New rate marks one-cent decrease from 2025 rate
The Canada Employment Insurance Commission has set the 2026 Employment Insurance (EI) premium rate, providing over one billion dollars to employers and employees as a result.
The EI premium rate will be $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings for employees and $2.28 for employers, who pay 1.4 times the employee rate.
The new rate marks a one-cent decrease from the 2025 rate and a three-cent decrease from the 2024 rate, according to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
The rate is based on the 2026 Actuarial Report on the Employment Insurance Premium Rate and its addendum, as well as the Commission’s summary of the reports. The Commission sets the annual premium rate each year using a seven-year break-even forecast prepared by the EI Senior Actuary. The 2026 rate is expected to balance the EI Operating Account by the end of 2032, according to ESDC.
For Quebec residents covered under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, the 2026 EI premium rate will be $1.30 per $100 of insurable earnings, with employers paying $1.82 per $100 of insurable earnings.
Maximum insurable earnings
The Commission also announced that the maximum insurable earnings for 2026 will increase to $68,900, up from $65,700 in 2025. This figure is indexed annually and represents the maximum annual income insured under the EI program. As a result, the maximum annual EI contribution for a worker will increase by $45.59 to $1,123.07, while the maximum employer contribution per employee will rise by $63.83 to $1,572.30.
For workers in Quebec, the maximum annual contribution will increase by $35.03 to $895.70, and by $49.04 for employers to $1,253.98 per employee. EI premium rates differ in Quebec because the province administers its own parental insurance plan, financed by Quebec workers and employers.
Additionally, the Premium Reduction Program, which allows employers to apply for a reduction in EI premiums if they offer qualified wage-loss plans to employees, is expected to provide approximately $1.46 billion in premium reductions in 2026 to registered employers and their employees. The savings are shared seven twelfths with employers and five twelfths with employees, recognising the savings generated for the EI program by employer-registered short-term wage-loss plans.
The Commission’s actuarial report, its addendum, and the summary are available online to ensure transparency and accountability in the rate-setting process.
Earlier this year, in response to economic uncertainty triggered by U.S. tariffs, Canada’s federal government rolled out temporary, expanded rules for EI coverage. Ottawa later extended a temporary EI measure to support workers affected by the said tariffs.
