How to file for unemployment in Canada

How to file for unemployment in Canada.

Canada EI stands for Canada Employment Insurance. EI provides for compensation in the event you become unemployed for 7 consecutive days or more. You will want to apply for Canada EI within 4 weeks of becoming unemployed. Generally Canada EI will pay an unemployment insurance benefit of about 55% of your income and this benefit is taxable compensation. There is a yearly maximum benefit of about $42,000.

Canada EI is a program run by Service Canada at their website servicecanada.gc.ca. At this website you can find much more information about Canada EI and you can also apply for Canada EI unemployment insurance. While you are receiving your EI compensation you will need to file an employment report every two weeks. This allows you to maintain your eligibility for Canada EI. You can file your employment report online at the servicecanada.gc.ca website or you can use the telephone system so submit your EI employment report.

Information that you will need to file a successful Canada EI claim

Before you pick up the phone to call your province's unemployment office and file your EI's claim, you need to be prepared for the questions that you will be asked or if online the questions to fill out. Not having the answers to these questions will delay your claim or cause it to be denied.

Be ready to answer these questions:

What was your start date? Know this to the exact day.
What was your last day of work? (It should be yesterday or Friday if you're calling on Monday. Don't delay filing your claim.)
What was your annual salary? Refer to last year's tax forms if necessary. If there is a discrepancy with what your employer says, it will cause a delay.
What was the reason for ending your employment? The best answer is "lack of work." If you were terminated for cause, just say, "terminated." If you quit or resigned, you're probably wasting your time because you won't be eligible unless your employer was doing something horrible that forced you to resign
Are you owed any vacation or holiday pay? Make sure you know the answer! Because saying "no" when the answer is "yes" can put your entire claim in jeopardy. Saying "yes" when the answer is "no" can cost you money. If the answer is "yes," know how much you are owed and when you expect to receive payment.
That's basically it, but you should also be prepared for a curveball here and there. They might ask you what you intend to do to find work, for example.

You need to apply for rental assistance-immediately. Think ROOF(Rental Opportunity for Ontario Families(ROOF) call 1-888-544-5101 (TTY: 1-800-263-7776), or email ROOF@ontario.ca and fill out the paperwork-what's the worse can happen? you get denied? You need to take whatever is available to you-immediately

Get some help-financially and psychologically.

Look for the services of a temp recruiter

If you are single think about going to overseas to teach for a year.

Anyway, if you go into that conversation with the answers to all the above questions at the ready, you're ahead of the game.

Good luck!