Self-Employed EI Premiums: Schedule 13, Explained

What Schedule 13 is for

Employees pay EI premiums through payroll. Self-employed people who opt in have no payroll, so the Canada Revenue Agency collects their premiums through the income tax return instead. Schedule 13, Employment Insurance Premiums on Self-Employment and Other Eligible Earnings, is the worksheet that works out the amount.

You fill it in only if you've entered into an agreement with the Canada Employment Insurance Commission through Service Canada. Being self-employed doesn't by itself mean you owe EI premiums; most self-employed people never sign up and never file Schedule 13.

Remember what the premiums buy: special benefits only (maternity, parental, sickness, family caregiver and compassionate care). Self-employed EI never pays regular benefits, however many years of Schedule 13 premiums you've paid. Whether that coverage is worth it is a separate question, covered in our break-even guide.

How the premium is calculated, line by line

The most recent published form is the 2025 version, used for 2025 returns filed in 2026. It works in four moves, and the 2026 form should follow the same pattern with 2026 figures:

1. Net self-employment income. Take your net business, professional, commission, farming and fishing income from your return (lines 13500 to 14300). That's income after expenses, not gross sales. A net loss counts as zero. If you control more than 40% of a corporation's voting shares and draw a salary from it, that T4 pay is added here, since you can't be an insured employee of that corporation. Dividends don't count: the CRA says shareholder income isn't self-employment income for EI.
2. Room left under the maximum. Start from the year's maximum insurable earnings ($68,900 in 2026) and subtract any insurable earnings from jobs on your T4 slips.
3. Take the smaller of step 1 and step 2.
4. Apply the rate. In 2026, $1.63 per $100 outside Quebec, or $1.30 per $100 for Quebec residents.

If the EI premiums already taken off your paycheques for the year reach the maximum, you owe nothing on Schedule 13 that year. Otherwise, the result goes in two places: line 42120 adds it to the tax you owe, and line 31217 gives you a federal non-refundable tax credit for it. Outside Quebec you also claim it on line 58305 of your provincial or territorial form; Quebec residents claim the provincial side with Revenu Québec. Don't confuse this with line 31200, which is for EI premiums deducted from employment income on T4 slips.

Quebec's lower rate exists because Quebec runs its own parental insurance plan (QPIP). A Quebec resident who opts in is buying federal sickness and caregiving coverage only.

Worked examples at two incomes

Both examples use 2026 rates, for someone outside Quebec with no other job.

Ben's uncapped figure would have been $1,548.50, but nothing above $68,900 of income is charged. The cap cuts both ways: his benefit is capped too. A 2027 claim based on his 2026 income would work out to $95,000 ÷ 52 × 55% = about $1,004.81 a week, but would be held to the 2027 maximum of $749.

Ana's premium buys a weekly benefit, for a 2027 claim based on her 2026 income, of $42,000 ÷ 52 × 55% = about $444.23. Fifteen weeks of maternity would be about $6,663, close to 10 years of her 2026 premium.

With a job as well: Chris earns $30,000 of insurable pay on a T4 (about $489.00 in EI premiums deducted at work in 2026) and nets $50,000 from his own business. His room is $68,900 − $30,000 = $38,900, which is smaller than $50,000, so his Schedule 13 premium is $38,900 ÷ 100 × 1.63 = $634.07. Together with the $489.00 from work, he pays exactly $1,123.07, the same cap as anyone else.

The whole-year rule and when you pay

Premiums are charged on your self-employment income for the entire calendar year, starting with the year your agreement begins. Sign up on December 1, 2026, and your 2026 Schedule 13 still covers January to December. There's no proration by month.

• Cancel within 60 days of signing up and the agreement is treated as if it never existed: no premiums for that year.
• End it later, having never received benefits, and the agreement runs to December 31 of the year you gave notice, so you owe that full year.
• Once any benefit has been paid, you can't leave, and Schedule 13 becomes a yearly item for as long as you're self-employed. The Digest notes that in a year with no self-employment income on your return, there's no premium to pay. See once you claim, you can't opt out.

For 2026 income, the CRA's dates are: file by June 15, 2027 if you have self-employment income, but pay any balance owing, EI premiums included, by April 30, 2027 to avoid interest. If you pay tax by instalments, the CRA says your EI premiums may be included in them.

What it really costs

Two things make the true cost a little lower than the Schedule 13 figure:

• No employer share. An employee's employer pays 1.4 times the employee premium on top. Self-employed participants pay only the employee portion.
• A tax credit. The premium earns a non-refundable credit on line 31217 (and the provincial line), which reduces income tax if you owe any. It's a credit, not a deduction from income.

Keep the other side in view too: any benefits you receive are taxable income, and a single claim commits you to premiums for the rest of your self-employed career. MyEI is an independent estimate tool, not the CRA or Service Canada, and this isn't tax advice. For your own return, contact the CRA; for your agreement or a claim, call Service Canada at 1-800-206-7218.