Unemployment Insurance Act (Archived)

The following information is out of date.

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Unemployment Insurance Act. 1970-71-72, c. 48, s. 1.

Interpretation

Definitions	2. (1) In this Act,
"average national rate of unemployment" taux national moyen de chômage	"average national rate of unemployment" means the monthly national rates of unemployment in a year averaged for the year;
"benefit period" période...	"benefit period" means the period described in sections 8 and 9;
"board of referees" conseil...	"board of referees" means a board of referees established under Part IV;
"claimant" prestataire	"claimant" means a person who applies or has applied for benefit under this Act;
"Commission" Commission"	"Commission" means the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission;
"employee's premium" cotisation ouvrière	"employee's premium" means the percentage of his insurable earnings that a person employed in insurable employment is required to pay under section 51;
"employer" employeur	"waiting period" means the two weeks of the benefit period described in section 13.
"employer's premium" cotisation patronale	"employer's premium" means the amount that an employer of an insured person is required to pay under section 51 in respect of that insured person;
"employment" emploi	"employment" means the act of employing or the state of being employed;
"excepted employment" emploi exclu	"excepted employment" means employment specified in subsection 3(2);
	"extended benefit" [Repealed, 1990, c. 40, s. 1] "initial benefit" [Repealed, 1990, c. 40, s. 1]
"insurable earnings" rémunération...	"insurable earnings" means, in relation to any period, the total amount of the earnings from insurable employment for that period of an insured person or the maximum insurable earnings for that period as prescribed by or under this Act, whichever is the lesser;
"insurable employment" emploi assurable	"insurable employment" means employment specified in subsection 3(1);
"insured person"  assuré	"insured person" means a person who is or has been employed in insurable employment;
"interruption of  arnings" arrêt...	"interruption of earnings" means an interruption that occurs in the earnings of an insured person at any time and in any circumstances determined by the regulations;
"labour dispute" conflit...	"labour dispute" means any dispute between employers and employees, or between employees and employees, that is connected with the employment or non-employment, or the terms or conditions of employment, of any persons;
"maximum insurable earnings" maximum de la rémunération assurable	"maximum insurable earnings" means in relation to any week, the maximum weekly insurable earnings, and in relation to a year, the maximum yearly insurable earnings;
"maximum weekly insurable earnings" maximum de la rémunération hebdomadaire...	"maximum weekly insurable earnings" has the meaning assigned by section 47;
"maximum yearly insurable earnings" maximum de la rémunération annuelle...	"maximum yearly insurable earnings" means the amount obtained by multiplying the maximum weekly insurable earnings by fifty-two;
"Minister" ministre	"Minister" means the Minister of Employment and Immigration except in Parts III and VII;
"national rate of unemployment" taux national de...	"national rate of unemployment" means the rate of unemployment as determined by Statistics Canada for the whole of Canada;
"overpayment of benefits" versement...	"overpayment of benefits" does not include a "benefit repayment" as described in Part VII;
"prescribed" prescrit	"prescribed" means in the case of a form or the information to be given on a form, authorized by the Minister having control and direction of the administration of the Part of this Act to which the context extends, and in any other case, prescribed by regulation or determined in accordance with rules prescribed by regulation;
"provincial law" loi...	"provincial law" means, in sections 17, 18, 44 and 50, the provisions of any Act of a legislature of a province authorizing, or entitling a person to, the payment of benefits under a plan established by or pursuant to that Act;
"rate of unemployment" taux de...	"rate of unemployment" means the rate of unemployment as determined from time to time in a year;
"umpire" juge-arbitre	"umpire" means an umpire appointed under Part IV;
"week" semaine	"week" means a period of seven consecutive days commencing on and including Sunday;
"year" année	"year" means calendar year.

(2) [Repealed, 1990, c. 40, s. 1]

Rates of unemployment produced by Statistics Canada 

(3) Where, for any purposes, the use of rates of unemployment produced by Statistics Canada is required under this Act or the regulations, the rates used by the Commission shall be those most recently produced at the time it is appropriate or necessary for the Commission to make a final determination in respect of or involving the use of those rates.

