EI compassionate care benefit - Overview
1. Overview
Compassionate care benefits are Employment Insurance (EI) benefits paid to people who have to be away from work temporarily to provide care or support to a family member who is gravely ill and who has a significant risk of death. A maximum of 26 weeks of compassionate care benefits may be paid to eligible people.
What is "care or support"?
Care or support of a family member means:
- providing psychological or emotional support; or
- arranging for care by a third party; or
- directly providing or participating in the care.
Who is considered a family member?
You can receive compassionate care benefits for a variety of family members—both yours and those of your spouse or common-law partner.
| Your family members | Family members of your spouse or common-law partner |
|---|---|
| Children | Children |
| Wife, husband, common-law partner | |
| Father, mother | Father, mother (married or common law) |
| Father's wife, mother's husband | Father's wife, mother's husband |
| Common-law partner of the father or the mother | Common-law partner of the father or the mother of your spouse or common-law partner |
| Brothers, sisters, stepbrothers, stepsisters | Brothers, sisters, stepbrothers, stepsisters |
| Grandparents, stepgrandparents | Grandparents |
| Grandchildren, their spouses or common-law partners | Grandchildren |
| Sons-in-law, daughters-in-law (married or common law) | Sons-in-law, daughters-in-law (married or common law) |
| Father-in-law, mother-in-law (married or common law) | |
| Brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law (married or common law) | |
| Uncles, aunts, their spouses or common-law partners | Uncles, aunts |
| Nephews, nieces, their spouses or common-law partners | Nephews, nieces |
| Current or former foster parents | Current or former foster parents |
| Current or former foster children, their spouses or common-law partners | |
| Current or former wards | Current or former wards |
| Current or former guardians, their spouses or common-law partners |
Note: A common-law partner is a person who has been living in a conjugal relationship with another person for at least a year.
Guides and help
- Employment Insurance Compassionate Care Benefits
- In Difficult Times: Compassionate Care Benefits
- EI Digest - Chapter 22 — Parents of critically ill children benefits
- Annex 5 - Compassionate Care Benefits
- Supplement to Employment Insurance (EI) maternity, parental, compassionate care and parents of critically ill children benefits
- EI Digest – Chapter 23 – Compassionate Care Benefits
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