ROE Explained: What If Your Employer Is Late?

What an ROE is and why it matters

The Record of Employment is the main document Service Canada uses for an EI claim. Your employer must issue one every time you have an interruption of earnings: a layoff, a dismissal, a resignation, a leave, or any stretch of 7 days or more with no work and no pay. It doesn't matter whether you plan to claim EI. It records three things your claim depends on:

• Your insurable hours. These decide whether you meet your region's requirement (420 to 700 hours for regular benefits in 2026, depending on the local unemployment rate) and how many weeks you can collect.
• Your insurable earnings, pay period by pay period. Service Canada averages your best weeks from these to set your weekly rate. In 2026 that's 55% of your average, up to $729 a week.
• Why the job ended, as a one-letter code, plus any vacation pay, severance or other money paid when you left.

When your employer has to file it

Most ROEs are filed electronically, straight to Service Canada. The deadline depends on how often you're paid:

Example: you're paid every two weeks, your pay period ends Saturday, October 24, 2026, and your last day was Friday, October 16. The electronic ROE should be filed by Thursday, October 29. Your EI apply-by date is still four weeks from your last day, November 13, 2026. The two deadlines are separate, and yours doesn't move because your employer's slips.

How to see your ROE

If your employer files electronically, you don't receive a copy and don't need to send one. Sign in to My Service Canada Account and open your records of employment to view or print what was filed. If nothing is there yet, it hasn't been filed or is still processing.

If your employer still uses paper forms, they give you the original. Service Canada needs that original copy, by mail or at a Service Canada Centre, so don't throw it away or send a photocopy.

Service Canada keeps ROEs on file for years, so an old ROE from a job you left last spring still counts toward a claim today, as long as those hours fall in your 52-week qualifying period. That's also why every employer you had in that window owes you one, even a short summer job.

When you see it, check it. Compare the dates, the hours in the hours box and the pay-period earnings with your pay stubs. A missing pay period or an hours total that's too low can cost you weeks or dollars. If something is wrong, ask your employer to file an amended ROE and tell Service Canada.

Reading the reason code

The ROE shows why it was issued with a one-letter code. The common ones:

• A: shortage of work (layoff)
• D: illness or injury
• E: quit
• F: maternity · P: parental · Z: compassionate care or family caregiver
• M: dismissal or suspension
• N: leave of absence
• K: other (exceptional cases only)

The code is your employer's description, not a decision. If your ROE says E or M, you can still apply. Service Canada asks both you and the employer what happened, then decides whether you had just cause or whether misconduct applies. Under a temporary measure in Pilot Project No. 25, for claims starting October 11, 2026 to October 9, 2027, only your most recent separation is reviewed. If you lost that job through no fault of your own, all your insurable hours in the qualifying period count, including hours from an earlier job you quit. The measure is temporary and the dates matter; see quit, fired or laid off.

Money paid when you left (vacation pay, severance, pay in lieu of notice) goes in a separate box. Normally it's spread over the weeks after your job ends and delays your payments. That treatment is suspended for claims starting October 11, 2026 to October 9, 2027; severance, vacation pay and EI explains the details.

If your employer is late, or won't file

Apply first, then chase the ROE. Canada.ca's own ROE guidance tells workers to apply as soon as their earnings stop, even without all their ROEs. Service Canada's interpretation guide says waiting for an ROE is not, by itself, a good reason for a late claim. In practice:

1. Apply online within 4 weeks of your last day. Use your pay stubs to fill in dates and last-week pay.
2. Ask your employer, in writing, when the ROE will be filed. An email is fine, and it gives you a record.
3. If the deadline has passed and it's still missing, contact Service Canada (1-800-206-7218). Keep notes of who you spoke to and when.
4. Keep your pay stubs, T4s, contract and termination letter. They help prove your hours and earnings if the ROE stays missing or is wrong.

With several jobs in the last 52 weeks, each employer owes you an ROE. Apply when the first job ends; the rest can follow. For the full application walkthrough, see how to apply for EI step by step.

Every claim is decided by Service Canada, not by MyEI. MyEI is an independent information and estimate tool and is not affiliated with Service Canada or the Government of Canada. For your own file, call Service Canada at 1-800-206-7218 or start from canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei.html.