Types of Employment Insurance Benefits (8:IV)

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by the Law Students' Legal Advice Program on August 8, 2024.

A. Regular Benefits

EI benefits are calculated using your highest weeks of earnings over the qualifying period (EI Act, s. 14(4)). This applies to both regular and special benefits.

Regular EI benefits are payable during the benefit period to a claimant who:

was employed in insurable employment;
lost their job through no fault of their own;
has had an interruption of earnings from employment;
has worked the required number of insurable employment hours during the qualifying period;
is ready, willing, and capable of working each day;
has made “reasonable and customary efforts” to find employment; and
is unable to find suitable employment.

The maximum number of weeks of regular benefits available to a claimant varies according to the claimant’s hours of insurable employment in the qualifying period and the regional rate of unemployment. See Schedule I and s. 12(2) of the EI Act.

B. Special Benefits

Both unemployed and employed claimants may qualify for special benefits.

An interruption of earnings, for the purpose of accessing special benefits, arises when an insured person experiences a reduction in earnings of 40% or more. All special benefits require the claimant to have worked at least 600 hours of insurable employment in their qualifying period.

There are six types of EI special benefits: maternity, parental, sickness, family caregiver benefit for children, family caregiver benefit for adults, and compassionate care (s. 12(3)). More than one type of special benefit can be claimed within one benefit period. Similarly, special and regular benefits claims can be combined.

If a claimant combines different special benefits to which they are entitled, their maximum benefit period will be increased to the combined maximum from each of the special benefits they are collecting, up to a maximum of 50 weeks.

1. Sickness Benefits

A person who becomes incapable of work by reason of illness, injury, or quarantine may receive sickness benefits for up to 26 weeks. This normally requires the claimant to obtain a medical certificate signed by a physician or medical practitioner stating the expected duration of incapacity (EI Regulations, s. 40(1)).

The claimant must also show that they would have been available to work if they had not fallen ill, gotten injured, or placed in quarantine.

The Commission may also require a claimant to undergo a medical examination, at their direction. In such situations, the Commission must pay travel and other expenses for the examination (EI Regulations, s. 40).

NOTE: For more information on claiming sickness benefits, please refer to the ESDC website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-sickness.html.

2. Compassionate Care Benefits

Eligible family members who take leave from work to care or support for a family member with a serious medical condition and a significant risk of death, may receive up to 26 weeks of benefits. The benefits must be collected within 52 weeks of the day a medical certificate is issued stating that the family member is critically ill. An unemployed person on EI can also apply for this benefit.

The claimant must demonstrate that they are a family member of the person who requires end-of-life care, or they are like a family member. If they are not a family member, either the person needing care, or their legal representative, must complete an attestation form to confirm that they consider the claimant to be like family. For a child, the parent or legal guardian must sign the form.

To establish a claim for compassionate care benefits, medical proof of a significant risk of death within 26 weeks is required. The claimant must provide the Commission with an Authorization to Release Medical Records form signed by the ill person or their legal representative, and a Medical Certificate for Employment Insurance Compassionate Care Benefits form signed by their medical doctor.

Sharing compassionate care benefits

The 26 weeks of compassionate care benefits can be shared by one or more claimants, and the weeks are to be divided as agreed to by those claimants (EI Act, s. 23.1(8)).

If the benefit is shared with another family member, only the first family member to claim the compassionate care benefit must serve the one-week waiting period.

NOTE: For more information on claiming compassionate care benefits, please refer to the ESDC website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/caregiving.html

3. Family Caregiver Benefits

Insured persons may take leave from work to provide care or support to a family member with a life-threatening illness or injury. The benefits must be collected within 52 weeks of the day a medical certificate is issued showing that the family member is critically ill, or from the date a physician otherwise certifies that they are critically ill or injured.

If the critically ill family member is under the age of 18 at the beginning of the benefits period, the claimant is eligible for the “Family Caregiver Benefit for Children” and up to 35 weeks of benefits. Otherwise, the claimant is eligible for the “Family Caregiver Benefit for Adults” and up to 15 weeks of benefits.

These benefits are not available to family members of someone with a chronic illness or condition that is their normal state of health. There must be a significant change from the family member’s baseline state of health at the time they are assessed by a specialist medical doctor.

These benefits can be shared between eligible family members. Eligible family members can claim these benefits at the same time or at different times.

NOTE: For more information on claiming Family Caregiver Benefits for Children, please refer to the ESDC website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/family-caregiver-children.html.

NOTE: For more on the Family Caregiver Benefits for Adults, refer to: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/family-caregiver-adults.html

4. Pregnancy Benefits

Pregnancy benefits are available to a person who is away from work because they are pregnant or have recently given birth. The person receiving maternity benefits may also be entitled to parental benefits. Proof or evidence of pregnancy must be provided to access the benefit. Surrogates are entitled to receive pregnancy benefits.

If an insured person experiences a loss of pregnancy in its 20th week or later (due to a termination, stillbirth, or miscarriage) they remain entitled to collect up to 15 weeks of maternity benefits. A claimant who experiences a loss of pregnancy within the first 19 weeks may be entitled to collect sickness benefits, but not pregnancy benefits.

Benefit period and duration Pregnancy benefits can only be paid for a maximum of 15 weeks. The period can start no more than 12 weeks before the week when the claimant’s due date is expected or the week of the birth, whichever is earliest (EI Act, s. 22(2)).

Benefits must be collected within 17 weeks after the birth or due date, whichever is later. This timetable gives claimants flexibility in deciding when their benefit period will begin or end.

Note: For more information on claiming maternity benefits, please refer to: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html

4. Parental Benefits

Parental benefits are available to the parents of a newborn or newly adopted child. They may choose to get 55% of their wages for 40 weeks (standard parental), or they may choose to receive 33% of their wages for up to 69 weeks (extended parental). These benefits are available to any parent, including adoptive parents, who experience an interruption of earnings to care for their new child. However, birth mothers can collect parental benefits in addition to their maternity benefits.

If parents elect to receive benefits for up to 40 weeks, they can share the 40 weeks of benefits between them. However, each parent cannot individually claim more than 35 weeks. For example, if one parent claims 35 weeks of benefits, then the other parent may claim a maximum of 5 weeks. Benefits of up to 69 weeks may also be shared, however no parent may receive more than 61 weeks of benefits individually.

Only parents who are eligible claimants can qualify. In other words, each parent must qualify individually, and one parent cannot qualify on behalf of the other.

Although a claimant doesn’t have to take weeks of parental benefits consecutively, they must take them within specific periods, starting with the week of their child’s date of birth or the week their child is placed with them for the purpose of adoption. These periods are:

standard parental: within 52 weeks (12 months)
extended parental: within 78 weeks (18 months)

C. EI Family Supplement for Low-Income Families

If the claimant’s annual net family income does not exceed the EI low-income threshold for families ($25,921 as of 2024), they have children, and either the claimant or their spouse receives the Canada Child Benefit, they are eligible to receive the family supplement for low-income families. The family supplement can increase the benefit rate to a maximum of 80% of the claimant’s average insurable earnings.

NOTE: If both the claimant and their spouse claim EI benefits simultaneously, only one of them can receive the family supplement.