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 2; 1990, c. 40, s. 1; 1991, c. 49, s. 224.

Meaning of insurable employment

3. (1) Insurable employment is employment that is not included in excepted employment and is

1. employment in Canada by one or more employers, under any express or implied contract of service or apprenticeship, written or oral, whether the earnings of the employed person are received from the employer or some other person and whether the earnings are calculated by time or by the piece, or partly by time and partly by the piece, or otherwise;
2. employment in Canada as described in paragraph (a) under Her Majesty in right of Canada;
3. service in the Canadian Forces or in any police force;
4. employment included in insurable employment by regulation under section 4; and
5. employment in Canada of an individual as sponsor of a project under programs designed primarily to create employment and conducted by the Government of Canada pursuant to any Act of Parliament.

Excepted employment

(2) Excepted employment is 

1. [Repealed, 1990, c. 40, s. 2]
2. employment of a casual nature other than for the purpose of the employer's trade or business;
3. subject to paragraph (d), employment where the employer and employee are not dealing with each other at arm's length and, for the purposes of this paragraph,
   1. the question of whether persons are not dealing with each other at arm's length shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act, and
   2. where the employer is, within the meaning of that Act, related to the employee, they shall be deemed to deal with each other at arm's length if the Minister of National Revenue is satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances of the employment, including the remuneration paid, the terms and conditions, the duration and the nature and importance of the work performed, it is reasonable to conclude that they would have entered into a substantially similar contract of employment if they had been dealing with each other at arm's length;
4. the employment of a person by a corporation if the person controls more than forty per cent of the voting shares of that corporation;
5. employment in Canada under Her Majesty in right of a province;
6. employment in Canada by the government of a country other than Canada or of any political subdivision thereof;
7. employment in Canada by an international organization;
   1. employment in Canada pursuant to an exchange program where the employment is not remunerated by an employer that is resident in Canada;
8. employment that constitutes an exchange of work or services; and
9. employment included in excepted employment by regulation under section 4.

Presumption

(3) An individual referred to as sponsor of a project in paragraph (1)(e) shall, for the purposes of this Act and the regulations, be deemed to be an employer in respect of his remuneration from the project.

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 3; 1990, c. 40, s. 2.

Regulations to extend insurable employment

4. (1) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations for including in insurable employment

1. any employment outside Canada or partly outside Canada that would be insurable employment if the employment were in Canada;
2. the entire employment of a person who is engaged under one employer partly in insurable employment and partly in other employment;
3. any employment that is not employment under a contract of service if it appears to the Commission that the terms and conditions of service of and the nature of the work performed by persons employed in that employment are similar to the terms and conditions of service of and the nature of the work performed by persons employed under a contract of service;
4. employment in Canada by Her Majesty in right of a province if the government of the province waives exception and agrees to insure all its employees engaged in that employment;
5. employment in Canada by the government of a country other than Canada or of any political subdivision thereof if the employing government consents thereto;
6. employment in Canada by an international organization if the organization consents thereto; and
7. the tenure of an office as defined in the Canada Pension Plan.

Idem

(2) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council and subject to affirmative resolution of Parliament, make regulations for including in insurable employment any person who is employed or otherwise engaged in a business within the definition "business" in the Income Tax Act.

Regulations re excepted employment

(3) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations for excepting from insurable employment

1. any employment if it appears to the Commission that by reason of the laws of a country other than Canada a duplication of contributions or benefits will result;
2. the entire employment of a person who is employed by one employer partly in insurable employment and partly in other employment;
3. any employment if it appears to the Commission that the nature of the work performed by persons employed in that employment is similar to the nature of the work performed by persons employed in employment that is not insurable employment;
4. [Repealed, 1990, c. 40, s. 3]
5. the employment of a member of a religious order who has taken a vow of poverty and whose remuneration is paid directly or by him to the order;
6. any employment in which persons are employed to an inconsiderable extent or for an inconsiderable consideration;
7. any employment provided under section 25 or under regulations made under section 24; and
8. any employment with an employer in which persons are employed for less than twenty hours in a week or in which the earnings of persons are less than thirty per cent of the maximum weekly insurable earnings.

