Employment Insurance (EI) is designed to provide temporary financial support to Canadians who lose their jobs or can’t work due to specific situations like illness, pregnancy, or caring for family members. Here’s what you need to know about EI rates, premiums, and benefits for 2026.
Who is Eligible for EI?
To qualify for EI, you generally need:
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Regular Benefits: 420 to 700 hours of insurable employment in the past year, depending on your region’s unemployment rate.
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Special Benefits: At least 600 hours of insurable employment in the past year, in every region regardless of the local unemployment rate.
Special benefits cover life events such as maternity leave, parental leave, illness, or caregiving responsibilities.
Note that the temporary one-percentage-point boost to regional unemployment rates, which lowered the hours requirement during 2025, expired on October 11, 2025. The standard 420–700 hour bands apply to 2026 claims. Other temporary measures are still in force — see below.
Types of EI Benefits
EI provides two main types of benefits:
Regular EI Benefits
These are for workers who’ve lost their job through no fault of their own, like layoffs. The benefit amount is typically 55% of your average weekly earnings, up to a yearly maximum.
| Year | Maximum Weekly Benefit |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $695 |
| 2026 | $729 |
Special EI Benefits
These support workers who temporarily can’t work due to specific life events:
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Maternity Benefits: Up to 15 weeks.
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Parental Benefits:
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Standard: Up to 35 weeks at 55% income (up to 40 weeks if shared).
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Extended: Up to 61 weeks at 33% income (up to 69 weeks if shared).
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Sickness Benefits: Up to 26 weeks if you’re ill or injured.
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Caregiving Benefits:
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Family Caregiver (child): Up to 35 weeks.
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Family Caregiver (adult): Up to 15 weeks.
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Compassionate Care: Up to 26 weeks for end-of-life care.
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Adoption/Surrogacy Benefit — not yet available. A 15-week shareable benefit for parents through adoption or surrogacy received royal assent in June 2024, but it comes into force on a date to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. As of July 2026, Employment and Social Development Canada is still implementing it and you cannot apply for it yet. Adoptive and intended parents can currently claim EI parental benefits; maternity benefits are not available to them.
Temporary EI Measures in Effect Until October 10, 2026
Three temporary measures introduced in response to US tariffs have been extended and apply to claims established on or before October 10, 2026. They materially change what a 2026 claim is worth:
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No one-week waiting period. The usual unpaid first week is waived, so benefits start from your first week of unemployment.
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Severance does not delay your benefits. Money paid on separation — severance, pay in lieu of notice, vacation pay — is not allocated against your claim, so you don’t have to exhaust it before collecting EI.
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20 extra weeks for long-tenured workers, raising the maximum from 45 to 65 weeks of regular benefits. You count as long-tenured if you’ve paid at least 30% of the maximum annual EI premium in 7 of the last 10 years and received fewer than 36 weeks of regular or fishing benefits in the last 3 years. Qualifying claims have the extra weeks added automatically.
Separately, a pilot providing up to five additional weeks of regular benefits to seasonal claimants in 13 EI economic regions runs until October 24, 2026.
EI Premium Rates for 2025 and 2026
Your EI premiums help fund these benefits. Employees and employers contribute a percentage of insurable earnings up to the Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE), which rises to $68,900 in 2026:
| Year | Employee Rate | Employer Rate | Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE) | Max Employee Contribution |
| 2025 | 1.64% | 2.296% | $65,700 | $1,077.48 |
| 2026 | 1.63% | 2.282% | $68,900 | $1,123.07 |
Employers pay 1.4 times the employee rate, up to a maximum of $1,572.30 per employee in 2026.
Quebec residents pay lower EI premiums because Quebec administers its own parental insurance plan (QPIP). In 2026, the Quebec employee rate is 1.30% (employer 1.82%), for a maximum employee premium of $895.70 and a maximum employer premium of $1,253.98.
Key EI Changes for 2026
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Premium Rate Decrease: The employee rate drops one cent, from 1.64% to 1.63% per $100 of insurable earnings.
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Higher MIE: Maximum insurable earnings increase from $65,700 to $68,900 — so despite the lower rate, the maximum annual employee premium rises by $45.59 to $1,123.07.
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Higher Maximum Weekly Benefit: The maximum weekly EI benefit increases to $729 in 2026, up from $695.
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Regional Rate Boost Ended: The temporary adjustment to regional unemployment rates expired in October 2025, so the standard hours and weeks tables govern 2026 claims.
