EI hours credit pilot for wildfire evacuees

Summary#

These are the Regulations Amending the Employment Insurance Regulations (Pilot Project No. 23). They create a one-time program that adds 300 hours of insurable employment to the records of some people in two communities affected by 2024 wildfires. The change applies to claims with benefit periods tied to July 21, 2024 through July 19, 2025 and the regulations were registered on January 31, 2025 (coming into force the Sunday after registration, February 2, 2025).

What it does#

• Adds a temporary pilot, called Pilot Project No. 23, to the Employment Insurance Regulations.
• Gives a one-time credit of 300 hours of insurable employment to eligible claimants.
• Targets people who were ordinarily resident in postal codes T0E 1E0, T0E 0C0 or R0B 1C0 (areas around Jasper and Bunibonibee Cree Nation).
• Applies to claims where the benefit period begins no earlier than July 21, 2024 and no later than the day before the regulations come into force, or to claims made between the coming-into-force date and July 19, 2025.
• For people who already filed claims before the rules came into force, the credit is added if their benefit period still runs on the coming-into-force date; some earlier claimants who were previously ineligible will need to reapply to benefit.
• Tests whether using postal codes is an effective way to identify who should get disaster-related EI relief.

Who's affected#

• Residents and workers in the areas defined by postal codes T0E 1E0, T0E 0C0 and R0B 1C0 — mainly Jasper (Alberta) and Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Manitoba).
• Seasonal workers and part‑time workers whose hours were cut by wildfire evacuations.
• Temporary foreign workers and other people with 900-series Social Insurance Numbers who applied for EI after the evacuations.
• People who already applied for EI before the regulation came into force and were short a few hours — they may need to reapply to receive the credit.
• Service Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada, which will manually process and apply the hours credit.
• Employers are not expected to have new paperwork or costs because of this pilot.

Why it matters#

• The credit can help people who lost work hours during long evacuations qualify for EI or get more weeks of benefits. That matters most where work is seasonal or scarce — for example, tourism workers in Jasper and remote, fly‑in communities like Bunibonibee Cree Nation.
• The government estimates about 1,030 claims will benefit and that additional EI payments will total about $4.3 million (undiscounted). Administrative costs are estimated at about $1.8 million, with a net present‑value cost of about $1,623,105. The measures are not expected to raise EI premium rates.
• This is a time‑limited pilot. Its purpose is to test whether an hours credit helps in disaster situations and whether postal codes are a practical way to target relief. The results could shape future disaster-response changes to EI.
• Practically, people who applied right after the 2024 evacuations and were turned away because they lacked hours should check whether they need to reapply to get these extra hours credited. Service delivery will be handled manually, so there may be delays or limited online claim‑status visibility.