Defining certain expressions

(4) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations defining, for the purposes of this section and section 3, the expressions "casual nature", "dependant", "government", in relation to a government of a country other than Canada or of a political subdivision thereof, "international organization" and "relative".

Extent of authority

(5) A regulation made under this section may be conditional or unconditional, qualified or unqualified, and may be general or restricted to a specified area, a person or a group or class of persons.

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 4; 1990, c. 40, s. 3.

Definitions

5. (1) In this Part,

"disentitled"

inadmissible

"disentitled" means to be not entitled under section 12, 14, 17, 28.1, 28.2, 28.3, 31, 32, 40 or 41 or under a regulation;

"disqualified"

exclu...

"disqualified" means to be disqualified under section 27 or 28;

"initial claim for benefit"

demande...

"initial claim for benefit" means a claim made for the purpose of establishing a claimant's benefit period;

"major attachment claimant"

prestataire de la première...

"major attachment claimant" means a claimant who qualifies to receive benefit and has been employed in insurable employment for twenty or more weeks in the claimant's qualifying period;

"minor attachment claimant"

prestataire de la deuxième...

"minor attachment claimant" means a claimant who qualifies to receive benefit and has been employed in insurable employment for less than twenty weeks in the claimant's qualifying period;

"qualifying period"

période...

"qualifying period" means that period described in section 7;

"waiting period"

délai...

"waiting period" means the two weeks of the benefit period described in section 12.

Rounding off percentages or fractions 

(2) For the purposes of any provision of this Part in which reference is made to an amount equal to a percentage or fraction of earnings or benefit in any period, that amount shall in each case be rounded to the nearest multiple of one dollar or if that amount is equidistant from two multiples of one dollar to that multiple thereof that is the higher.

Adoption 

(3) For the purposes of section 11, the placement with a major attachment claimant, at the same or substantially the same time, of two or more children for the purpose of adoption is a single placement of a child or children for the purpose of adoption.

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 5; R.S., 1985, c. 4 (4th Supp.), s. 1; 1990, c. 40, s. 4; 1994, c. 18, s. 21.

Eligibility

When benefit payable

6. (1) Unemployment insurance benefits are payable as provided in this Part to an insured person who qualifies to receive those benefits.

Qualification

(2) An insured person, other than a new entrant or re-entrant to the labour force, qualifies to receive benefit under this Act if the person

1. has, during the person's qualifying period, had at least the number of weeks of insurable employment set out in Table 1 of the schedule in relation to the regional rate of unemployment that applies to the person; and
   
   
2. has had an interruption of earnings from employment.

Idem

(3) An insured person who is a new entrant or a re-entrant to the labour force qualifies to receive benefit under this Act if the person

1. has, in the person's qualifying period, had twenty or more weeks of insurable employment; and
   
   
2. has had an interruption of earnings from employment.

Definition of "new entrant or re-entrant to the labour force"

(4) For the purposes of this section, "new entrant or re-entrant to the labour force" means a person who has had less than fourteen

1. weeks of insurable employment,
   
   
2. weeks in respect of which benefit has been paid or was payable to the person, or
   
   
3. prescribed weeks that relate to employment in the labour force,

or any combination thereof in the period of fifty-two weeks that immediately precedes the commencement of the person's qualifying period.

Computation of weeks

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), a week that is taken into account under any of paragraphs (4)(a) to (c) may not be taken into account under any other of those paragraphs.

