Employment Insurance Regulations (SOR/96-332)

Supplemental Unemployment Benefit Plans

• 37 (1) Subject to the other provisions of this section, payments received by a claimant as an insured person under a supplemental unemployment benefit plan are not earnings for the purposes of section 19, subsection 21(3), section 45 or 46, subsection 152.03(3) or section 152.18 of the Act.

• (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), a supplemental unemployment benefit plan is a plan that

  • (a) identifies the group or groups of employees covered by the plan;

  • (b) covers any period of unemployment by reason of a temporary stoppage of work, training, illness, injury, quarantine or any combination of such reasons;

  • (c) requires employees to apply for and be in receipt of benefits in order to receive payments under the plan but may provide for payments to an employee who is not in receipt of benefits for the reason that the employee

    • (i) is serving the waiting period,

    • (ii) has insufficient hours of insurable employment to qualify for benefits, or

    • (iii) has received all of the benefits to which the employee is entitled;

  • (d) requires that the combined weekly payments received from the plan and the portion of the weekly benefit rate from that employment do not exceed 95 per cent of the employee's normal weekly earnings from that employment;

  • (e) requires that payments under the plan be financed by the employer and that the employer keep separate accounts for those payments;

  • (f) requires that, on termination of the plan, all remaining assets revert to the employer or be used for payments under the plan or for administrative costs of the plan;

  • (g) requires that the plan be submitted to the Commission prior to its effective date and that written notice of any change to the plan be given to the Commission within 30 days after the effective date of the change;

  • (h) provides that the employees have no vested right to payments under the plan, except to payments during a period of unemployment specified in the plan; and

  • (i) provides that payments in respect of guaranteed annual remuneration or in respect of deferred remuneration or severance pay benefits are not reduced or increased by payments received under the plan.

• (3) [Repealed, SOR/2016-314, s. 1]

Maternity Leave, Leave for the Care of a Child and Compassionate Care Leave Plans

• 38 (1) The following portion of any payments that are paid to a claimant as an insured person because of pregnancy, for the care of a child or children referred to in subsection 23(1) or 152.05(1) of the Act or for the care or support of a family member referred to in subsection 23.1(2) or 152.06(1) of the Act, of a critically ill child or of a critically ill adult, or because of any combination of those reasons, is excluded as earnings for the purposes of section 35, namely, the portion that

  • (a) when combined with the portion of the claimant's weekly benefit rate from that employment, does not exceed that claimant's normal weekly earnings from that employment; and

  • (b) does not reduce the claimant's accumulated sick leave or vacation leave credits, severance pay or any other accumulated credits from that claimant's employment.

• (1.1) [Repealed, SOR/2016-314, s. 2]

• (2) However, the portion of any payments referred to in subsection (1) that are paid to a claimant in respect of a week during which benefits are payable to them by reason of illness, injury or quarantine is considered earnings for the purposes of section 35.

Earnings in the Waiting Period

• 39 (1) If a claimant has earnings in respect of a period that falls in the claimant’s waiting period, an amount equal to those earnings or, if paragraph 19(3)(a) or 152.18(3)(a) of the Act applies in respect of those earnings, the amount required by that paragraph to be deducted, shall be deducted from the benefits payable for the first three weeks for which benefits are otherwise payable.

• (2) The maximum amount to be deducted under subsection (1) in respect of a claimant’s earnings in their waiting period is an amount equal to their rate of weekly benefits.

• (3) For the purpose of calculating the earnings of a claimant during the waiting period, no account shall be taken of amounts paid or payable

  • (a) under a wage-loss indemnity plan by reason of illness, injury or quarantine, pregnancy, the care of a child or children referred to in subsection 23(1) or 152.05(1) of the Act or the care or support of a family member referred to in subsection 23.1(2) or 152.06(1) of the Act, of a critically ill child or of a critically ill adult, or under a workers’ compensation plan; or

  • (a.1) as an indemnity described in paragraph 35(2)(f); or

  • (b) by an employer in respect of sick leave, maternity leave or adoption leave, leave for the care of a child or children referred to in subsection 23(1) or 152.05(1) of the Act or leave for the care or support of a family member referred to in subsection 23.1(2) or 152.06(1) of the Act, of a critically ill child or of a critically ill adult.

