EI report while on sickness

While on sickness benefits, you must continue to complete your EI report. This time, you have to say you are unavailable to work. The reporting system will then ask you which days you are unavailable and why. You have the option to choose Monday to Friday and in the dropdown menu, select illness.

If you are not able to complete the report or follow-up with the status of your claim while on sickness benefits (e.g. undergoing a surgery recovery) you can complete a form called Appointment of Representative. The appointed person can only start following up your claim when the information in recorded in your file.

Converting back to regular EI

Once you are recovered from your illness and ready to start looking for work, you can request to convert your claim back to regular EI by calling EI call centre or re-apply online. This time, you have to submit another doctor’s note to confirm that you have been recovered and is ready to work. You claim will not be converted successfully if you don’t submit the note or the doctor did not precise a specific recovery date.