EI – Workers and residents outside of Canada – Apply

5. Apply

Note: Before you apply, please review the Eligibility section.

Apply for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits as soon as you stop working. You can apply for benefits even if your employer hasn't issued your record of employment (ROE). If you apply more than 4 weeks after your last day of work, you may lose benefits.

How to file a claim for American Unemployment Insurance benefits

To file a claim for American Unemployment Insurance benefits, you must call the Telephone Information Service or go to the nearest Service Canada Centre. You'll need to provide your name, address, phone number, social insurance number (SIN) and Social Security Number (SSN) and indicate the state from which you want to claim benefits. Depending on the state in which you last worked, you may be able to file a claim directly with the workforce development agency for that state via the Internet or by phone. If the workforce development agency for that state doesn't accept claims via the Internet or by phone, information will be forwarded to a designated office responsible for handling such claims based on where you reside in Canada. You may also contact the designated Service Canada Centre directly.

You must provide proof that your employment in the United States was authorized by American immigration regulations and that you're available for and actively seeking work in Canada. If you're not a Canadian resident, you'll be asked for proof that you're authorized to work in Canada.

Atlantic region

For residents of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island:

Service Canada Centre
Sub-Unit of interstate claim processing
95 Foundry St.
Suite 310
Moncton NB E1C 8R5

Phone: 1-855-249-2290 ext. 506-777-4558 – Fax: 506-851-3443

Quebec region

For Quebec residents:

Service Canada Centre
Sub-Unit of interstate claim processing
P.O. Box 10800 Station Sainte-Foy
Québec QC G1V 5B4

Phone: 1-855-249-2290 ext. 418-781-9349 – Fax: 418-781-9275

Ontario region

For Ontario residents:

Service Canada Centre
Sub-Unit of interstate claim processing
19 Lisgar Street
Sudbury ON P3E 6L1

Phone: 1-877-486-1650 - Fax: 705-670-6613

Western Canada and Territories region

For residents of Manitoba, Alberta, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories:

Service Canada Centre
Sub-Unit of interstate claim processing
1783 Hamilton Street
Regina SK S4P 2N6

Phone: 1-866-483-6466 - Fax: 306-780-6483

Note: If you worked for the American Armed Forces in the United States and you want to move or return to Canada, you must file a claim for benefits at the nearest state workforce development agency in the United States. Service Canada Centres cannot accept these claims for benefits.

How to file a claim for Canadian Employment Insurance benefits if you reside outside Canada

The online application takes about 1 hour to complete. If you don't complete the application all at once, you can come back to it later using the temporary password that you receive when you start.

Your information is saved for 72 hours (3 days) from the time you start. If you don't submit the application within this time:

• it will be deleted, and
• you'll have to start a new application

When you apply for EI benefits, we’ll ask for your email address. We may send you an email to provide you with information or ask you to call us if we can't reach you by phone.

Please note that we won’t ask you to send us information by email.

Apply

If you're residing in the United States and claiming regular Canadian EI benefits, you must be available and actively seeking work and you must provide proof that you're legally authorized to work in the United States. You'll also need to submit your ROE from your Canadian employer.

You'll need to submit your ROEs from all your Canadian employers who issued ROEs in paper format in the last 52 weeks. However, if your employer submits your ROE to Service Canada electronically, you do not need to submit a copy of your ROE to Service Canada, since we'll have received it from your employer. On the same day your employer submits it, you'll be able to view and print copies of your ROE online using My Service Canada Account.

If you reside outside Canada in a country other than the United States, you may be eligible for maternity, parental, compassionate care or family caregiver benefits, provided you have a valid SIN. Regular benefits aren't payable to a person residing in a country other than Canada or the United States.

All claims received from people residing outside of Canada are processed in the Ontario region, at the Service Canada Centre in Sudbury. For more information, call 1-877-486-1650.