The Employment Insurance Act requires a claimant to have a certain number of hours of insurable employment in their qualifying period.
Section 7 Employment Insurance Act
Under the Employment Insurance Act, the qualifying period is the period in which a claimant must accumulate sufficient hours of insurable employment in order to establish a claim for benefits. 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.
Section 8 Employment Insurance Act
Under the Employment Insurance Act, a new entrant or re-entrant to the labour force must have 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 104 weeks.
Subsections 7(3) & (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 their 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
The legislation defines a "week" as a period of seven consecutive days beginning on and including Sunday.
Subsection 2(1) Employment Insurance Act
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2010-03-04