Employment Insurance regular benefits are applied for through Service Canada as soon as work stops, with records of employment, an access code by mail, and reports every two weeks. This guide covers the application and reporting mechanics only, as Service Canada states them.
Applies in: CA
Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits provide temporary income support to workers who lose a job through no fault of their own. Service Canada administers the program, and the application, the records of employment, and the two-weekly reports are the three mechanics that decide whether a claim moves. This guide covers those mechanics only, as Service Canada states them on its EI regular benefits pages. It describes the application and reporting process; it does not advise whether a person qualifies, and it does not advise about any other benefit type. Service Canada encourages applicants to apply as soon as possible and let it determine eligibility.
Regular benefits are one EI benefit type. Sickness, maternity and parental, caregiving, fishing, and self-employed benefits have their own pages and their own rules, and Quebec residents claim maternity and parental benefits through the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan instead. This guide stays with regular benefits throughout.
Timing is the first rule Service Canada states, and it is stated twice on the application pages: apply as soon as you stop working, and apply even if the employer has not yet issued the record of employment. Waiting for the record delays the claim; the record can follow, and the application cannot be finalized until it arrives, but the application itself should already be in.
Apply online at home, at any Service Canada Centre using one of the internet kiosks available there, or at a public internet access site such as a public library. The online application is the route the checklist describes. No fee is charged to apply; no application fee is stated on any Service Canada page, and none should be paid to any third party offering to file the claim.
Before starting, gather the information the checklist requires. The application needs the names, addresses, dates of employment, and reasons for separation for all employers over the last 52 weeks; a detailed version of the facts where the applicant quit or was dismissed from any job in the last 52 weeks; and the dates, Sunday to Saturday, and earnings for each of the highest-paid weeks of insurable earnings in the last 52 weeks, or since the start of the last EI claim, whichever is shorter. That earnings information, together with the records of employment, is used to calculate the weekly benefit rate.
The Social Insurance Number is needed for the application and for the reports that follow. A newcomer who does not yet hold one should follow the site's Social Insurance Number guide first, and apply for EI as soon as the number is applied for, rather than waiting for the card or letter to arrive.
Service Canada, not the applicant, determines eligibility, and the eligibility page lists the tests as a guideline. To receive EI regular benefits, an applicant must demonstrate that they were employed in insurable employment; lost the job through no fault of their own; have been without work and without pay for at least 7 consecutive days in the last 52 weeks; have worked the required number of insurable employment hours in the last 52 weeks or since the start of the last EI claim, whichever is shorter; are ready, willing, and capable of working each day; and are actively seeking work while keeping a written record of employers contacted, including when they were contacted.
The hours test depends on where the applicant lives. Based on the rate of unemployment in the region, between 420 and 700 hours of insurable employment during the qualifying period are needed. The qualifying period is the shorter of the 52-week period immediately before the start date of the claim, or the period from the start of a previous benefit period to the start of the new benefit period, where an earlier application was approved in the last 52 weeks. In some cases the qualifying period may be extended to a maximum of 104 weeks where the person was not employed in insurable employment or was not receiving EI benefits. The eligibility page publishes the full table of hours by unemployment-rate band, and states that a notice of violation regarding prior EI benefit periods increases the hours required. Use the EI Economic Region by Postal Code lookup on the eligibility page to find the regional rate and the hours figure for a given address, rather than estimating from a neighbouring region.
Some situations remove eligibility, and the eligibility page names them: voluntarily leaving a job without just cause; losing a job through the person's own misconduct; unemployment because of direct participation in a labour dispute such as a strike or lockout; and a period of leave compensating for hours worked above full-time under an agreement with the employer. Separate pages cover eligibility in specific work situations — working for a related employer, farming, fishing, teaching, apprenticeship, Canadian Forces membership, self-employment, and work outside Canada — and those pages govern where they apply. This guide states none of their rules, because none could be verified. Temporary measures to support workers affected by major economic changes are also published on a separate page; where they apply, they improve access, and the current measures page should be checked before applying.
Service Canada needs the records of employment (ROEs) for all jobs held in the past year, or since the start of the last claim, to determine whether the applicant is eligible, how much will be received, and for how long. The record of employment is the single most important document in the claim, because it carries the insurable earnings and the insurable hours.
