How many hours do you need for EI in 2026?
The hours threshold is not a national number. It is set by the unemployment rate of your EI economic region on the day you apply.
Updated on · Mottalib Radif · Editorial policy
The table: unemployment rate → hours required
| Regional unemployment rate | Hours required | Best weeks divisor | Regions in this band (September 6, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.0% or less | 700 | 22 | 22 |
| 6.1% to 7% | 665 | 21 | 17 |
| 7.1% to 8% | 630 | 20 | 8 |
| 8.1% to 9% | 595 | 19 | 7 |
| 9.1% to 10% | 560 | 18 | 1 |
| 10.1% to 11% | 525 | 17 | 3 |
| 11.1% to 12% | 490 | 16 | 1 |
| 12.1% to 13% | 455 | 15 | 0 |
| more than 13.0% | 420 | 14 | 3 |
The scale moves in steps of 35 hours, one week of full-time work, for each percentage point of regional unemployment. At 6% or less, the maximum of 700 hours applies, twenty weeks of full-time work; above 13%, the minimum of 420 hours, twelve weeks. The same column of the table also sets the best-weeks divisor, from 22 weeks in the tightest labour markets to 14 in the weakest, which means that a high-unemployment region is doubly favourable: fewer hours to qualify and a higher weekly benefit for the same total earnings.
The qualifying period
Hours are counted over the 52 weeks before your claim, or since the start of your previous claim if it is more recent. Only insurable hours count: hours worked as an employee for which EI premiums were deducted. Paid vacation and statutory holidays count; unpaid leave does not. If you could not work because of illness, injury, quarantine or pregnancy, the period can be extended up to 104 weeks.
The qualifying period starts on the Sunday 52 weeks before the Sunday of the week the claim begins, or on the first day of the previous benefit period if that is later. Hours already used to establish an earlier claim cannot be counted again, which is why a worker who claimed eight months ago and has worked since needs enough new hours since that claim started. The extension to a maximum of 104 weeks applies week by week for each week you were incapable of work because of illness, injury, quarantine or pregnancy, in receipt of workers’ compensation, confined in a jail or prison, or receiving payments under a provincial parental plan. The extension must be requested with evidence; it is not automatic.
What counts as an insurable hour
| Situation | Insurable hours? |
|---|---|
| Hours worked and paid by an employer, full-time or part-time | Yes, actual hours |
| Paid vacation taken, statutory holidays | Yes, the hours normally worked |
| Vacation pay on separation | Yes, converted at the normal hourly rate |
| Overtime paid at time and a half | Yes, actual hours worked, not the premium |
| Paid sick leave from the employer | Yes |
| Unpaid leave, unpaid overtime | No |
| Self-employment, incorporated owner with more than 40% of shares | No |
| Casual work under the exclusion rules, some family employment | No |
| Hours before the start of the previous claim | No, already used |
| Hours with an employer who did not deduct premiums | Yes, if the employment was insurable; Service Canada assesses |
Where an employer does not track hours, for example for salaried or commission staff, the hours are calculated from the earnings and the applicable rate, or by the standard hours of the position. Disputes about insurability, such as whether a contractor was really an employee, are decided by the Canada Revenue Agency on request; the ruling is binding on Service Canada and can add hundreds of hours to a claim.
Why the threshold moves
The variable entrance requirement was designed so that workers in regions with fewer job opportunities qualify with fewer hours. It is recalculated every four weeks from the region’s three-month moving average unemployment rate. A region crossing from 6.0% to 6.1% drops from 700 to 665 hours; that single tenth of a point can decide a claim.
The system dates from the 1996 reform that replaced weeks of work with hours, so that part-time and multiple-job workers could qualify on their actual hours. It has been altered temporarily several times: a national 420-hour standard during the pandemic, and in 2025 a temporary one-point increase in the unemployment rate used for every region, which lowered thresholds by 35 hours across the board. Temporary measures are announced by the federal government and applied by Service Canada on the date the claim starts; the calculator uses the standard table unless the rates file reflects an adjustment.
Special benefits: a fixed 600 hours
Maternity, parental, sickness, compassionate care and family caregiver benefits all require 600 insurable hours, everywhere in Canada. See the special benefits calculator.
The 600-hour rule is independent of the regional rate, and it can go either way against the regular benefit threshold. In a region at 5.5% unemployment, a worker with 650 hours qualifies for maternity or sickness benefits but not for regular benefits, which need 700. In a region at 14%, a worker with 450 hours qualifies for regular benefits but not for special benefits. Self-employed workers who opted into the program need $8,826 of self-employment earnings in the previous calendar year instead of hours.
Distribution of regions right now
| Hours required | Number of regions |
|---|---|
| 420 | 3 |
| 455 | 0 |
| 490 | 1 |
| 525 | 3 |
| 560 | 1 |
| 595 | 7 |
| 630 | 8 |
| 665 | 17 |
| 700 | 22 |
Check your own region on the regions page, then run the calculator with your real hours.
Falling short: what you can do
- Recount. Ask every employer of the last 52 weeks for a Record of Employment, including short contracts and part-time jobs; hours are often missing rather than absent.
- Check the next period. Regional rates change every four weeks; if your region is close to a boundary, applying a week later may lower the threshold by 35 hours. Delaying costs nothing if you have no earnings in between and stay within the four-week filing window.
- Request an extension of the qualifying period if you were ill, injured or on workers’ compensation during the year.
- Ask for an insurability ruling if you worked as a contractor in conditions that resemble employment.
- Consider special benefits if 600 hours are on file and the reason for stopping work is illness or a birth.
- Provincial programs. Social assistance and provincial training allowances do not depend on EI hours.
Hours do not expire: work a few more weeks and reapply, provided the new job ends for a valid reason. The hours from the first job stay in the 52-week window and are added to the new ones.
