From: Employment and Social Development Canada
Did you know that the Employment Insurance (EI) program may allow you to take training while receiving benefits? If you have lost your job and want to return to school or upgrade your skills to help you find a new job, there are options available:
- taking training on your own while on EI
- taking training while on EI with permission from your province/territory or an Indigenous organization
- taking training while on EI with permission from Service Canada (new option for EI claimants who have lost their job after several years in the workforce)
You may also be eligible for financial assistance through Canada Student Loans and Grants. Visit the Skills Boost page to find out more about supports for adult learners.
Additional information:
- declaring your participation in a course or a training program
- training supports
Taking training on your own while on EI
As a general rule, to be entitled to Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits or fishing benefits, you must show that you are unemployed, able and willing to work and actively looking for suitable employment.
If you decide on your own to take training, you must declare your training and prove that you are still able and willing to work and are continuing to look for a job to continue receiving EI benefits.
You must be ready to make arrangements to work if you receive a job offer, and to adjust or cancel your training plans if necessary.
Taking training while on EI with permission from your province/territory or an Indigenous organization
Do you want to take full-time training? You may be able to do this and continue receiving EI benefits. You will need to get permission from your provincial or territorial government. If you are Indigenous, you also have the option of getting permission from an Indigenous organization that provides employment programs in your province or territory.
Note: Provinces, territories and Indigenous organizations have the discretion to offer additional support and employment counselling to claimants as well.
To find information about other employment programs in your province or territory:
Taking training while on EI with permission from Service Canada
Have you lost your job after several years in the workforce? If so, starting on August 5, 2018, Service Canada may permit you to continue receiving EI benefits while attending a full-time program of your choice provided by an approved educational institution. You must pay for the training yourself.
As of August 5, if Service Canada approves your request, you will not have to be available for work or look for work while at school. You may also be eligible for student financial assistance.
Eligibility
To be eligible, you must meet all of the following criteria:
- you must be receiving or be eligible to receive EI regular benefits or fishing benefits
- you must be a long-tenured worker. A long-tenured worker is someone who has:
- received fewer than 36 weeks of EI regular and/or fishing benefits in the last 5 years, and
- paid at least 30% of the maximum EI annual premium in 7 of the last 10 years
To find out if you are considered a long-tenured worker, first apply for Employment Insurance benefits. Then call Service Canada at 1-800-206-7218.
- you must choose a program offered by an approved educational institution located in Canada. The institution must be on one of these lists: Designated Educational Institutions or Certified Educational Institutions
- you must be considered a full-time student. Each educational institution decides what is considered a full-time program at their institution
Requesting permission to take full-time training
If you meet the eligibility criteria, you can request permission from Service Canada to take full-time training when you apply for benefits.
- call Service Canada at 1-800-206-7218, or
- visit a Service Canada Centre
If you are already receiving benefits:
You should request permission before the course or training program start date so you can continue to receive EI benefits.
Service Canada will contact you by phone and by mail to let you know that your request for training has been approved.
As of August 5, 2018, if you are notified that your request has been approved, you will no longer have to be available for or looking for work during training.
Before August 5, 2018
If you are a long-tenured worker who has been disentitled from EI benefits because you are already taking full-time training and are not available for work, you can make a request to Service Canada for permission to attend the training so your benefits can resume (if you have weeks of benefits left) on August 5, 2018.
Additional information
Starting a course before making a request
If you start attending training before asking for permission, you must still be available and actively looking for work to be entitled to EI benefits. If you weren't available and looking for work in the weeks before you requested permission, you won't receive benefits for those weeks.
Duration of benefits
You may continue to receive benefits after the training is completed if you have not used all the weeks of benefits that you are entitled to. You will need to be available and actively looking for work to remain eligible once the training is completed.
If the training is longer than the number of weeks of EI benefits that you are entitled to receive, you will not receive additional weeks of benefits to cover the entire length of the training.
If you withdraw or are expelled from training
If you received permission to take training and then with good cause you quit or stop attending, you will continue to receive EI benefits. However, you will need to be available and actively looking for work to remain eligible.
If you received permission to take training but quit or stop attending without good cause, or you are expelled from the training, you may no longer be eligible to receive EI benefits.
Declaring your participation in a course or a training program
You must declare that you are taking training when you apply for EI benefits, via your profile on your My Service Canada Account (MSCA), directly with an agent on the phone or in person, or when you complete your EI reports online or by phone. It's a good idea to create a MSCA as soon as you receive your EI access code by mail.
If you are taking training on your own or getting permission from Service Canada to take full-time training, you must complete the Training Course Information questionnaire and submit it using MSCA. If you are unable to use MSCA you can also complete the Training Course Information questionnaire and mail or deliver it to your local Service Canada Centre.
An agent will review your training information to ensure that you do not receive benefits to which you are not entitled. If you are requesting permission to take full-time training, Service Canada will contact you by phone and by mail to let you know whether your request to take training has been approved.
Training supports
The Government of Canada provides a wide variety of training supports to individuals who need help to overcome obstacles in the job market.
FAQs
Have you lost your job after several years in the workforce? If so, starting on August 5, 2018, Service Canada may permit you to continue receiving EI benefits while attending a full-time program of your choice provided by an approved educational institution. You must pay for the training yourself.
Can you collect EI and go to school in Nova Scotia? ›
Successful applicants can continue to receive federal Employment Insurance (EI) benefits while attending approved training opportunities.
What is a training allowance Canada? ›
The Canada training credit (CTC) is a refundable tax credit available to help Canadians with the cost of eligible training fees. You can claim the CTC for tuition and other fees paid for courses that you took in the year.