39.01 [Repealed, SOR/2021-3, s. 2]

Waiving of the Waiting Period for Apprentices

39.1 The waiting period shall be waived if the following conditions are met:

• (a) the claimant is attending a course that is a required part of an apprenticeship program and to which they are referred pursuant to paragraph 25(1)(a) of the Act;

• (b) the claimant has ceased working for the reason described in paragraph (a); and

• (c) the claimant has, after the coming into force of this section, served a waiting period in respect of a course that is a required part of the same apprenticeship program.

Sickness

• 40 (1) The information and evidence to be provided to the Commission by a claimant in order to prove inability to work because of illness, injury or quarantine under paragraph 18(1)(b) or subsection 152.03(1) of the Act, is a medical certificate completed by a medical doctor or other medical professional attesting to the claimant’s inability to work and stating the probable duration of the illness, injury or quarantine.

• (1.1) [Repealed, SOR/2020-44, s. 1]

• (2) Notwithstanding that a certificate is provided by a claimant pursuant to subsection (1), the Commission may require a claimant to undergo a medical examination at such time and place as it may reasonably direct for the purpose of determining the nature of the illness, injury or quarantine, the physical or mental condition of the claimant, the probable duration of the inability to work and any other circumstances relating to that inability.

• (3) A medical examination referred to in subsection (2) shall be made at the expense of the Commission and a claimant who undergoes such an examination shall be reimbursed for their reasonable travel and other expenses.

• (4) For the purposes of paragraphs 8(2)(a) and 18(1)(b) and subsections 28(7) and 152.03(1) of the Act, illness, injury or quarantine is any illness, injury or quarantine that renders a claimant incapable of performing the duties of their regular or usual employment or of other suitable employment.

• (5) A pregnancy that is terminated within the first 19 weeks is an illness for the purposes of paragraph 18(1)(b) and subsection 152.03(1) of the Act.

• (6) The Commission may waive the waiting period in respect of the benefit period of a claimant if

  • (a) the claimant qualifies to receive benefits in that benefit period by reason of an interruption of earnings as described in subsection 14(2) or section 14.01; and

  • (b) after the claimant ceased to work, allowances, payments or other moneys are payable to the claimant by the claimant's employer or former employer as sick leave pay.

• (7) [Repealed, SOR/2020-44, s. 1]

• (8) [Repealed, SOR/2020-44, s. 1]

• (9) [Repealed, SOR/2020-44, s. 1]

40.1 [Repealed, SOR/2020-44, s. 3]

Pregnancy

• 41 (1) For the purposes of sections 22 and 152.04 of the Act, the information and evidence to be provided to the Commission by a claimant to prove pregnancy and the expected date of confinement is

  • (a) a statement signed by the claimant attesting to her pregnancy and declaring her expected date of confinement; and

  • (b) information regarding the actual date of the birth of the child, provided by the claimant to the Commission in person, by mail or by telephone as soon as is reasonably possible after the birth of the child.

• (2) For the purposes of paragraph 8(2)(a) of the Act, a pregnancy is any pregnancy that renders a claimant incapable of performing the duties of her regular or usual employment or of other suitable employment.

41.1 [Repealed, SOR/2017-226, s. 10]

41.11 [Repealed, SOR/2017-226, s. 10]

Parental, Compassionate Care, Critically Ill Child and Critically Ill Adult Benefits

Medical Certificate Outside Canada

41.2 For the purposes of subsections 23.1(3), 23.2(2), 23.3(2), 152.06(2), 152.061(2) and 152.062(2) of the Act, the medical certificate referred to in subsections 23.1(2), 23.2(1), 23.3(1), 152.06(1), 152.061(1) or 152.062(1) of the Act may be issued by an individual authorized by the appropriate governmental authority of a country other than Canada to perform the work of a medical doctor or of a nurse practitioner and who has professional qualifications that are substantially similar to those of a medical doctor or of a nurse practitioner practising in Canada, if the person to whom the certificate refers is in that country.

