Backgrounder on Employment Insurance measures introduced to support Canadian workers and employers

On March 21, 2025, the Government of Canada introduced three temporary Employment Insurance (EI) measures designed to improve access and entitlement to income supports for workers whose jobs are affected by the continued threat of tariffs.  The three measures, in place until October 11, 2025, are:

• Waiving the one-week EI waiting period;
• Suspending the treatment of monies paid on separation; and
• Artificially adjusting the EI unemployment rate by one percentage point in all EI regions, up to a maximum of 13.1%, with no region seeing less than 7.1%. This temporary measure will reduce the hours required to qualify for regular benefits to no higher than 630 hours and increase the weeks of entitlement by up to four additional weeks.

Waiving the waiting period:

Temporarily waiving the standard one-week waiting period means that some EI claimants could receive an extra week of benefits. This also helps workers adjust more easily to a drop in income after a layoff. This temporary measure applies to all EI claims, including regular, special and fishing benefits. This measure applies to claims with a benefit period that begins on or after March 30, 2025, but no later than October 11, 2025
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Allowing claimants to receive EI benefits sooner by suspending the rules around treatment of severance:

Suspending the rules around treatment of severance, vacation, and other monies paid upon separation means that monies paid or payable by reason of a lay-off or separation from employment (severance, vacation) are not considered earnings for EI benefit purposes. Because of this, EI claimants do not need to exhaust those payments before they are able to start receiving EI benefits, allowing them to receive benefits sooner.  This measure applies to claims with a benefit period that begins on or after March 30, 2025, but no later than October 11, 2025.

Artificially adjusting the regional EI unemployment rates

Across Canada, regional unemployment rates determine the number of hours or earnings required to access EI regular or fishing benefits, the number of weeks of regular benefit entitlement that a worker can receive, and the weekly benefit rate that they can receive. Each EI region’s unemployment rate is updated monthly, using the average of the last three or twelve months, based on data from Statistics Canada.

When there is an increase in the regional rate of unemployment, the number of hours a worker in that region needs to qualify for regular benefits decreases and the number of weeks of regular benefit entitlement increases.

The new temporary measure increases the EI unemployment rate by one percentage point in all EI regions, to a maximum of 13.1%, with no region seeing less than 7.1%. The new temporary regional unemployment rates better reflect the regional labour market conditions after tariffs have been imposed, including job losses. The new temporary rates are designed to increase access to EI regular and fishing benefits, increase the duration of EI regular benefits, and increase the benefit rate for all benefit types for those eligible.

Additional details:
 

• Claimants require no more than 630 hours of insurable employment in their qualifying period to qualify for regular benefits (in comparison with up to 700 hours normally.)
• EI fishing benefit claimants require no more than $3,800 in earnings to qualify for EI fishing benefits (in comparison to up to $4,200 normally).
• The minimum number of weeks of regular benefit entitlement on a claim is at least 17 weeks (in comparison to a minimum of 14 weeks in some regions normally). For some claimants, it will result in up to four additional weeks of EI regular benefit entitlement.
• Establishing a minimum unemployment rate also means that the benefit rate of an EI regular or special benefit claimant is calculated using no more than their 20 best weeks of earnings in their qualifying period (in comparison to up to 22 weeks normally).
• Similarly, for EI fishing benefit claimants, the benefit rate is calculated using a divisor no higher than 20 (in comparison to up to 22 normally).

This measure applies to claims that begin on or after April 6, 2025, but no later than October 11, 2025.

Work-Sharing Program

The Work-Sharing Program is a component of the Employment Insurance (EI) program. When employers face difficulties beyond their control and are temporarily reducing their company’s activities, they may be eligible to participate in a Work-Sharing agreement to help avoid laying off employees.

Under a Work-Sharing agreement, employers can reduce the employees’ working hours by between 10% and 60%. To help compensate for the days or time not worked, eligible employees may receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. 

By participating in Work-Sharing, employers benefit from: retaining skilled employees and avoiding the expense of hiring and training new employees when work activity returns to normal. 

Employees benefit from: avoiding the hardship of being laid off; maintaining their work skills and connection to the labour market; and receiving EI benefits for the days not worked. 

On March 7, 2025, the Government of Canada announced temporary special measures to the Work-Sharing Program to help make the program more accessible to employers and workers. With these special measures, employer eligibility under the Program is expanded to include:  
 

• businesses that have been in operation in Canada for 1 year;  
• non-profit and charitable organizations experiencing a reduction in revenue levels as a direct or indirect result of the tariffs;  
• cyclical or seasonal employers; and,  
• employers experiencing a decrease in work activity over the past six months of less than 10% and allowing utilization of Work-Sharing to exceed 60%.  

In addition, employee eligibility has also been expanded to include workers who are:  
 

• not year-round, permanent, full-time or part-time employees, specifically seasonal or cyclical employees; and   
• assisting the employer recovery efforts.  

Under the new temporary Work-Sharing special measures, the maximum duration of a Work-Sharing agreement is also extended from 38 weeks to up to 76 weeks. Additionally, while temporary special measures are in place, the requirement to serve a cooling-off period between successive Work Sharing agreements is being waived. As well, recovery measures can focus on maintaining business viability in the face of tariffs (rather than a return to normal business).  

These measures are in place from March 7, 2025, until March 6, 2026.