When you are unemployed and enrolled in a course, you can take advantage of Canada’s Employment Insurance for apprentices.
To enroll in a block-release or full-time technical training program, you must also have received a referral from a province or territory in Canada.
Even if you don’t do full-time technical training, if you were fired for reasons you couldn’t control, you might still be eligible for regular EI benefits.
To properly apply for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in Canada, you must complete certain steps.
As a result, this post will discuss, among other topics, how to apply for apprentice EI benefits and Employment Insurance in Canada.
What exactly is EI (employment insurance)?
In general, people without jobs receive short-term income support from Employment Insurance (EI) until they find work or complete training to improve their skills.
About apprentices receiving Employment Insurance in Canada Undoubtedly, unemployed workers in Canada have access to Employment Insurance (EI). As an apprentice, you may be eligible for EI benefits if you meet specific criteria.
In Canada, you must wait one week before receiving EI benefits. This waiting period is referred to as the waiting period. You will, in fact, not be paid during this time.
Undoubtedly, each apprenticeship in Canada requires an apprenticeship waiting period.
Besides, apprentices can get several financial aid from the Canadian government, including apprenticeship loans and grants.
Receiving apprenticeship grants will not affect your EI benefits since it is not unemployment income support.
You can also get financial support from a province or territory in Canada as an apprentice.
This financial support is indeed usable to pay for your accommodation, transportation, and childcare while undertaking a technical training program.
Emphatically, requesting an exemption from submitting reports every two weeks to Service Canada as you receive EI benefits and undertake full-time technical training is allowable.
You need to contact Service Canada to report if you requested an exemption while still working and receiving salaries.
In addition, you will no longer receive EI benefits on your training’s final day if you stop working majorly to commence a full-time technical training program.
Above all, you may qualify for regular and special EI benefits if you had a job separation due to seasonal unemployment or layoff.
Types of EI benefits in Canada
There are certainly various types of EI benefits in Canada.
Below are relevant benefits as regards Employment Insurance for apprentices.
- Regular EI benefits
- EI special benefits
Regular EI benefits
Of course, Regular EI benefits are receivable from 14 weeks to 45 weeks. The period of receiving Regular EI benefits depends on certain factors.
Such factors include your region’s unemployment rate when you filed the claim and your total number of insurable hours in the preceding 52 weeks or since your most recent claim.
The shorter period will be used from the two to determine how long you will receive regular EI benefits.
Moreover, the most common rate used to evaluate EI benefits is 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings to a maximum amount.
Earlier in the year 2021, the maximum insurable earning amount per year is CAD 56,300, equivalent to a maximum of CAD 595 weekly.
EI special benefits
Indeed, you may be eligible to receive this Employment Insurance for apprentices in Canada.
If you are self-employed or have over 40% of a company’s voting shares, you can get Employment Insurance special benefits as soon as 12 months or one year upon registration.
Thus, you will receive financial aid that values up to 55% of your earnings whenever you leave your business to care for yourself or to look after your children or family members.
| EI special benefits | Beneficiaries | Max period to receive benefits (weeks) | Weekly benefit amount (CAD $) |
| Maternity benefit | Women who left their business due to pregnancy or just delivered a baby | 15 | 595 |
| Parental benefit | Fathers who left the business to care for their baby or child recently adopted | 40 or 69 (depends on preferred option) | from 595 to 357, which depends on the chosen option |
| Compassionate care benefit | Self-employed persons caring for people in need of end‑of‑life care | 26 | 595 |
| Sickness benefit | Self-employed persons who are unable to work due to health issues | 15 | “ |
| Family caregiver benefits for children | Self-employed persons who are caring for or helping either injury victims or people with serious ailments below the age of 18 | 35 | “ |
| Adults: Family caregivers benefit | Self-employed persons who need to take care of or help injured persons and severely sick persons above 18 years old | 15 | “ |
The eligibility criterion for EI special benefits
You are required to fulfill some criteria to get special EI benefits in Canada.
The requirements are listed below.
You are eligible to receive EI special benefits between September 26, 2021, and September 24, 2022, if your net earnings for 2020 were at least CAD 5,289. In addition, you must be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada. You must have been registered in the self-employed program for at least twelve (12) months. You must have reduced the time spent in your business by 40% or more for at least one (1) week. You must have earned the least amount of self-employed earnings between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year.
Who is eligible to apply for apprentice Employment Insurance?
If you are an apprentice registered with the ITA, you have the right to apply for Employment Insurance in Canada for apprentices.
In addition, as an Active Employment Insurance Claimant who is currently receiving EI benefits or has previously received EI benefits within the past five years, you must meet all requirements.
One of the following is required of you.
- have an Employer Sponsor
- a Union Hiring Hall Sponsor
- have an Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS) Sponsor
- or should be an unemployed preexisting ITA-registered apprentice with or without an Employer Sponsor
How to apply for apprenticeship EI in Canada
If you seek how to apply for the EI for apprentices in Canada, this section has resourceful information to help you receive your benefits.
Hence, the following steps help apply for Canada’s Employment Insurance for apprentices.
Obtain a reference code
Before anything else, you need to obtain a reference code before applying for Employment Insurance for apprentices in Canada.
Of course, you must get proof of referral, which serves as your reference code.
The 16-digit reference code is obtainable from your province or territory in Canada or a training school after being accepted for full-time technical training.
Apply for apprentice EI benefits online
Via the internet, you need to apply for Employment Insurance for apprentices about seven (7) days before your final day at work.
Submit your Records of Employment (ROEs) to Service Canada
At this stage, you are required to make provision of all your Records of Employment (ROEs) for the past 52 weeks.
If your employer issues you hardcopy ROEs, you need to ask him/her/the company for all copies of ROEs from the last 52 weeks.
Indeed, all ROEs must be sent to Service Canada after applying for EI.
You can send the Records of Employment (ROEs) to Service Canada either through mail or in person at a Service Canada center.
If you will be absent from work majorly to begin a full-time technical training upon referral by your province or territory, your employer needs to use “Code J in block 16” as a reason for ROE issuance.
Your employer can also send the ROEs electronically to Service Canada.
This saves you all the hassles of requesting and submitting them to a Service Canada center.
Emphatically, you can sign in to your My Service Canada Account in order to access your electronic Records of Employment (ROEs).
Frequently Asked Questions This section provides responses to frequently asked questions.
When will an apprentice in Canada who is registered with the ITA lose their Employer Sponsor?
Can you get benefits from an apprenticeship in Canada after 18 months?
In Canada, it is possible for individuals who are enrolled in an apprenticeship program to be eligible for both regular and special EI benefits.
To begin block-release or full-time technical training, you must quit your job.
What is EI’s apprentice pay scale?
a maximum of 595 dollars Canadian per week
How do I send Service Canada my Employment Records?
Obviously, you can mail or personally deliver hardcopies of ROEs to any Service Canada center.
What happens if I put off sending Service Canada my Employment Records?
You may experience a delay in receiving apprentice EI benefits if you delay submitting your ROE to Service Canada.
If I begin recovering from EI prior to beginning full-time technical training, what should I do?
To receive EI benefits during training, you must contact Service Canada to provide proof of referral.
In conclusion, the information in this post will assist you in applying for Employment Insurance in Canada for apprentices. If you found this post useful, please share it with your family and friends. I appreciate you reading!
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