Question Period Note: 2025 Employment Insurance (EI) Premium Rate

What is the Employment Insurance (EI) premium rate for 2025?

• Our Government is committed to enhancing the EI system to better reflect the modern workforce with flexible, reliable support while remaining financially sustainable.

• An EI premium rate of $1.64 for 2025 is near historically low levels, based on forecasts prepared by the EI Senior Actuary.

• EI premium rates are lower for Quebec residents because of that province’s parental insurance plan. For 2025, employees residing in Quebec will pay $1.31 and their employers will pay $1.83.

• According to the 2024 Fall Economic Statement, the projected cumulative deficit in the EI Operating Account for the end of 2024 has decreased from $20.9B in 2023 to $19.9B.

Premium Rates

• Premium rates are set according to a seven-year forecast break-even rate that will result in a balance of $0 in the EI Operating Account at the end of that seven-year period. The forecast amount of EI benefits to be paid over the next seven years will determine the total amount of EI premiums that need to be collected from employees and employers. The EI Senior Actuary calculates the EI premium rate using economic projections, including forecast unemployment rates and growth in earnings.

• On September 13, 2024, the Canada Employment Insurance Commission set the 2025 premium rate at $1.64 per $100 of insurable earnings. The employer rate is $2.30 per $100 of insurable earnings, or 1.4 times the employee rate.

• EI premium rates are lower for Quebec residents because the province administers its own parental insurance plan, known as the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP). The 2025 premium reduction is 33 cents, with premium rates for employees in Quebec is set at $1.31 per $100 of insurable earnings.

• The 2025 Actuarial Report on the EI Premium Rate and its summary are available online as of September 13, 2024. They were tabled in Parliament on September 27, 2024.

Premiums Payable

• Maximum Insurable Earnings (MIE) for 2025 are $65,700, an increase of $2,500 from the 2024 MIE. Based on the MIE and premium rate, the maximum 2025 premiums paid by workers is $1,077.48 (up $28.36 from 2024), while employers pay a maximum of $1,508.47 per employee (up $39.70 from 2024). The MIE for 2025 results in a maximum weekly benefit rate of $695 (up $27 from 2024). Employers and their employees registered in qualified wage-loss plans under the Premium Reduction Program (PRP) are estimated to receive $1.365B in premium savings for 2025.

EI Operating Account

• The 2024 Fall Economic Statement estimates that the cumulative deficit of the EI Operating Account on December 31, 2024, is $19.9B, $1B lower than on December 31, 2023.

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