Employment Insurance Regulations (SOR/96-332)

Premium Reduction

76.33 The self-employment premium payable under section 152.21 of the Act shall be reduced as provided by section 76.34 if the payment of provincial benefits would have the effect referred to in subsection 69(2) of the Act in respect of benefits payable to those persons under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act.

76.34 The premium reduction to be applied to the self-employment premium shall be calculated by applying the premium reduction rate determined in accordance with section 76.06.

76.35 The premium reduction rate of the self-employment premium determined under section 76.06 is to be published in Part 1 of the Canada Gazette by the Commission as soon as feasible after it is determined.

Disentitlement

• 76.36 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a self-employed person is disentitled to be paid benefits under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act if they are entitled to receive provincial benefits.

• (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if, at the request of the self-employed person, it is determined by the Commission that the amount of provincial benefits that the self-employed person is entitled to receive is not substantially equivalent to or greater than the amount of benefits that they are entitled to receive under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act.

• (3) Every self-employed person who has received, or has applied for and is entitled to receive, provincial benefits in respect of any week is disentitled to be paid benefits in respect of that same week under Part VII.1 of the Act, other than benefits under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act.

• (4) For greater certainty, subsections (1) to (3) apply in respect of a self-employed person who has applied for and is entitled to receive provincial benefits even if the self-employed person, after making that application, ceases to reside in the province providing those benefits.

• (5) For greater certainty, if two persons are caring for the same child or children and one of them is a self-employed person referred to in subsection (4),

  • (a) subsections (1) to (3) apply in respect of the other person if that other person is a self-employed person; and

  • (b) subsections 76.09(1) to (3) apply in respect of the other person if that other person is an insured person.

Reduction of Benefits

76.37 The benefits payable under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act to a self-employed person in respect of any week in respect of which the claimant has received or is entitled to receive provincial benefits shall be reduced as provided by section 76.38.

76.38 An amount equal to the amount of the provincial benefits that a self-employed person has received or is entitled to receive in respect of any week shall be deducted from the amount of benefits payable under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act to the self-employed person in respect of that same week, in addition to any deductions referred to in subsections 152.04(4) and 152.05(11) and section 152.18 of the Act.

No Double Counting of Weeks

76.39 If provincial benefits paid in respect of a week have been taken into account for the purpose of section 76.4, no benefits paid under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act in respect of a week shall be taken into account for the same purpose.

Payment of Benefits

• 76.4 (1) Subject to subsection (3), the provincial benefits paid to a self-employed person in respect of a week in a benefit period are considered to be benefits paid in respect of a week under the Act if the self-employed person would have been entitled to the corresponding types of benefits under the Act, and any week in respect of which the self-employed person receives provincial benefits counts as a week for the purpose of calculating

  • (a) the overall maximum number of weeks for which benefits may be paid in a benefit period under paragraphs 152.14(1)(a) and (b) of the Act taken together; and

  • (b) the maximum number of weeks for which benefits may be paid under subsection 152.14(2) of the Act.

• (2) A benefit period is deemed to be established when a benefit period was established under a provincial law, and it is deemed to have begun the same week as the period established under the provincial law if the self-employed person would have been entitled to the corresponding types of benefits under the Act in respect of the same period.

• (3) If the provincial benefits may be paid at an accelerated rate, such that the maximum amount of a particular type of provincial benefit may be paid to a self-employed person over fewer weeks, and the self-employed person is paid those benefits at the accelerated rate, the number of weeks of benefits that those weeks of provincial benefits represent under the Act shall be determined by multiplying the number of weeks of the particular type of provincial benefits paid to the self-employed person by the result obtained by dividing the maximum number of such weeks of benefits payable at the non-accelerated rate by the maximum number of such weeks of benefits payable at the accelerated rate.

• (4) If the determination of the number of weeks under subsection (3) results in a number that contains a fraction of a week, the number shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of one week or, if the amount is equidistant from two multiples of one week, to the higher multiple.

76.41 If the maximum number of weeks referred to in paragraph 152.14(1)(a) or (b) or (2)(a) or (b) of the Act is less than the maximum number of weeks for which the corresponding types of provincial benefits may be paid, the excess number of weeks for which provincial benefits may be paid shall not be taken into account for the purpose of determining the maximum number of weeks referred to in that paragraph.

Persons Making Claims Under Different Regimes

• 76.42 (1) Subsection (2) applies in respect of two persons who are caring for the same child or children and who do not reside in the same province at the time the first one of them makes an application under section 152.04 or 152.05 of the Act or an application for provincial benefits.