(6) , 1990, c. 40, s. 5]

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 6; R.S., 1985, c. 26 (1st Supp.), s. 1, c. 43 (2nd Supp.), s. 1, c. 36 (3rd Supp.), s. 1, c. 53 (4^th Supp.), s. 1; 1990, c. 40, s. 5.

Qualifying period

7. (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (7), the qualifying period of an insured person is the shorter of

1. the period of fifty-two weeks that immediately precedes the commencement of a benefit period under subsection 9(1), and
   
   
2. the period that begins on the commencement date of an immediately preceding benefit period and ends with the end of the week preceding the commencement of a benefit period under subsection 9(1).

Extension of qualifying period

(2) Where a person proves in such manner as the Commission may direct that during any qualifying period mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) he was not employed in insurable employment for the reason that he was for any week

1. incapable of work by reason of any prescribed illness, injury, quarantine or pregnancy,
   
   
2. confined in any jail, penitentiary or other similar institution,
   
   
3. in attendance at a course of instruction or other program to which he was referred by such authority as the Commission may designate, or
   
   
4. in receipt of payments under a provincial law on the basis of having ceased to work for the reason that continuing to work would have entailed danger to the person, the person's unborn child or a child whom the person is breast-feeding,

that qualifying period shall, for the purposes of this section, be extended by the aggregate of any of those weeks.

Extension of qualifying period

(3) Where a person proves in such manner as the Commission may direct that for any week during any qualifying period mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) that person was prevented from establishing an interruption of earnings by virtue of the allocation, pursuant to regulations made under section 44, of earnings paid to that person by reason of the complete severance of the relationship between that person and his former employer, the qualifying period shall, for the purposes of this section, be extended by the aggregate of those weeks.

Further extension of qualifying period

(4) Where a person proves in such manner as the Commission may direct that

1. for any week during any extension of a qualifying period referred to in subsection (2) that person was not employed in insurable employment for any of the reasons specified in that subsection, or
   
   
2. for any week during any extension of a qualifying period referred to in subsection (3) that person had earnings paid to him by reason of the complete severance of the relationship between that person and his former employer,

that qualifying period shall, for the purposes of this section, be further extended by the aggregate of those weeks.

Period not counted where benefit received

(5) For the purposes of subsections (2) to (4), a week during which a person referred to in those subsections was in receipt of benefit shall not be counted.

Period not counted where insurable employment

(6) For the purposes of subsection (3) and paragraph (4)(b), a week during which a person referred to in that subsection or paragraph was employed in insurable employment shall not be counted.

Maximum extension

(7) No extension shall be made pursuant to any of subsections (2) to (4) to a qualifying period of a person that would provide in respect of that person a qualifying period greater than one hundred and four weeks.

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 7; R.S., 1985, c. 14 (3rd Supp.), s. 1; 1990, c. 40, s. 6.

Benefit Period

Benefit period 

8. When an insured person who qualifies under section 6 makes an initial claim for benefit, a benefit period shall be established for him and thereupon benefit is payable to him in accordance with this Part for each week of unemployment that falls in the benefit period. 1970-71-72, c. 48, s. 19; 1976-77, c. 54, s. 32.

Commencement of benefit period

9. (1) A benefit period begins on the Sunday of the week in which

1. the interruption of earnings occurs, or
   
   
2. the initial claim for benefit is made,

whichever is the later.

Length of benefit period

(2) Subject to subsections (7) to (9) and sections 24 to 26, the length of a benefit period is fifty-two weeks.

Prior benefit period

(3) Subject to any change or cancellation of a benefit period pursuant to this section, a benefit period shall not be established for the claimant if a prior benefit period has not terminated.

Late initial claims

(4) Where a claimant makes an initial claim for benefit after the day when the claimant was first qualified to make the claim, it shall be regarded as having been made on an earlier day if the claimant shows that the claimant qualified to receive benefit on the earlier day and that there was good cause for the delay throughout the period commencing on the earlier day and ending on the day when the initial claim was made.

