the qualifying period may be extended up to 104 weeks if you were not employed in insurable employment and not receiving EI because you were:
incapable of work by reason of illness, injury, quarantine or pregnancy; or confined in a jail, penitentiary or other similar institution; or attending a course of instruction or other related employment activity to which you were referred to by an Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) designated authority; or not working because you were receiving a payment under a provincial law on the basis of having ceased work because continuing to work would have entailed danger to you, your unborn child or a child you were breast feeding.
To receive regular benefits you must submit an EI application on-line or in person at your Service Canada Centre, even if you receive or will receive money when you become unemployed.
You must request your Record of Employment (ROE) from your last employer. If you have your ROE from your last employer, apply immediately. If you did not receive your last ROE within 14 days of your last day of work, submit your application as soon as the 14 days are over, along with proof of employment, for example, pay stubs. If one or more ROE covering periods prior to your last employment are missing, you must still submit your claim for benefits.
Most people will need between 420 and 700 insurable hours of work in their qualifying period to qualify, depending on the unemployment rate in their region at the time of filing their claim for benefits.
Regular benefits can be paid from 14 to a maximum of 45 weeks. The number of weeks of benefits which may be paid are determined at the start date of the benefit period, based on the unemployment rate in your region and the amount of insurable hours you have accumulated in the qualifying period.
In order to get paid...
In order to get paid you must complete a report by Internet, telephone or mail every 2 weeks. These report are very important as regular payments cannot be issued without them.
You will pay premiums on all your earnings up to the annual maximum salary of $39,000. This means that deductions for year 2006 is set to $1.87 for every $100 of salary until $39,000 has been reached. The maximum contribution amount will be $729.30.
Please note that the EI premium rate for 2006 for Quebec residents is set to $1.53 for every $100 of salary until $39,000 has been reached. The maximum contribution amount will be $596.70 for these individuals
