Howard Levitt, Toronto employment lawyer and host of Employment Law on NEWSTALK 1010 answers your questions about how COVID-19 will affect your work and EI.
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A: You can apply for EI regular benefits as well as the EI sickness benefit by CLICKING HERE and applying online.
Given the necessary precautions that they are taking against COVID-19, Service Canada strongly recommends that individuals apply for EI online, and in not in person at their local Service Canada offices.
As an alternative, you may also access their services by calling 1-800-O-CANADA.
A: You may qualify for EI regular benefits if:
Normally, this number is between 420-700 hours. However, the number depends on the area you are in. To find out the specific number, you can visit this site:
To see the guidelines for EI eligibility, you can visit this website this site. However, the only way to know for sure is to apply.
In addition, you may be eligible for the EI sickness benefits. These benefits provide eligible workers with up to 15 weeks of financial assistance.
You may be eligible if:
The need for a medical certificate and the one-week waiting period have been waived for individuals who are quarantined because of COVID-19.
To see more details about the EI sickness benefits, visit this page.
A: The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) provides a new taxable benefit of $2,000 per month for up to 6 months (recently extended from the initial 4 month offering) between March 15, 2020 and October 3, 2020 to people who have stopped working due to COVID-19.
Those who have stopped working after March 15, 2020 because of COVID-19 can apply for the CERB whether or not they are eligible for EI. Claims from those who became eligible for EI Regular or Sickness benefits on or after March 15, 2020 will automatically be processed through the CERB, and as of April 6 there is a single portal to process all applications from those out of work due to COVID-19.
EI-eligible individuals who have lost their jobs for other reasons should continue to apply for EI Regular benefits, and other eligible individuals can continue to apply for maternal, parental, caregiving, fishing, and worksharing benefits through EI.
People who have already applied for EI or who are already receiving EI should not apply for the CERB.
The CERB is available for people residing in Canada who:
For a first claim, an applicant must have earned no more than $1,000 for 14 or more consecutive days within the 4-week benefit period they are applying for in order to be eligible.
For subsequent claims, an applicant must have earned no more than $1,000 for the entire 4-week benefit period.
Workers for whom the CERB is available include (but are not limited to):
Take note that people who quit their jobs voluntary are not eligible for the CERB.
The CERB is accessible through a web portal or via an automated telephone line as of April 6, 2020, and applicants must re-apply for every benefit period. The benefit periods are:
Application days are staggered by birth month to avoid overwhelming the system.
| If born in: | Apply on: |
| January, February, March | Mondays |
| April, May, June | Tuesdays |
| July, August, September | Wednesdays |
| October, November, December | Thursdays |
| Any month | Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays |
Eligible applicants should receive their benefit funds within 3-5 days through the direct deposit option. Via mail, funds should be received within 10 days.
Information on repaying or returning the CERB in the event it was received by someone who later determined they are ineligible can be found here.
A: If you do not choose to treat the layoff as a termination, you will be unable to later to do so. The Courts have said that employees have a “reasonable time” to decide but have not defined what that time is. The point is, you should make your decision relatively shortly after being laid off.
If you are told you will be brought back but you are not recalled within 13 weeks of the end of the Declared State of Emergency (if your benefits are not continued during the layoff) or within 35 weeks of the end of the Declared State of Emergency (if your benefits are continued), or if new employees are hired to do your job, the layoff converts to a dismissal and you will be able to sue for wrongful dismissal damages.
You do not have the right to treat a government-imposed shutdown resulting in your layoff for the period of the mandated shutdown as a constructive dismissal.
If you are in a union, the collective agreement applies, and you do not have the right to treat a layoff as a constructive dismissal or sue for wrongful dismissal.
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