• (2) Subject to subsection (3), if one of the two persons referred to in subsection (1) has applied for and is entitled to receive benefits under section 152.05 of the Act (referred to in this section as “the self-employed person”) and the other person has applied for and is entitled to receive provincial benefits (referred to in this section as “the provincial applicant”), unless they have entered into an agreement as to the number of weeks of such benefits they will each respectively apply for or there is a court order respecting the sharing of those weeks of benefits,

  • (a) if the number of weeks of benefits that the self-employed person would otherwise be entitled to receive under section 152.05 of the Act is an even number, the number of weeks of benefits payable to the self-employed person is half that number; and

  • (b) if that number is an odd number,

    • (i) if the self-employed person made the earlier application, one week of those benefits plus half of the remaining weeks of benefits is payable to the self-employed person, and

    • (ii) if the provincial applicant made the earlier application, half the number of weeks of benefits remaining, after deducting one week, are payable to the self-employed person.

• (3) The maximum number of weeks of benefits that may be paid to the self-employed person under section 152.05 of the Act shall not be greater than

  • (a) in the case of a self-employed person who has, under subsection 152.05(1.1) of the Act, elected to receive benefits for the maximum number of weeks referred to in subparagraph 152.14(1)(b)(i) of the Act, the maximum number of weeks referred to in subparagraph 152.14(2)(b)(i) of the Act when the weeks of benefits are divided, less the number of weeks of provincial benefits that are paid to the provincial applicant, taking into account any weeks of provincial benefits that are paid at the accelerated rate referred to in subsection 76.4(3), if applicable; and

  • (b) in the case of a self-employed person who has, under subsection 152.05(1.1) of the Act, elected to receive benefits for the maximum number of weeks referred to in subparagraph 152.14(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the number of weeks, rounded down to the nearest whole number, determined by the following formula:

    (A – B) × C/D

    where

    A

    is the maximum number of weeks referred to in subparagraph 152.14(2)(b)(i) of the Act when the weeks of benefits are divided;

    B

    is the number of weeks of provincial benefits that are paid to the provincial applicant, taking into account any weeks of provincial benefits that are paid at the accelerated rate referred to in subsection 76.4(3), if applicable;

    C

    is the maximum number of weeks referred to in subparagraph 152.14(1)(b)(ii) of the Act; and

    D

    is the maximum number of weeks referred to in subparagraph 152.14(1)(b)(i) of the Act.

• (4) The maximum number of weeks for which benefits may be paid to a claimant under subsection (3) is the maximum number of weeks established under subparagraph 152.14(1)(b)(i) or (ii) of the Act, in accordance with the election made under subsection 152.05(1.1) of the Act.

Waiving of the Waiting Period

76.421 The reference in paragraph 40(6)(b) to “allowances, payments or other moneys are payable to the claimant by the claimant’s employer or former employer as sick leave pay” shall be read as a reference to “allowances, payments or other moneys were payable to the claimant by the claimant’s employer or former employer as sick leave pay or provincial benefits were paid to the claimant”.

Interprovincial Mobility

76.43 A self-employed person who has ceased to reside in a province that has a plan established under a provincial law and who entered into an agreement under section 152.02 of the Act within 12 months before the day on which they ceased to reside in the province or within three months after that day is deemed, in order to qualify for the benefits payable under sections 152.04 and 152.05 of the Act, to have satisfied the condition set out in paragraph 152.07(1)(a) of the Act if they were covered by that plan during the 12 months before the day on which they ceased to reside in the province.

Administration

76.44 A self-employed person’s social insurance number shall be used for the purpose of facilitating the exchange, between the Government of Canada and a province, of information obtained with respect to a self-employed person under provincial law or the Act.

76.45 The Canada Revenue Agency and the Minister of National Revenue are authorized to disclose to a province that has a plan established under a provincial law information necessary for the administration of this Part that has been obtained by that Agency or that Minister under the Act or these Regulations and any information prepared from that information.

PART IVPilot Projects

Pilot Project for Exemption from the Requirement to Make Periodic Claims for Benefits for Weeks of Unemployment in the Benefit Period

• 77 (1) The Commission shall establish Pilot Project No. 1 for the purpose of assessing the cost, the validity of payment, the operational impact and the effect on customer service to claimants of exempting them from the requirement in sections 49 and 50 of the Act to make periodic claims for benefits.