Check whether the records have been issued by signing in to My Service Canada Account (MSCA) and selecting Records of Employment. Where the employer submits records electronically to Service Canada, no copy needs to be requested from the employer and none needs to be provided to Service Canada. Where the employer issues paper records, request copies of all records issued during the last 52 weeks and provide them to Service Canada as soon as possible after submitting the application, either by dropping them off in person at any Service Canada Centre or by mailing them. Service Canada cannot finalize the application until paper records are received.
An employer should issue the record of employment within 5 calendar days after the final pay period. Where the record has been requested and has not been issued within that timeframe, contact Service Canada. Keep a note of the request date and the employer's response, because a missing record is the most common cause of a processing delay that the applicant can actually chase.
Shortly after applying, a benefit statement is mailed to the applicant. It includes an access code, a four-digit number printed in the shaded area at the top of the statement. The access code, together with the Social Insurance Number, is needed to submit the required reports and to get information about the claim. Keep the statement somewhere safe and do not share the access code. Where the applicant had an EI claim within the last month, no new access code is mailed; the same access code is used to complete the reports and access the claim information.
Reports must be submitted to Service Canada every two weeks for as long as benefits are received. They prove ongoing eligibility and are required to receive any payment the applicant may be entitled to; failure to submit them can mean a loss of benefits. Complete the reports online through the Internet Reporting Service or by phone through the Telephone Reporting Service. Once a report is submitted, Service Canada states when the next one is due, and the applicant has 3 weeks from that date to submit it.
Each report asks about work, earnings, availability, and capability. Report any work or earnings on the report; failing to inform Service Canada risks overpayment and repayment. Report any time not capable of working or not available for work through the reports. Keep the written record of employer contacts, because Service Canada may ask which employers were contacted. Sign up for, or sign in to, Job Bank to search for work; where an email address was provided on the EI application, an account with the applicant's basic information has already been created.
The service standard is a decision within 28 days of filing the application, aimed at 80% of applications. To avoid delays, provide any required documents or missing information, check online for the records of employment, and submit the reports. Where all records of employment and required documents are submitted, allow time for processing; Service Canada will contact the applicant where additional information is required.
Before benefits start, there is one week that will not be paid, called the waiting period. Service Canada compares it to the deductible paid for other types of insurance. Payments are issued only after reports have been processed, and the first payment arrives about 28 days after applying where the applicant is eligible and has provided all required information.
The claim details can be reviewed in My Service Canada Account under Latest Claim, including the start and end date of the claim, the benefit rate and weeks of entitlement, and the last report processed. The account is also where banking information, address, and telephone number are kept up to date, for direct deposit and for contact. Where the decision is that the applicant is not eligible, Service Canada notifies the applicant, the reasons can be reviewed in the account, and most letters mailed can be reviewed and printed there. A request for reconsideration of a decision must be submitted within 30 days after the decision was communicated, and Service Canada can help with the request.
The benefit amount is calculated from the applicant's own earnings and region, and Service Canada states that it cannot tell an applicant exactly how much will be received before the application is processed. The published mechanics are these. For most people, the basic rate is 55% of average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum amount. As of January 1, 2026, the maximum yearly insurable earnings amount is $68,900, which means a maximum of $729 per week. Insurable earnings include most compensation from employment, such as wages, tips, bonuses, and commissions, and the Canada Revenue Agency determines which earnings are insurable.
The average is calculated over the best weeks: total insurable earnings for the required number of best weeks, divided by that number, multiplied by 55%. The number of best weeks depends on the regional unemployment rate: 14 weeks in the highest-unemployment regions, 22 weeks in the lowest, and between 14 and 22 elsewhere. Once the weekly benefit rate is established, it remains unchanged over the life of the claim.
Regular benefits run from 14 weeks to a maximum of 45 weeks, depending on the regional unemployment rate at the time of filing and the insurable hours accumulated in the last 52 weeks or since the last claim, whichever is shorter. The benefit-amount page publishes the full weeks table by hours and regional rate. Seasonal workers may be eligible for additional weeks, up to the same 45-week maximum.
Where net family income does not exceed $25,921 per year, the family has children, and the applicant or spouse receives the Canada Child Benefit, the applicant may be eligible for the EI family supplement, which may increase the benefit rate to as much as 80% of average insurable earnings. Where both spouses claim EI at the same time, only one can receive the supplement, and it is generally better for the spouse with the lower benefit rate to receive it. The supplement decreases as income rises, and no supplement is payable at the $25,921 maximum. EI benefits are taxable, and federal and provincial or territorial taxes, where applicable, are deducted from the payment.
