Canada Employment Insurance (EI) Calculator 2025
Calculate your 2025 EI premiums for employees and employers. Updated for 2025 rate of 1.64% outside Quebec and separate QPIP rates for Quebec residents.
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How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your annual insurable earnings — note EI premiums are only calculated on earnings up to the 2025 maximum of $65,700.
- 2
Select your province: Quebec residents pay a lower EI rate (1.32%) because the separate QPIP covers parental benefits.
- 3
Employers pay 1.4× the employee EI premium — this multiplier has been the standard for decades.
- 4
The estimated weekly benefit (55% of average insurable earnings) gives an approximation if you were laid off; the actual calculation by Service Canada considers your last 52 weeks and local unemployment rate.
- 5
Self-employed workers who opt in to EI pay only the employee rate and are eligible for special benefits (maternity, parental, sickness, compassionate care).
Frequently asked questions
What is the EI premium rate for 2025?
For 2025, the Employment Insurance employee premium rate is 1.64% (down from 1.66% in 2024) for workers outside Quebec. The maximum insurable earnings are $65,700, so the maximum annual EI premium is $1,077.48. In Quebec, the EI employee rate is 1.32% because Quebec operates a separate parental insurance program (QPIP). Employers pay 1.4× the employee rate — 2.296% outside Quebec or 1.848% in Quebec — plus their share of QPIP (0.692%) in Quebec.
How much EI can I collect if I lose my job?
If you are laid off and qualify for EI, you receive 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum of $668/week in 2025 (the maximum weekly benefit is adjusted annually). This means anyone earning approximately $63,200 or more annually is at the maximum benefit of $668/week. The number of weeks you can collect ranges from 14 to 45 weeks, depending on the number of insurable hours worked in the qualifying period and the unemployment rate in your region. You must have worked a minimum of 420–700 insurable hours (depending on region) in the past 52 weeks to qualify.
What is QPIP and how does it differ from EI in Quebec?
QPIP (Québec Parental Insurance Plan) is a provincial program in Quebec that provides maternity, paternity, parental, and adoption benefits. Because QPIP covers parental benefits that EI provides in other provinces, Quebec workers pay a reduced EI rate (1.32% vs 1.64%) but also pay QPIP premiums (0.494% employee, 0.692% employer) on top. QPIP has higher replacement rates and shorter waiting periods than EI's parental benefits — for example, QPIP pays 70% of earnings for the first 5 weeks of the basic parental benefit, compared to EI's 55%. QPIP maximum insurable earnings for 2025 are $98,000.
Can self-employed Canadians qualify for EI?
Self-employed Canadians can voluntarily opt in to the EI program by registering with Service Canada. Once registered, they pay the employee EI premium rate (1.64% outside Quebec) on their net self-employment income up to the annual maximum, but they do not pay the employer premium. After paying premiums for 12 months, self-employed workers become eligible for special EI benefits: maternity (15 weeks), parental (35–61 weeks), sickness (26 weeks), compassionate care (26 weeks), and family caregiver benefits. They are not eligible for regular (layoff) EI benefits since they cannot lay themselves off. The decision to opt in is irrevocable — once registered, you must continue paying premiums.
Canada EI Premium Calculator 2025 — Employee & Employer EI Premiums, QPIP, Weekly Benefits
2025 EI premium rates and how they are calculated
Employment Insurance (EI) premiums are deducted from every Canadian employee's paycheque based on their insurable earnings. In 2025, the EI employee rate is 1.64% (outside Quebec), slightly reduced from 1.66% in 2024, applied on insurable earnings up to a maximum of $65,700. This means the highest any employee outside Quebec can pay is $1,077.48 in annual EI premiums. Employers match at 1.4× the employee rate — paying 2.296% on the same insurable earnings, up to $1,508.47 per employee. When an employee's earnings exceed $65,700, both employee and employer EI contributions stop for the remainder of the calendar year. EI premiums are reset each January 1st.
Quebec EI vs QPIP: how they work together
Workers in Quebec participate in a dual insurance system: federal EI and the provincial QPIP (Québec Parental Insurance Plan). Because QPIP covers all maternity, paternity, parental, and adoption benefits for Quebec workers — benefits that would otherwise come from federal EI — Quebec residents pay a reduced EI rate of 1.32% instead of the national 1.64%. However, they additionally pay QPIP employee premiums of 0.494% on insurable earnings up to $98,000 in 2025. Employers in Quebec pay QPIP employer premiums of 0.692%. The combined effect is that Quebec workers typically pay slightly more total premiums than workers elsewhere but receive more generous parental leave benefits with higher replacement rates (up to 75% of earnings) and no waiting period under the QPIP enhanced plan.
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Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →