Additional weeks of Employment Insurance regular benefits for workers in seasonal employment in targeted regions
Workers in seasonal employment are an important part of Canada’s growing economy. To better support them, the Government of Canada provides additional weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits to eligible workers in seasonal employment who live in 1 of 13 targeted EI economic regions:
- Newfoundland / Labrador (excludes St. John’s region)
- Eastern Nova Scotia
- Western Nova Scotia
- Prince Edward Island (excludes Charlottetown region)
- Charlottetown
- Madawaska-Charlotte
- Restigouche-Albert
- Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine
- Lower Saint Lawrence and North Shore
- Central Quebec
- Chicoutimi-Jonquière
- North Western Quebec
- Yukon (excludes Whitehorse region)
If you’re working in seasonal employment and living in 1 of the EI economic regions listed above when your claim starts, you may be eligible to receive additional weeks of regular benefits.
| If your EI claim starts between | You can receive up to |
|---|---|
| September 26, 2021 and September 9, 2023 | 5 additional weeks of regular benefits |
| September 10, 2023 and September 7, 2024 | 9 additional weeks of regular benefits |
| September 8, 2024 and October 24, 2026 | 5 additional weeks of regular benefits |
The additional weeks of regular benefits will be added automatically to your claim if 1 of the 2 following situations applies when your claim starts.
- You meet both of the following criteria of a worker in seasonal employment
- You received regular or fishing benefits from at least 3 EI claimsFootnote 1 in the past 5 years
- At least 2 of those EI claims started around the same time of year as your current claim
- You don’t meet the criteria of a worker in seasonal employment, but you did meet the criteria on an EI claim that started between August 5, 2018 and September 25, 2021