EI maternity, parental and sickness benefits calculator 2026

Weeks and rates by benefit type

Who can claim, and when

Special benefits need 600 insurable hours in the qualifying period, whatever the regional unemployment rate, and a reduction of normal weekly earnings of at least 40% because of the pregnancy, the birth, the adoption or the illness. Maternity benefits are for the person who is pregnant or has given birth and can start up to 12 weeks before the expected date of birth and no later than the week of the birth; the 15 weeks must be taken within 17 weeks of the actual or expected date, whichever is later. Parental benefits are for either parent, biological or adoptive, and can be shared or taken consecutively; the standard option must be used within 52 weeks of the birth or placement, the extended option within 78 weeks. Sickness benefits require a medical certificate stating that you are unable to work and for how long, and can be paid for up to 26 weeks within the 52-week benefit period. The one-week waiting period applies once per claim; when parental benefits follow maternity benefits, or a partner claims parental benefits after the other partner served the waiting week, no second waiting week applies.

The weekly amount in detail

All special benefits use the same base as regular benefits: 55% of average insurable earnings over the best weeks, with the divisor set by the regional unemployment rate, capped by the maximum insurable earnings. Only the extended parental option changes the rate, to 33%, and its weekly maximum is therefore 60% of the standard maximum. The Family Supplement applies to special benefits for eligible low-income families. Income earned while on maternity or parental benefits is subject to the Working While on Claim rules; income earned while on sickness benefits reduces the benefit dollar for dollar in most cases. Employers who top up EI maternity or parental benefits under a Supplemental Unemployment Benefit plan registered with Service Canada can do so without reducing the EI amount.

Standard or extended: the choice you cannot undo

Choosing between standard and extended parental benefits is the single most consequential decision on the EI application, because it is irrevocable once benefits begin to be paid. The total money is close to identical: 40 weeks at 55% and 69 weeks at 33% both come to roughly the same number of dollars. What differs is how thinly that money is spread, and for how long.

The extended option makes sense when the household can absorb a lower weekly income and values the longer leave — typically to bridge to a childcare placement, which in much of the country has a waiting list measured in months rather than weeks. The standard option makes sense when the weekly amount matters more than the duration, which is usually the case for single-income households and for anyone whose earnings sit well below the maximum insurable earnings. One trap deserves attention: if you choose the extended option and then return to work early, you do not recover the difference. The weeks you did not use simply lapse at the lower rate.

Both parents must choose the same option. If one parent selects standard and the other extended, Service Canada applies the option chosen by the parent whose claim starts first, and the second claim is adjusted to match.

Working, topping up and stacking leave

Three practical situations come up constantly and are handled differently from one another:

• Employer top-up (SUB plan). An employer can top up EI maternity or parental benefits — often to 75% or 95% of salary — without any clawback, provided the plan is registered with Service Canada as a Supplemental Unemployment Benefit plan. An unregistered top-up is treated as earnings and reduces the benefit.
• Working while on claim. The rules apply to maternity and parental benefits: you keep 50 cents of every dollar earned up to 90% of your previous weekly earnings, above which the benefit is reduced dollar for dollar. On sickness benefits the treatment is stricter, since being able to work contradicts the medical certificate.
• Job protection is separate. EI pays the benefit; it does not protect your job. Leave entitlement comes from provincial employment standards legislation, or the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated employers, and the durations do not always line up with the EI weeks. Check both before committing to a plan.

Quebec is a separate system

If you live in Quebec, maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits come from the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, not from EI. QPIP uses a higher maximum insurable income, pays a higher replacement rate under its basic plan, and adds weeks reserved for the father or second parent that have no EI equivalent. It also has no waiting week. EI sickness benefits, by contrast, still apply in Quebec, because QPIP does not cover illness. The figures produced by this calculator therefore apply to the sickness column everywhere in Canada, and to the maternity and parental columns everywhere except Quebec.

Combining maternity and parental

A birth mother can take 15 weeks of maternity followed by up to 40 weeks of standard parental benefits: 55 weeks of income at 55%. With the extended option, 15 + 69 = 84 weeks at a lower weekly amount. Weeks taken by the other parent are added on top, up to the family maximum. No waiting period applies when parental benefits follow maternity benefits directly.