How many weeks of EI benefits will I receive?

How many hours do I need to qualify EI?

Your EI benefit weeks are calculated based on

1. The number of insurable hours you have accumulated in the past 52 weeks since your last day worked; and
2. The unemployment rate of the economic region for which you filed your application. You may find this information on the Government of Canada website, click here. 

There are several rules to calculate your benefit entitlement weeks. If you are applying for special benefits, e.g. sickness, maternity, parental, etc, you are automatically qualified for the maximum special benefit weeks and you only require to show a cumulative 600 hours and over, in the past 52 weeks, since the day you stopped working.

Each EI claim holds an one year expiry. It is also called the “end of your claim”. However, please do not confuse the relationship between the EI expiry vs your qualified benefit weeks. In other word, it means that you are qualified for X amount of EI benefit weeks within the one year expiry.

(Note: Waiting period has been reduced from 2 weeks to 1 week)

You may use the chart below to find out your entitlement weeks based on the total cumulative hours on your ROE(s) from the past 52 weeks.

 

The chart below gives you an estimation of your EI weekly benefits based on a full-time earning paid equally all the way until the last week of work.
The minimum weeks you could receive currently is 14 weeks. (Scroll up/down and left/right in the box to the content)

To find out the unemployment rate of your current resident, please consult Service Canada’s “Information on Employment Insurance (EI) Economic Regions” page, click here.

 

The table below show the number of weeks of regular EI benefits payable (year 2023)