EI maternity and parental benefits: Eligibility

If you received Employment Insurance (EI) benefits in the past 52 weeks, you may not be eligible to receive the maximum number of weeks of maternity or parental benefits.

However, if you've worked 600 hours since your last claim, you could start a new claim. Contact us to find out what's best for your situation.

If you have health complications during pregnancy, you could be eligible for sickness benefits or for maternity benefits earlier. You must meet the conditions for each benefit.

If you registered for access to EI special benefits for self-employed people and waited 12 months from the date of your confirmed registration, you may be eligible for maternity and parental benefits. You must also meet all of the following conditions:

• The amount of time you spend on your business has decreased by more than 40% for at least one week because you're pregnant or have recently given birth or you're caring for your newborn or newly adopted child
• You earned a minimum amount of self-employed earnings during the calendar year before the year you apply for benefits. For 2020, you need to have earned at least $7,279 in 2019.

If you have a valid social insurance number, you may be eligible for maternity and parental benefits.

If you plan to travel outside of Canada, contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to find out how this may impact your situation.

You can start receiving maternity benefits as early as 12 weeks before your due date or the date you give birth. You cannot receive these benefits more than 17 weeks after your due date or the date you gave birth, whichever is later.

You can receive parental benefits within specific periods starting the week after your child's date of birth or the date your child is placed with you for the purpose of adoption.

These periods are:

• Standard parental: within 52 weeks (12 months)
• Extended parental: within 78 weeks (18 months)