These figures are the January 1, 2026 figures on the pages. Maximum insurable earnings are set annually, so a claim starting in a later year will use that year's figure. The EI Benefits Estimator, linked from the benefit-amount page, gives an estimate before applying; it does not decide the claim.
Apply on the first day without work, not when the record of employment arrives. Check the records of employment in My Service Canada Account within days of applying, and chase a missing paper record with the employer and then with Service Canada. Keep the benefit statement and access code safe, submit the first report on the date given, and keep the employer-contact record from the first week of the job search. A claim delayed by a missing record, a missed report, or an outdated address in the account is a claim delayed by a step the applicant controls.
As soon as you stop working. Service Canada's application checklist states this directly, and adds that you can apply even before your employer has issued your record of employment. Missing records of employment can delay processing, but waiting for them delays the claim itself. Apply online at home, at any Service Canada Centre using an internet kiosk, or at a public internet access site such as a public library. If you had an EI claim within the last month, you will not receive a new access code; use the same one for the new claim's reports.
Between 420 and 700 hours of insurable employment in the qualifying period, depending on the regional unemployment rate where you live. The qualifying period is the shorter of the 52-week period immediately before the claim starts, or the period since a previous benefit period started, where an earlier application was approved in the last 52 weeks. In some cases it can be extended to a maximum of 104 weeks. The full table on the eligibility page gives the hours for each unemployment-rate band, and a notice of violation from a prior claim increases the hours required. Service Canada encourages every applicant to apply and let it determine eligibility, rather than deciding alone that the hours fall short.
For most people, the basic rate is 55% of average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum amount. As of January 1, 2026, the maximum yearly insurable earnings amount is $68,900, which means a maximum of $729 per week. The average is taken over the best weeks — 14 weeks in the highest-unemployment regions, 22 in the lowest, and between 14 and 22 elsewhere. Regular benefits run from 14 weeks to a maximum of 45 weeks, depending on the regional unemployment rate and the insurable hours accumulated. Where net family income is $25,921 or less, children are in the family, and the Canada Child Benefit is received, the family supplement may raise the rate to as much as 80%.
Before benefits start, there is one week you will not be paid, called the waiting period — Service Canada compares it to the deductible on other types of insurance. The service standard is a decision within 28 days of filing, aimed at 80% of applications, and the first payment arrives about 28 days after applying where the applicant is eligible and has provided all required information. Payments are issued only after reports have been processed, so the reports step is part of the payment timeline, not an afterthought. Taxes are deducted from EI payments: benefits are taxable, and federal and provincial or territorial taxes, where applicable, are deducted from the payment.
Submit a report to Service Canada every two weeks for as long as benefits are received, complete it online or by phone, and submit it within 3 weeks of the date Service Canada gives after the previous report. The reports show ongoing eligibility. Report any work or earnings on the report; failing to inform Service Canada risks overpayment and repayment. Be ready, willing, and capable of working each day, actively seek work, and keep a written record of the employers contacted and when, using Job Bank or an employment agency. Report any time not capable of working or not available for work through the reports, and keep the record of employer contacts, because Service Canada may ask which employers were contacted.
Check in My Service Canada Account, under Records of Employment, whether the employer has issued it electronically; where the employer submits records electronically, no copy needs to be requested or provided. Where the employer issues paper records, request copies of all records issued during the last 52 weeks and deliver them to Service Canada as soon as possible after applying, in person at a Service Canada Centre or by mail — the application cannot be finalized until they are received. An employer should issue the record within 5 calendar days after the final pay period; where it has been requested and has not arrived within that time, contact Service Canada. Do not delay the application itself while waiting for the record.
No application-deadline figure beyond "apply as soon as you stop working" is stated in this guide, because the four-week figure on one Service Canada page applies to the outside-Canada variant and was not verified on the regular benefits pages. No premium rate is stated, because no premium page could be verified. No figure for any special benefit type is stated, because this guide covers regular benefits only. Re-check the eligibility and benefit-amount pages on the day you apply, because Service Canada's pages govern over this summary, and the maximum insurable earnings figure changes each January 1.