General requirements:
There are several types of employment insurance benefits:
Regular EI benefits are for people who have just cause for becoming unemployed and who are ready, willing and capable of work each day but are unable to find work.
To apply for benefits, you must:
- An eligible applicant must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or a person who has a valid temporary work permit to work legally in Canada. Temporary foreign workers are eligible to receive Employment Insurance benefits during the duration of their work permit if they are unemployed and meet eligibility criteria, including having worked a sufficient number of hours.
- An applicant must also have accumulated sufficient insurable hours. Insurable hours mean the hours of work for which wages were paid where a portion of the wages were deducted to pay the EI premium.
There are several types of employment insurance benefits:
- Regular employment insurance benefits are paid to people who have lost their job through no fault of their own and are actively looking for work
- Special employment insurance benefits include:
- Sickness benefits for people who are ill and cannot work
- Maternity benefits for people who stop working to give birth
- Parental benefits given to parents who have stopped working to care for their newborn or adopted children
- Compassionate care benefits for people who are off work because they have to care for a gravely ill family member
Regular EI benefits are for people who have just cause for becoming unemployed and who are ready, willing and capable of work each day but are unable to find work.
To apply for benefits, you must:
- Had insurable employment during which you paid employment insurance premiums while working;
- Have just cause for being unemployed;
- Have accumulated sufficient hours of insurable employment during the qualifying period.