Other late claims

(4.1) Where a claimant makes a claim for benefit, other than an initial claim for benefit, after the time prescribed for making the claim, it shall be regarded as having been made on an earlier day if the claimant shows there was good cause for the delay throughout the period commencing on the earlier day and ending on the day when the claim was made.

Cancelling benefit period

(5) Where a benefit period has been established for a claimant, the Commission may

1. cancel the benefit period where the period has terminated and no benefit was paid or payable during that period; or
2. whether or not the period has terminated, at the request of the claimant cancel that portion of the benefit period that immediately precedes the first week for which benefit was paid or payable, if the claimant
   1. establishes a new benefit period commencing the first week for which benefit was paid or payable, and
   2. shows that there was good cause for the delay in making the request throughout the period commencing on the day when benefit was first paid or payable and ending on the day when the request for cancellation was made.

Deeming

(5.1) A benefit period, or a portion of a benefit period, cancelled under subsection (5) shall be deemed never to have begun.

Termination of period

(6) A benefit period is terminated when

1. no further benefit is payable to the claimant in his benefit period,
   
   
2. the benefit period would otherwise terminate under this section,
   
   
3. fifty weeks of benefits have been paid to the claimant in his benefit period, or
   
   
4. the claimant
   1. requests that a benefit period that has been established for him be terminated,
      
      
   2. makes a new initial claim for benefit, and
      
      
   3. qualifies to receive benefit under this Act,

whichever first occurs.

Late requests

(6.1) Where a claimant makes a request under paragraph (6)(d), whether or not the benefit period has terminated, the request shall be regarded as having been made on an earlier day if the claimant shows that there was good cause for the delay throughout the period commencing on the earlier day and ending on the day when the request was made.

Extension of benefit period

(7) Where a benefit period has been established in respect of a claimant who proves in such manner as the Commission may direct that for any week during that benefit period the claimant was not entitled to benefit by reason of being

1. confined in any jail, penitentiary or other similar institution,
   
   
2. in receipt of earnings paid by reason of the complete severance of the relationship between the claimant and the claimant's former employer,
   
   
3. in receipt of workers' compensation payments for an illness or injury, or
   
   
4. in receipt of payments under a provincial law on the basis of having ceased to work for the reason that continuing to work would have entailed danger to the claimant, the claimant's unborn child or a child whom the claimant is breast-feeding,

that benefit period shall be extended by the aggregate of any of those weeks.

Further extension of benefit period

(8) Where a claimant proves in such manner as the Commission may direct that for any week during any extension of a benefit period referred to in subsection (7) the claimant was not entitled to benefit for any reason specified in that subsection, the benefit period in respect of that claimant shall be further extended by the aggregate of any of those weeks.

Maximum extension of benefit period

(9) Notwithstanding subsections (7) and (8), the length of any benefit period of a claimant shall not exceed one hundred and four weeks.

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 9; R.S., 1985, c. 14 (3rd Supp.), s. 2; 1990, c. 40, s. 7.

Week of unemployment  

10. (1) A week of unemployment for a claimant is a week in which he does not work a full working week.

Exception

(2) A week during which a claimant's contract of service continues and in respect of which he receives or will receive his usual remuneration for a full working week is not a week of unemployment, notwithstanding that the claimant may be excused from the performance of his normal duties or does not in fact have any duties to perform at that time.

Exception

(3) Where an employee, pursuant to an agreement with the employee's employer, takes a period of leave from employment, but continues to be an employee of the employer during that period, and receives remuneration that was set aside during a period of work, regardless of when it was paid, any week or part of a week during the period of leave is not a week of unemployment.

Idem

(4) Where in each week an insured person regularly works a greater number of hours, days or shifts than are normally worked in a week by persons employed in full-time employment and is entitled, pursuant to an employment agreement, to a period of leave, the insured person shall be deemed to have worked a full working week during each week that falls wholly or partly in the period of leave.

R.S., 1985, c. U-1, s. 10; 1990, c. 40, s. 8.