EI calculator Canada: do I qualify for EI after a layoff, and how much?

What it does

Lost your job in Canada? This calculator checks whether you are likely to qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits and estimates how much you would get each week and for how many weeks. It uses the official rules: the insurable hours your region needs, the reason your job ended, your best weeks of pay, the 55% benefit rate up to the yearly maximum, and the table of weeks in the Employment Insurance Act. Everything runs in your browser. Your pay, your stubs and your ROE never leave your device.

EI is for anyone who worked in insurable employment in Canada: citizens, permanent residents, students with a part-time or summer job, and work-permit holders, including people on a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) or an open work permit. Your status does not change the maths, but you must be able to work and looking for work. See what is left after tax with the Canada tax calculator, turn an hourly wage into a yearly one with the salary converter, and plan the months ahead with the budget planner.

What you need first

• Record of Employment (ROE) for every job in the last 52 weeks. Employers usually file it electronically; you can see it in My Service Canada Account. Box 15A shows your insurable hours, 15B or 15C your insurable earnings, and box 16 the reason the job ended.
• Pay stubs for the last 52 weeks if the ROE is not ready yet.
• Your postal code, to find your EI economic region.
• Your last day of work and the reason the job ended.
• Your SIN, and your permit if you are not a citizen or permanent resident.
• Any money paid when you left: severance, vacation pay or pay in lieu of notice.

How to use it

1. Pick your EI economic region. Its unemployment rate fills in. You can type a different rate, because rates change every month.
2. Set the claim start date, usually the Sunday of the week after your last day of work. It decides which temporary measures apply.
3. Give your hours and pay in one of three ways:
   • Type totals: your insurable hours, then your usual pay (per hour, week, two weeks, month or year), a total over a number of weeks (like ROE box 15B), or the total of your best weeks.
   • Pay stubs: one row per stub with the end date, pay period, hours and gross pay. Only stubs that end in the 52 weeks before your claim count.
   • Open ROE or stubs: choose PDF files or photos. The tool reads the text on your device and fills in what it finds. Photos and scanned PDFs use the text reader, which downloads once (about 7 MB). Always check the numbers.
4. Choose why your job ended, and tick the boxes that apply to you.
5. Read the result: whether you are likely to qualify, the weekly benefit, the number of weeks and the total.

What each part means

• Regional unemployment rate: higher unemployment means fewer hours needed (420 to 700), fewer best weeks (14 to 22) and more weeks of benefits.
• Insurable hours: paid hours on your ROE in the qualifying period, usually the last 52 weeks.
• Best weeks: your highest-paid weeks. Their total is divided by the number of best weeks for your region; if you have fewer weeks of pay, the missing weeks count as zero.
• Weekly benefit: 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, rounded to the dollar, at most $729 a week in 2026 (pay above $68,900 a year is not counted).
• Waiting week: normally one unpaid week. It is waived for claims starting 30 March 2025 to 9 October 2027.
• Type of work: seasonal workers in 13 regions may get up to 5 extra weeks; teachers usually cannot claim during the summer break; self-employed fishers qualify on fishing earnings; other self-employed people can get only special benefits.
• Change the rules: every rate, threshold, table row and date can be edited, so the tool still works when the rules change before we update it.

Worked example

Aisha is on a PGWP and lives in Toronto, where the rate is 7.2%. She is laid off after 1,500 insurable hours, earning $1,000 a week. Toronto needs 630 hours, so she qualifies. Her best 20 weeks average $1,000, so her benefit is 55% of that: $550 a week. For 1,500 hours at 7.2%, the table gives 30 weeks of benefits, about $16,500 in total before tax, with no waiting week for a claim starting in November 2026.

FAQs

Can I get EI on a work permit or as an international student? Yes, if you worked in insurable employment and meet the same rules as everyone else. You must be available for work: if your permit has expired, or you are in full-time studies, Service Canada may ask you to show that you can take a job.

I quit. Can I still get EI? Only if you had just cause and no reasonable choice, such as harassment, unsafe work or moving with a spouse. For claims from 11 October 2026 to 9 October 2027, only the most recent job loss is looked at.

When should I apply? As soon as you stop working, and within 4 weeks of your last day, even if your ROE is not ready.

Is EI taxed? Yes. Benefits count as income, and tax may be taken off each payment.

Is this official? No. It is an estimate based on the published rules. Service Canada makes the decision; check canada.ca/ei.

Last updated 2026-11-10.