Employment Insurance (EI) for the self-employed
By admin on January 21, 2010 
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Do you know that starting January 2010, self-employed people can pay EI premiums on a voluntary basis, and qualify to receive certain EI benefits, including
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- Maternity benefits (maximum 15 weeks, a claim can start up to 8 weeks before the expected birth date)
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- Parental/adoptive benefits (maximum 35 weeks),
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- Sickness benefits (maximum 15 weeks, and
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- Compassionate care benefits (maximum 6 weeks)
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Prior to claiming benefits, self-employed Canadians:
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- Are required to opt into the program at least one year prior to claiming benefits
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- Need to have earned a minimum of $6,000 in self-employed earnings (net income from self-employment) over the preceding calendar year
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- Can opt out of the EI program at the end of any tax year, as long as they have never claimed benefits.
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- Must contribute on self-employed earnings for as long as they are self-employed, if they have claimed benefits.
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- Will pay the same EI premium rate as salaried employees.
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- Will not pay the employer portion of EI premiums, in recognition of the fact that they cannot collect regular EI benefits.
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The program has a start date of January 2010, so claims could be made as early as January 2011.
Self-employed Québec residents will still receive maternity and parental benefits through the Québec Parental Insurance Program (QPIP) provided through the Québec government. They will also be eligible to take advantage of the EI sickness and compassionate care benefits being offered by the Government of Canada. If they opt into this program, their premium rates will be the same as the rates for employees in Québec.