EI benefits calculator (2026)

In 2026, on a $52,000 salary with 20 weeks of entitlement, EI regular benefits pay $550 a week, $11,000 in total. The benefit is 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings: $52,000 a year is $1,000 a week, and 55% of that is $550. Enter your salary and your weeks above to see your own figure.

EI pays 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings, up to a weekly maximum of $729 in 2026. Earnings above the $68,900 yearly maximum ($1,325 a week) do not raise the benefit: on a $75,000 salary the weekly insurable earnings stop at $1,325, so the benefit is the capped $729 a week. One caveat: Service Canada averages your best weeks, not your salary divided by 52, so if your pay varies, your actual weekly amount may differ from this estimate.

Ordinarily 14 to 45 weeks, read off your insurable hours and your region's unemployment rate: more hours and a higher regional rate mean more weeks. Long-tenured workers with claims starting June 15, 2025 to June 12, 2027 may get up to 20 extra weeks, to a maximum of 65 weeks. Enter your weeks above, including any extra weeks, to see the total paid.

Normally the first week of a claim is an unpaid waiting period. That waiting period is waived for claims starting March 30, 2025 to October 9, 2027, so this calculator charges no waiting-period deduction and the total above starts from week one. The normal 1-week unpaid waiting period returns for claims starting after October 9, 2027.

You generally need 420 to 700 insurable hours in the qualifying period, normally the last 52 weeks, with the exact number set by your region's unemployment rate: 700 hours where the regional rate is 6% or under, 420 hours where it is above 13%. You also need to have lost your job through no fault of your own and to be ready, willing, and capable of working.

Yes. EI regular benefits are a federal program, so the amount is the same in every province, including Quebec. QPIP replaces only maternity and parental benefits in Quebec, not regular benefits for a job loss. A Quebec claimant gets the same weekly benefit as a claimant elsewhere on the same earnings: for example, on a $40,000 salary with 14 weeks, the benefit is $423 a week either way.

EI regular benefits count as taxable income and must be reported on your tax return, so the figures above are the gross benefit before tax. On a $40,000 salary with 14 weeks, the benefit is $423 a week, $5,922 in total, before tax. A separate low-income family supplement can raise the rate to as much as 80% of average weekly insurable earnings. It applies when your net family income is $25,921 or less per year, you have at least one child under 18, and you or your spouse receives the Canada Child Benefit. The supplement amount depends on the number of children in the family and their ages, with an extra amount for each child under 7. It shrinks as income rises, and nothing is payable at $25,921. If you and your spouse both claim EI at the same time, only one of you can receive the supplement, and it is generally better for the spouse with the lower benefit rate to receive it. Even with the supplement, your total weekly benefit cannot exceed $729 in 2026. It exists, but it is not modelled here, so treat the figure above as the standard 55% rate.