41.3 [Repealed, SOR/2017-226, s. 10]

41.4 [Repealed, SOR/2017-226, s. 10]

41.5 [Repealed, SOR/2017-226, s. 10]

Division of Benefits

41.6 For the purposes of subsections 23(4), 23.1(9), 23.2(8), 23.3(6), 152.05(12), 152.06(7), 152.061(8) and 152.062(6) of the Act and subject to subsections 76.21(2) and 76.42(2), if the claimants cannot agree on a division of the remaining weeks of unpaid benefits, those weeks shall be divided as follows:

• (a) if the number of weeks of unpaid benefits equals the number of claimants, each claimant will be paid a week of benefits;

• (b) if the number of weeks of unpaid benefits is more than the number of claimants, a week of benefits will be paid to claimants in turn starting with the first claimant to make a claim until all the weeks have been exhausted; or

• (c) if the number of weeks of unpaid benefits is less than the number of claimants, a week of benefits will be paid to claimants in turn starting with the first claimant to make a claim until all the weeks have been exhausted.

Work-Sharing Benefits

42 Work-sharing benefits are payable to a claimant who is employed in work-sharing employment for each week of unemployment that falls in a benefit period established for the claimant, and subject to sections 43 to 49, the Act and any regulations made under the Act apply to the claimant, with such modifications as the circumstances require.

43 An interruption of earnings occurs, in respect of a person employed in work-sharing employment, at the beginning of the week in which there is a reduction of at least 10 per cent in the person's normal weekly earnings.

44 A claimant is not entitled to work-sharing benefits for any week for which the claimant claims benefits under section 12 of the Act.

45 Where a benefit period has been established in respect of a claimaint and for any week during that benefit period the claimant is employed in work-sharing employment, the benefit period shall be extended by the total of those weeks and subsections 10(12) to (15) of the Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require.

46 If a claimant becomes employed in work-sharing employment and the waiting period has not been served as required by section 13 of the Act or earnings have not been deducted as required by subsection 19(1) of the Act, the serving of the period or the deduction of the earnings shall be deferred until that employment has terminated.

• 47 (1) Earnings received for any week by a claimant from work-sharing employment shall not be deducted from the work-sharing benefits payable pursuant to section 24 of the Act.

• (2) If a claimant receives earnings for any week other than by reason of work-sharing employment, the amount determined under subsection 19(2) of the Act shall be deducted from the work-sharing benefits payable to the claimant for that week.

48 The rate of weekly benefits payable to a claimant employed under a work-sharing agreement approved by the Commission for the purposes of section 24 of the Act is an amount that bears the same ratio to the claimant's rate of weekly benefits determined pursuant to section 14 of the Act that

• (a) the number of hours, days or shifts that the claimant did not work because of the work-sharing agreement

bears to

• (b) the number of hours, days or shifts that the claimant would have worked for the employer according to the claimant's usual work schedule.

49 Work-sharing benefits shall not be taken into account for the purpose of paragraph 10(8)(a) of the Act or for determining the benefits payable under sections 22 and 23 of the Act.

Employment Benefits

50 The following employment benefits are prescribed for the purposes of subparagraph 25(1)(b)(i) of the Act:

• (a) the Job Creation Partnerships employment benefit established by the Commission under section 59 of the Act; and

• (b) the Self-employment employment benefit established by the Commission under section 59 of the Act.

Work-force Reduction Process

• 51 (1) Subject to the Act and these Regulations, but notwithstanding section 30 of the Act, a claimant who has left employment in accordance with an employer work-force reduction process that preserves the employment of co-workers may be paid benefits where

  • (a) the claimant accepted an offer to leave that employment voluntarily; and

  • (b) the employer has confirmed that the claimant's leaving resulted in the actual preservation of the employment of a co-worker whose employment would otherwise have been terminated in the course of the work-force reduction process.

• (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an employer work-force reduction process is a process

  • (a) that is initiated by the employer;

  • (b) that has as its objective a permanent reduction in the overall number of employees;

  • (c) that offers employees the option to leave employment voluntarily; and

  • (d) the elements of which, including the elements described in paragraphs (a) to (c), are documented by the employer.