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Figures: 2026 tax year

EI premiums on your return

Employment Insurance premiums in box 18 of your T4 become a non-refundable credit on line 31200. Two jobs in one year can push you over the maximum.

Updated 24 July 2026 · 1 min read

Employment Insurance premiums come off every pay cheque until you reach the yearly maximum. The total for the year is in box 18 of your T4.

The 2026 rates outside Quebec

Item2026 amount
Maximum insurable earningsCA$68,900
Employee premium rate1.63 per cent
Maximum employee premiumCA$1,123.07

Quebec has a lower rate because the province runs its own parental insurance plan, and a Quebec resident's premiums appear on the return alongside the QPIP premiums in boxes 55 and 56. Read filing a Quebec return.

Where box 18 goes

Box 18 becomes a non-refundable credit on line 31200. It reduces the tax you owe. It is not a refund of the premiums themselves; the premiums bought the insurance.

If you paid too much

Each employer stops at the maximum on its own. Add a second employer and you can pay more than CA$1,123.07 across the year even though neither of them did anything wrong. The overpayment comes back to you through your return.

Enter every T4. Hypertax adds the box 18 amounts, compares the total against the maximum, and claims the excess. Read more than one job or slip.

If box 18 is empty

Check box 28 on the same slip. A tick against EI means you were not insurable for that work, which is common for someone who controls more than 40 per cent of the voting shares of the company that employs them. An empty box 18 with no tick in box 28 is worth asking your employer about.

Sources

Every figure and every procedure on this page was checked against the pages below on the date shown. The agencies revise these pages, so confirm anything you are about to act on.

  1. EI premium rates and maximums (opens in a new tab)canada.ca · checked 24 July 2026
  2. Line 31200 – Employment insurance premiums through employment (opens in a new tab)canada.ca · checked 24 July 2026
  3. T4 slip: information for employers (opens in a new tab)canada.ca · checked 24 July 2026

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This article explains a form and a process. It is general information, not tax advice about your own situation, and Hypertax does not send your return to the CRA — you print it and mail it. See the not-tax-advice notice and the rest of the help centre.