Changes to Employment Insurance Rules

The process for transition from the CERB to EI will depend on whether the individual was receiving the CERB through Service Canada or CRA and whether the individual qualifies for EI under the new qualification requirements, which will be in effect for one year.

People receiving the CERB through Service Canada (which ended on October 3, 2020) should be seamlessly transitioned to the new EI, while those receiving the CERB through CRA (which ended on September 26, 2020) will have to re-apply through the Service Canada website.

Highlights of the changes to EI are as follows:

• 120 hours of insurable earnings to qualify (reduced from between 420 and 700 hours);

• no waiting period before starting a claim;

• minimum EI benefit rate of $500 per week (previously based on average weekly earnings);

• minimum entitlement of 26 weeks of regular EI benefits (previously based on region’s unemployment rate); and

• EI premium rates for employers frozen for two years at 2020 rates.

To access the new government webpage that provides instructions for transferring from CERB to EI, please click on the following link:
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application/transition.html

To access the FAQs webpage, please click on the following link: 
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application/transition/questions.html