Want to see how EI premiums affect your paycheck? Try our free Canadian payroll calculator for a full 2026 breakdown of EI, CPP, and income tax deductions.
EI for Self-Employed Workers
Self-employed individuals can voluntarily join EI to access special benefits only — maternity, parental, sickness, compassionate care and family caregiver. Regular unemployment benefits are not available to the self-employed.
You register through My Service Canada Account and must then wait 12 months before you can make a claim. You pay the same 1.63% employee rate on your self-employment income (1.30% in Quebec), with no employer portion. You can withdraw from the program as long as you have never received a benefit under it; once you have claimed, you contribute for as long as you remain self-employed.
Working While Receiving EI Benefits
You can work part-time while receiving EI benefits. You keep 50 cents of your EI benefits for every dollar you earn, up to a threshold equal to 90% of the weekly insurable earnings used to calculate your benefit rate — roughly four and a half days of work. Any earnings above that threshold are deducted dollar for dollar.
Two rules catch people out. If you work a full work week, you receive no benefits for that week regardless of how little you earned — though this does not use up a week of your entitlement. And you must report earnings in the week you earn them, not the week you are paid.
EI and Taxes
EI benefits are taxable income. You’ll receive a T4E slip to report them on your annual income tax return. Tax is withheld from EI payments, but the withholding is often less than you actually owe once EI is stacked on top of employment income earned earlier in the year, so many claimants end up with a balance owing.
Benefit repayment (the EI clawback). If your net income for 2026 exceeds $86,125 — 1.25 times the maximum insurable earnings — you must repay 30% of your regular EI benefits, or 30% of the income above that threshold, whichever is less. This applies only to regular benefits; maternity, parental, sickness and caregiving benefits are exempt. You are also exempt if you received fewer than one week of regular benefits in the previous 10 years.
2026 EI Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why did my EI deduction change in 2026?
It depends what you earn. The rate fell from 1.64% to 1.63%, so if you earn under $65,700 your EI deduction is slightly lower than in 2025. If you earn above that, the maximum insurable earnings rising from $65,700 to $68,900 means more of your income is subject to premiums, and your total EI for the year goes up by as much as $45.59, to a maximum of $1,123.07.
What is the maximum EI premium for 2026?
The maximum employee premium is $1,123.07 ($895.70 in Quebec). Employers pay up to $1,572.30 per employee ($1,253.98 in Quebec).
Do I have to serve the one-week EI waiting period in 2026?
No. Under a temporary measure, the one-week waiting period is waived for claims established on or before October 10, 2026, so benefits are payable from your first week of unemployment.
Does severance pay delay my EI benefits?
Not for claims established on or before October 10, 2026. A temporary measure suspends the allocation of separation payments, so severance, pay in lieu of notice and vacation pay are not deducted from your benefits and do not push back your start date.
How long can I receive EI?
Regular EI benefits normally last 14 to 45 weeks, based on your insurable hours and your region’s unemployment rate. Under a temporary measure running to October 10, 2026, long-tenured workers receive 20 additional weeks, to a maximum of 65. Special benefits have fixed durations depending on the specific benefit.
Can I get EI if I’m self-employed?
Yes, self-employed individuals can opt into EI to access special benefits only, and must have paid premiums for at least 12 months before claiming. Regular unemployment benefits are not available.
Can I work while on EI?
Yes. You keep 50 cents of your EI benefits for every dollar you earn, up to 90% of the weekly insurable earnings used to set your benefit rate. Earnings above that are deducted dollar for dollar, and a full work week means no benefits for that week.
Can adoptive parents claim the 15-week EI adoption benefit?
Not yet. The benefit was legislated in June 2024 but has not been brought into force, and no application is available as of July 2026. Adoptive and intended parents can claim EI parental benefits in the meantime.
Are EI benefits taxable?
Yes, EI payments are taxable and must be included in your income when filing. Higher earners may also have to repay part of their regular benefits if net income exceeds $86,125 in 2026.
By understanding the 2026 EI rules, rates, and benefits, you can better prepare for unexpected job loss or life events that affect your income.
Last updated: July 23, 2026. Premium rates, maximum insurable earnings and benefit maximums verified against the Canada Employment Insurance Commission’s 2026 premium rate announcement (September 12, 2025); temporary measures verified against the Employment Insurance Regulations as amended in the Canada Gazette, Part II (April 8, 2026) and Canada.ca benefit pages. Next scheduled review: September 2026, when the Commission sets the 2027 premium rate.