What is EI program in Canada? ›
The Employment Insurance (EI) program provides temporary income support to unemployed workers while they look for employment or to upgrade their skills. The EI program also provides special benefits to workers who take time off work due to specific life events: illness. pregnancy.
Can university students claim benefits? ›
Full-time home undergraduate students are not usually entitled to welfare benefits. If you are currently claiming benefits, you must notify your job centre that you will be embarking on a full time course of study at university.
Can you collect EI and OSAP? ›
If you are receiving EI, Second Career, or CPP support, you will need to declare it as income on your OSAP application. OSAP can act as a “top-up” in these cases if the OSAP calculation deems that more support is required.
Can students get CRB? ›
If you are a student, you can get a CRB if, You have earned $5,000 from an internship or a part-time job in 2019 or the last 12 months. This amount excludes money earned from student loans, bursaries, or scholarships.
How long can you collect EI for? ›
You can get benefits for up to a maximum of 45 weeks
You can receive EI from 14 weeks up to a maximum of 45 weeks, depending on the unemployment rate in your region at the time of filing your claim and the amount of insurable hours you've accumulated in the last 52 weeks or since your last claim, whichever is shorter.
How many hours are you allowed to work while on EI? ›
If you earn money while receiving EI benefits, you can keep 50 cents of your benefits for every dollar you earn, up to 90% of your previous weekly earnings (roughly 4 and a half days of work). Above this cap, your EI benefits are deducted dollar-for-dollar.
Who is eligible for the Canada training benefit? ›
Eligible workers—those who have at least $10,000 in earnings for work (including maternity or parental leave benefits) and income below about $150,000—between the ages of 25 and 64 are accumulating a credit balance at a rate of $250 per year (starting 2019), up to a lifetime training amount limit of $5,000.
The training allowance claim process for WTS and WSS are different.
...
To qualify for training allowance at $6 per hour, individual must:
- Have taken the course after 1 Jul 2020;
- Complete and pass the course (minimum 75% attendance);
- Have paid for his/her own training;
- For courses eligible for TA, click on this link .
If you have been referred to a training program or course, you will continue to receive EI benefits because you are still considered unemployed, capable, and available to work during the period of your training course.
Do you have to pay back EI? ›
At the time you file your income tax return, depending on your net income and if you were paid regular benefits, including regular fishing benefits, you may be required to repay some of the EI benefits you received.
Will EI be extended again 2022? ›
To help seasonal workers, Budget 2022 also proposes to extend measures that add five additional weeks of regular benefits to seasonal claimants in 13 targeted EI economic regions until October 2023, while the Government considers longer-term measures that best meet the needs of seasonal workers.
How many hours do I need for EI 2021? ›
Generally, you need between 420-700 insured hours to claim EI. If you're not sure how many insured hours you've worked, read through the Government of Canada's insurable hours page. Until September, 2021, however, this number of hours is reduced to 120.
What can I claim as a full-time student? ›
You may be able to get Universal Credit if you're studying full-time and any of the following apply:
- you're aged 21 or under, in full-time non-advanced education and do not have parental support.
- you're responsible for a child.
- you live with your partner and they're eligible for Universal Credit.
Full-time education is education undertaken in pursuit of a course, where an average of more than 12 hours per week is spent during term time.
Can I claim child benefit for my 19 year old at university? ›
These benefits usually stop on 31 August after a child turns 16, but if your child is in full-time approved education or training, you can still claim for them until they are 19, or in some cases 20.
Can I get CRB and OSAP? ›
You are required to declare CRB as “other income” on your OSAP application if you are receiving CRB during your OSAP study period and are earning more than $5,600 in total income in a single semester.
Can I get EI if I quit? ›
Ordinarily, when you voluntarily resign from your employment, you are not entitled to receive EI benefits. However, if you can demonstrate that there was some sort of justifiable reason, or cause, for quitting your job, you may be entitled to EI.
Earning money while receiving EI benefits
You'll be able to keep 50 cents of your Employment Insurance (EI) benefits for every dollar you earn, up to 90% of the weekly insurable earnings used to calculate your EI benefit amount, if you work while receiving regular benefits and have served your waiting period.
Can students apply for CERB 2021? ›
The program must have a duration of at least 12 weeks. High school graduates who have applied for and will be starting post-secondary education in the coming months (before February 1, 2021) Recent graduates who graduated no earlier than December 2019 and are unable to find work due to COVID-19.
Can students apply for CRB 2021? ›
Now, coming to the question, can students apply for CRB? They certainly can if they are Canadians above 15 and have a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN).
Will EI be extended again after September 2021? ›
The transition from old to new will take several years. In the meantime, implementing the EI changes committed in Budget 2021, including, for example, a permanent extension of EI sickness benefits to 26 weeks, will take the Government's full operational attention and capacity until mid to late 2022.
Can I apply for CRB after EI? ›
You do not have to use all other leave before applying for the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit. You cannot receive the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit for the same period in which you are getting any other paid benefits, including EI Benefits or paid leave.
How do I find out when my EI ends? ›
With MSCA , you can check the status of your EI application. You can also: view and update your personal information. find out when your payments start and end.
How much income tax do you pay on EI? ›
EI is taxable income
"If the minimal federal tax rate is 15 per cent and then you add the minimum Alberta tax rate of 10 per cent to that — we're talking about a minimum 25 per cent tax withholding that you have to pay," said Calgary tax specialist Cleo Hamel.
