Canada EI Premium Calculator

Employment Insurance (EI) premiums are a mandatory payroll deduction in Canada. Both the employee and the employer contribute, funding benefits such as job loss, sickness, and parental leave. This calculator applies the EI premium rate to your insurable earnings up to the annual maximum and shows the employee deduction plus the 1.4 times employer contribution.

How the EI premium is calculated

EI is charged on insurable earnings up to a yearly cap called the Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE). The formula is:

employee premium = min(insurable earnings, MIE) × EI rate
employer premium = employee premium × 1.4

For 2024 the federal employee rate is 1.66% and the MIE is 63,200 CAD, capping the employee premium at about 1,049 CAD per year. Quebec uses a lower rate (1.32%) because of its separate parental-insurance plan. Once earnings exceed the cap, no further EI is deducted for the rest of the year.

Example

An employee earning 50,000 CAD in insurable earnings outside Quebec pays 50,000 × 0.0166 = 830 CAD in EI. Their employer pays 830 × 1.4 = 1,162 CAD, for a combined annual cost of 1,992 CAD.

Premiums at common income levels

Applying the 2024 federal rate (1.66%) and the 63,200 CAD maximum insurable earnings gives these annual figures:

The last two rows are identical — that is the cap doing its work. Above the MIE, the effective EI rate falls as income rises: at 80,000 CAD the employee is paying about 1.31% of gross rather than 1.66%.

Edge cases the simple formula misses

• Two employers means double deductions — and a refund. Each employer must deduct EI as if it were your only job, so someone with two jobs can pay past the annual maximum. Employees recover the excess when filing their tax return; employers do not get their over-contribution back.
• Not all work is insurable. Employment where employer and employee do not deal at arm’s length (for example some family-business arrangements) can be non-insurable, meaning no premiums and no benefit eligibility. The CRA rules on insurability, not the employer.
• Benefit clawback for higher earners. Regular EI benefits received can be partially repayable at tax time once net income exceeds a threshold — relevant when estimating the true value of the coverage the premium buys.
• The rate resets every January. The rate and MIE are set annually each autumn for the following year, and year-to-date caps restart on 1 January — a mid-year raise never changes past deductions, but a new calendar year restarts EI on the first paycheque even if you maxed out in December.

How EI deductions appear on a pay stub

EI premiums are deducted from each pay period, not just once a year. The annual calculation determines the maximum, but in practice the employer takes a proportional slice every paycheque. Once the year-to-date insurable earnings reach the Maximum Insurable Earnings cap, EI deductions stop for the rest of the calendar year — you keep the full gross pay for the remaining pay periods.

What EI actually covers

Employment Insurance benefits include:

• Regular benefits — income replacement if you are laid off without cause (typically 55% of insurable earnings, subject to the weekly maximum benefit)
• Sickness benefits — for employees who cannot work due to illness, injury, or quarantine
• Maternity and parental benefits — for birth parents and adoptive parents (standard and extended options with different replacement rates)
• Caregiving benefits — to provide care for a critically ill or injured family member

Self-employed Canadians can opt into the EI program to access maternity, parental, sickness, and caregiving benefits — but not regular (job-loss) benefits. If they opt in, they pay the employee rate and bear the full contribution themselves (no employer share).

Quebec is different

Quebec residents pay a lower federal EI rate because Quebec funds parental benefits through its own Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), which has separate premiums for both employees and employers. Quebec workers still pay federal EI (for job-loss and sickness benefits) at the reduced rate — and separately pay QPIP premiums. Use the Quebec rate in this calculator if you work in Quebec.

Notes on what this calculator covers

The defaults reflect current federal figures; adjust the rate and maximum each year as the government updates them. This estimates EI only — CPP contributions and income tax are separate deductions from gross pay.

Sources and references

• Canada Revenue Agency — EI premium rates and maximums — the annual employee rate, MIE, and the 1.4× employer multiple
• Service Canada — Employment Insurance benefits — what EI covers (regular, sickness, maternity/parental, caregiving)
• Revenu Québec — QPIP premiums — why Quebec’s EI rate is lower

Maintained by the Gera Tools editorial team. The employee rate and MIE change every year and differ for Quebec (QPIP) — confirm the current-year figures with the CRA before relying on the result. Estimates EI only, not CPP or income tax. Last reviewed 2026-07-02.