Parents of Critically Ill Children

As a parent who needs to stop working to provide care or support to a critically ill or injured child, you could be eligible for Employment Insurance (EI) special benefits for Parents of Critically Ill Children aka (PCIC).

According to Service Canada, a critically ill child is a child who has a life-threatening illness or injury, that can include various acute phases of illness and for which continued parental care or support is required. This does not include a child with a chronic illness or condition that is their normal state of health. There must be a significant change from the child’s normal or baseline state of health at the time they are assessed by a specialist medical doctor.

How do I qualify?

  • your regular weekly earnings from work have decreased by more than 40 percent; and
  • you have accumulated 600 insured hours of work in the last 52 weeks, or since the start of your last claim (this period is called the qualifying period).
  • you are the parent of the child who is critically ill or injured; and
  • your child is under 18 years of age at the time the 52-week window* opens. If your child turns 18 years of age during the 52-week window, you still remain eligible to receive the PCIC benefit.* The 52-week window begins on the day the medical certificate is issued; or, if the claim is made before the certificate is issued, from the date the specialist medical doctor certifies that your child is critically ill or injured.

    If you are self-employed person

    If you have registered for access to EI special benefits for self-employed people and waited 12 months from the date of your confirmed registration, you will qualify for the PCIC benefit if:

    • you have reduced the amount of time devoted to your business by more than 40% because you need to provide care or support to your critically ill or injured child; and
    • you have earned a minimum amount of self-employed earnings during the calendar year preceding the year you submit your claim. This amount may change from year to year. If you want to apply for benefits in  2015, for example, you would need to have earned at least  $6645 in ;2014
    • you are the parent of the child who is critically ill or injured; and
    • your child is under 18 years of age at the time the 52-week window* opens. If your child turns 18 years of age during the 52-week window, you still remain eligible to receive the PCIC benefit.

How many hours do I need to qualify?

You need to have a minimum of 600 cumulative hours in the past year, from the day you stopped working, to meet the basic qualifying hours.

calculation-week-drawing-600hrs

How much E.I. weekly benefit amount will I receive?

Current maximum is $543 per week and is paid out every two weeks through mailed cheque or direct deposit. Please refer to our E.I. benefit amount estimation page for more details.

You may receive higher E.I. benefit (Family Supplement) if you are low-income family. Read more.

How many weeks of PCIC E.I. will I receive?

PCIC is consider under special benefits category. It only pays to a shared maximum of 35 weeks only (excluding 2 weeks waiting period).

PCIC is a sharable 35 weeks. Only one of the parent claimant needs to serve the 1 weeks waiting period.

Remember: Compassionate Care E.I. cannot be paid for the same child at the same time as a PCIC window is in effect, however, if you are eligible for compassionate care benefits, you may be able to receive the benefit after the 52-week window has closed.

What documents do I need to provide for my sickness benefit application?

After you have filed your PCIC E.I. online, you must submit to Service Canada an Authorization to Release a Medical Certificate form since Specialist medical doctors are not authorized to release medical information about a third party without prior consent.