Employment Insurance ("EI") provides two types of benefits: regular and sickness benefits. Persons under quarantine may want to consider applying for sickness benefits. Sickness benefits provide up to a maximum of $573 a week for up to 15 weeks if a worker cannot work for medical reasons. Effective March 15, 2020, applicants for EI sickness benefits:
- will have priority EI application processing;
- do not have to provide a medical certificate;
- will be paid for the first week of their claim; and
- if they cannot apply now due to quarantine, they may apply later on and have their EI sickness benefits claim backdated to cover the period of delay.
Applicants who are not eligible for EI sickness benefits may still be eligible for EI regular benefits or the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit ("CERB").
Persons who were receiving EI regular or sickness benefits will continue to receive those benefits and should not apply to the CERB. If those EI benefits started before March 15, 2020 and will end before October 3, 2020, then those persons may apply for the CERB.
Applicants who have recently applied for EI and whose applications have not been processed do not need to reapply for the CERB, as their applications will automatically be assessed for eligibility for the CERB.
Persons who are placed in quarantine due to COVID-19 and want to apply for EI sickness benefits can apply here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.