Human Resources Legislative Update

Federal Government to Set Limits On EI Premium Rate Increase for 2011

Human Resources Legislative Update

Federal Government to Set Limits On EI Premium Rate Increase for 2011

Date: September 30, 2010

On September 30, 2010, the federal government announced plans to limit the Employment Insurance (“EI”) maximum premium rate increase for 2011 to five cents per $100 of insurable earnings, and ten cents per $100 of insurable earnings for subsequent years.

The rate increase is set by the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board, which by November 14, 2010, could have raised premiums by the full legislative limit of 15 cents. However, with this announcement, the employee rate per $100 of insurable earnings can rise to no higher than $1.78, starting January 1, 2011, from the current rate of $1.73.