Insurable Employment

I. The Legislation

(a) General

The Employment Insurance Act requires a claimant to have a certain number of hours of insurable employment.

Section 7 Employment Insurance Act

Under the Employment Insurance Act, a new entrant or re-entrant to the labour force must have nine-hundred and ten (910) hours or more of insurable employment in his or her qualifying period.

Subsection 7(3) Employment Insurance Act

A new entrant or re-entrant to the labour force is defined in the legislation. Whether a claimant is a new entrant or re-entrant depends upon his or her situation during the fifty-two (52) weeks immediately preceding the commencement of his or her qualifying period. The qualifying period is the shorter of:

1. the fifty-two (52) weeks preceding the commencement of the claim; or
2. the period between the start of a prior benefit claim and the start of the new benefit claim.

The qualifying period can be extended if the criteria set out in the legislation are met. However, the maximum length of a qualifying period is one-hundred and four (104) weeks.

Subsections 7(3) and (4) Employment Insurance Act
Section 8 Employment Insurance Act

A person who is not a new entrant or re-entrant is also required to have a certain number of weeks or hours of insurable employment during his or her qualifying period. However, the number of weeks or hours depends upon the regional rate of unemployment for the region in which the claimant is ordinarily resident.

Subsection 7(2) Employment Insurance Act
Section 17 Employment Insurance Regulations

Sections 7 and 55 of the Employment Insurance Act give the Commission the power to make regulations for establishing how many hours of insurable employment a claimant has.

Section 7 Employment Insurance Act
Section 55 Employment Insurance Act

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