• (2) The definitions in this subsection apply in this section.

  condition of entitlement to benefits

  condition of entitlement to benefits means any requirement, circumstance or condition referred to in subsection 49(1) of the Act. (condition d'admissibilité au bénéfice des prestations)

  period of eligibility

  period of eligibility means

  • (a) in respect of the benefits referred to in subparagraph (3) (d) (i)

    • (i) the aggregate of the waiting period referred to in section 13 of the Act and the period described in subsection 22(2) of the Act and any extension of the period described in subsection 22(2) of the Act, or

    • (ii) the aggregate of the period referred to in subsection 23(2) of the Act and the waiting period referred to in section 13 of the Act, unless that waiting period has already been taken into account for the purposes of subparagraph (i); and

  • (b) in respect of the benefits referred to in subparagraph (3)(d)(ii), the period during which the claimant attends a course or program, referred to in paragraph 25(1)(a) of the Act, that is an apprenticeship course or an apprenticeship program. (période d'admissibilité)

• (3) A claimant is eligible to participate in Pilot Project No. 1 where

  • (a) the claimant resides in Canada;

  • (b) the claimant makes an initial claim for benefits or a claim in respect of which subsection 26(2) applies;

  • (c) the claimant's period of eligibility begins on or after June 30, 1996 and ends not later than June 26, 1999; and

  • (d) the claimant makes a claim for benefits in respect of every week of unemployment in the claimant's period of eligibility

    • (i) for either of the reasons referred to in paragraphs 12(3)(a) and (b) of the Act, or

    • (ii) under section 25 of the Act, to attend an apprenticeship course or an apprenticeship program.

• (4) A claimant who is eligible to participate in Pilot Project No. 1 and who wishes to participate in the project shall complete and sign a form, supplied by the Commission, agreeing that

  • (a) to the best of the claimant's knowledge at the time of signing the form, there are no conditions of entitlement to benefits that will not be fully met for each week in the period of eligibility following the waiting period, except in respect of earnings that may be deducted pursuant to section 19, 22 or 23 of the Act during that period; and

  • (b) should the claimant cease to meet a condition of entitlement to benefits at any time during the period of eligibility where failure to meet that condition has the effect of reducing or eliminating any benefits for any week in the period of eligibility, the claimant will notify the Commission of the condition as soon as possible.

• (5) For the purposes of sections 49 and 50 of the Act, a claimant who participates in Pilot Project No. 1 is, for the purpose of this section, deemed to have made a claim for benefits for every week of unemployment in the claimant's period of eligibility.

• (6) Where the Commission becomes aware that the claimant does not meet a condition of entitlement to benefits during the claimant's period of eligibility, the Commission may terminate the claimant's participation in Pilot Project No. 1 as of the date on which the Commission becomes aware of the claimant's failure to meet the condition.

• (7) Paragraph (3)(a) ceases to be in force on April 1, 1997.

Pilot Project Extending the Benefit Period of Certain Claimants

• 77.1 (1) The Commission establishes Pilot Project No. 5 for the purpose of assessing the effect of allowing claimants who are entitled to benefits for one or more weeks for which they receive or are entitled to receive an indemnity payment described in paragraph 35(2)(f) to choose not to be paid benefits for those weeks.

• (2) Pilot Project No. 5 includes all claimants

  • (a) whose benefit period begins or ends during the Pilot Project;

  • (b) who receive or are entitled to receive an indemnity payment described in paragraph 35(2)(f) during their benefit period; and

  • (c) who are entitled to benefits for one or more weeks for which they receive or are entitled to receive an indemnity payment described in paragraph 35(2)(f).

• (3) A claimant who chooses not to be paid benefits to which they are entitled for one or more weeks for which they receive or are entitled to receive an indemnity payment described in paragraph 35(2)(f) is, for the purposes of paragraph 10(10)(d) of the Act, deemed to have proved that they are not entitled to benefits for those weeks.

• (4) The following applies to a claimant who, after being paid benefits for one or more weeks for which they received or were entitled to receive an indemnity payment described in paragraph 35(2)(f), chooses not to be paid benefits:

  • (a) if the Commission informed the claimant about Pilot Project No. 5 before the claimant was paid benefits, subsection (3) does not apply in respect of the week or weeks for which a benefit was paid; and

  • (b) if the Commission did not inform the claimant about the Pilot Project before the claimant was paid benefits, subsection (3) applies in respect of the week or weeks for which a benefit was paid and the claimant must repay the benefits paid.

• (5) A claimant may rescind a choice made by them under subsection (3). A claimant who rescinds shall be paid benefits to which they are entitled.

• (6) Pilot Project No. 5 does not apply to a week preceding the week in which this section comes into force or a week following the week in which this section ceases to have effect.