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| === 3. Hours Required === | | === 3. Hours Required === |
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| Due to Covid-19, claimants will only need 120 insured hours to qualify for benefits because they will get a one-time credit of 300 insured hours to help meet the required 420 insured hours of work. Additionally, during Covid-19, a minimum unemployment rate of 13.1% is applied to all regions across Canada, if a claimant’s region is higher than 13.1% then the higher rate will be used to calculate benefits. (As of the time of writing, these changes are in effect until September 25, 2021. Please check the CRA website for potential extensions or changes).
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| For claimants to receive the regular benefits, they must meet their '''s. 7 Table''' requirements during the qualifying period.
| | Until September 24, 2022, a claimant needs 420 hours of insurable employment during the qualifying period to qualify for EI benefits. After September 24, 2022, a claimant will need between 420 hours and 720 hours during the qualifying period depending on the regional unemployment rate. |
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| The number of hours required to qualify for benefits is based on the unemployment rate of the region in which the claimant lives. ESDC relies on Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey and its “seasonally adjusted average unemployment rate”. Note that several features of the Labour Force survey make the official unemployment rate appear lower or higher than it actually is based on the use of three-month averaging. The current rate of unemployment for each region can be found at:
| | Look up EI Economic Region by Postal Code to find out the unemployment rate in your region and the number of hours to qualify for regular benefits |
| http://srv129.services.gc.ca/ei_regions/eng/rates.aspx?id=2010.
| | https://srv129.services.gc.ca/ei_regions/eng/postalcode_search.aspx |
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| '''''EI Act, s. 7'' Table'''
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| {| class="wikitable"
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| ! Regional Rate<br/> Of Unemployment
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| ! Required Number of Hours <br/>of Insurable Employment<br/> in the Qualifying Period
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| |-
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| | 6.0% and under
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| | 700
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| |-
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| | more than 6.0% but not more than 7.0%
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| | 665
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| |-
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| | more than 7.0% but not more than 8.0%
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| | 630
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| |-
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| | more than 8.0% but not more than 9.0%
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| | 595
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| |-
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| | more than 9.0% but not more than 10.0%
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| | 525
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| |-
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| | more than 11.0% but not more than 12.0%
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| | 490
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| |-
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| | more than 12.0% but not more than 13.0%
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| | 455
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| |-
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| | more than 13.0%
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| | 420
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| |}
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| For EI purposes, British Columbia is divided into six regions:
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| a) Southern Interior consisting of Thompson-Nicola, Columbia-Shuswap, Okanagan and Kootenays Regional Districts;
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| b) Abbotsford, consisting of Mission and Abbotsford;
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| c) Vancouver, consisting of Greater Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Delta, Burnaby, Langley, Maple Ridge, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and New Westminster;
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| d) Southern Coastal British Columbia, consisting of Comox-Strathcona, Powell River, Squamish-Lillooet, Fraser Valley, Sunshine Coast, Nanaimo, Alberni-Clayoquot, Cowichan Valley and Capital Regional Districts;
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| e) Victoria, including Saanich, Metchosin, Oak Bay, Sooke and Esquimalt; and
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| f) Northern British Columbia.
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| For more details on the regions, refer to the ''EI Regulations'', Schedule I, s 7. Or, you can refer to this [https://srv129.services.gc.ca/ei_regions/eng/bc.aspx map] of BC’s economic regions.
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| The monthly seasonally adjusted regional rate is available from Statistics Canada online.
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| :'''NOTE:''' The Commission reviews the boundaries established for the purposes of employment insurance at least once every five years (EI Regulations, s 18(2)).
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| :'''NOTE:''' A claimant who does not qualify at the time of their application may subsequently qualify if the regional unemployment rate should rise into a higher category. However, the converse does not apply. That is, once a claimant meets the requirements, they will not be cut off if the rate subsequently goes down.
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| :'''NOTE:''' The number of hours that an insured person needs under s 7 to qualify for benefits is increased to the number shown under s 7.1(1) if one or more violations has occurred in the 260 week period prior to the initial claim (see [[Keeping Out of Trouble on Employment Insurance (8:IX) | Section IX: Keeping Out of Trouble]]). | | :'''NOTE:''' The number of hours that an insured person needs under s 7 to qualify for benefits is increased to the number shown under s 7.1(1) if one or more violations has occurred in the 260 week period prior to the initial claim (see [[Keeping Out of Trouble on Employment Insurance (8:IX) | Section IX: Keeping Out of Trouble]]). |
