Employment Insurance (EI) Guide for Canadian Employers
Employment Insurance funds unemployment, parental, and sickness benefits. Complete 2026 guide for Canadian small business.
April 24, 2026 1 min readby TinSuite Team
canadian tax canadian-ei-guide payroll
EI is a mandatory federal program funded by employee premiums and employer contributions. Employees pay 1.66% up to a maximum insurable earnings cap; employers pay 1.4x the employee amount.
Essential details
- 2026 maximum insurable earnings: $64,700
- Employee rate: 1.66% ($63,200 x 1.66% = $1,049 max)
- Employer rate: 2.324% (1.4x the employee rate)
- Quebec employees: lower EI rate because QPIP (Quebec Parental Insurance) covers parental
- Exemptions: sole proprietors, some family members, controlling shareholders
- Remit with income tax + CPP monthly/quarterly on PD7A
How to file correctly
1. Collect the data from your payroll records — don't reconstruct at year-end
2. Use official CRA forms — free downloads from canada.ca
3. File electronically when required (50+ slips)
4. Distribute copies to recipients by the deadline
5. Keep records for 6 years — CRA audit window
Common mistakes
- Missing the distribution deadline (last day of February for most slips)
- Using wrong box for income type
- Forgetting to remit source deductions monthly (PD7A)
- Not reconciling year-end to the T4 Summary
- Quebec employees: not filing the separate RL-1 slip
How TinSuite handles this
- Auto-generates T4, T4A, T5, RL-1 slips from your payroll data
- CPP, EI, and income tax calculated automatically
- Quebec-specific forms (QPP, QPIP) supported natively
- PD7A remittance reminders and calculations
- Bilingual EN/FR-CA interface
Start free trial → · See full Canadian payroll guide