Only people who are pregnant or give birth can get EI maternity benefits. Maternity benefits are sometimes called pregnancy benefits.<\/p>\n
You cannot start your maternity benefits earlier than 12 weeks before your due date. And usually you cannot continue to get them later than 17 weeks after your baby was due or was born, whichever is later.<\/p>\n
Usually, you must wait one week before you get EI. This means that you do not get EI benefits for the first week you’re off work.<\/p>\n
You can get maternity benefits for up to 15 weeks<\/strong>.\u00a0Because of the one-week waiting period, you may have to take at least 16 weeks off work to get the full 15 weeks of maternity benefits.<\/p>\n Your pregnancy leave through the Employment Standards Act can be up to 17 weeks. This means that if you take all of the leave you\u2019re allowed to take, there will be 2 weeks when you do not get EI benefits. Read more about pregnancy leave on page 3.<\/p>\n Temporary EI rules<\/strong> If you qualify for maternity benefits, you get 55% of what you earned before getting EI, up to a maximum amount. The maximum amount you can get changes every year.<\/p>\n For 2026, the maximum amount is $729 a week<\/strong>. For 2025, the maximum amount was $695 a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-46535","publications-page","type-publications-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nIf your EI claim starts between March 30, 2025, and October 10, 2026, you do not have to wait one week to get your first EI payment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n