EI While Attending Law School (Mature Students Only)

[GoBigOrGoHome]

Before I write further, I wanted to preface this by saying that the following will not apply to everyone. You need to have a unique set of circumstances to qualify, and definitely will not qualify if you are KJD. I am also not the government of Canada. Programs and rules constantly change, so please contact the federal government if you have any questions. 

Can you receive EI while attending law school? 
Yes. In a few very limited circumstances. First you need to qualify for EI, and then you need what is called a Section 25 referral to be permitted to be in training, collect EI, and not have to look for work. You can get a Section 25 exemption in three ways. A referral by your Province (in BC WorkBC can do this), a referral by an ISET, or Service Canada can refer you for the long tenured workers program that I am going to discuss. 

Note: I am not going to get into qualifying for EI in what I write up. You can find more information here or contact your local Provincial employment organization or ISET about an authorization to quit (but good luck at getting that. It is highly unlikely you get an authorization to quit to go to law school). 

Qualifying Criteria to get Section 25 Referral for Long-Tenured Workers

• Must be receiving or eligible to receive EI benefits before starting school 
  • You will need to have applied before starting school. Your file might not be processed before the start date - but don't delay applying
• You must be a long-tenured worker. A long-tenured worker is someone who has: 
  • Received fewer than 36 weeks of EI regular and/or fishing benefits in the last 5 years
    • So those of you that were on EI for a while during the pandemic won't qualify
  • Paid at least 30% of the maximum EI annual premium in 7 of the last 10 years 
    • So essentially most likely employed full time for at least 7 years 

How to Get the Section 25 Referral 

• After applying for EI and before school starts you need to contact Service Canada and ask for the referral 
• Fill out the training course information form and submit it through your myServiceCanada account 

Other things to Know 

• You need to be considered a full-time student at the designated or certified educational institution 
• If you have a Section 25 referral on file and you put that you are looking and available for work - your file will get flagged. The dates that you put that you are in training need to match what you put input into your weekly EI reports. Do not lie to them (and that particularly goes for anyone who thinks that they can just say that they are looking and available for work while attending law school without a Section 25 referral)
• Do your weekly reports correctly even if your EI file has not yet been fully processed. It will get backdated 

Why does the Government Allow This?

Through my employment, I have found out that people who are considered long-tenured workers have a harder time re-entering the workforce and this allows people to re-skill without losing access to living supports. Here is a news release here that mentions a tiny bit. In speaking with Service Canada staff, it seems like they don't discriminate between what programs people decide to participate in as long as they are upskilling and it is at a designated or certified institution. This is different from getting a Section 25 referral through your Province or ISET as they may have some things to say. 

Hopefully this helps some of you. I am going to be in the unique situation that my contract ends late in the summer so I was planning to be on EI. I would of course do the work search (and have evidence of it), but being realistic know that no one is going to call me back and hire me for such a short period of time. I intend to submit the Section 25 referral request for long-tenured workers as soon as I am on EI due to the short period of time between my work ending and the start of school. I don't expect that any of it will be processed before I start school, but I am hopeful that this program (or something like it) will continue. I know that EI is doing a review of the entire system. They have been collecting public feedback, and it was also mentioned in their budget documents. So this program might disappear/change/expand/etc. 

Good luck out there! 

(and don't ask me questions because I probably don't know the answer. Contact the government. There was someone on the discord that mentioned that their partner had benefited from this program and it was quite helpful - so maybe there is some of you around here that can offer additional insight if anyone has questions). 

[Qwerty]

Hi @GoBigorGoHome,

 

Thank you for writing about this topic, this is so informative for mature students with previous job experience.

Not necessarily a question for GoBigorGoHome, but for anyone that knows, my understanding is that one becomes eligible for EI if they lose their job through no fault of their own, and most mature students that are going to law school are probably quitting voluntarily to attend school. So before we even get into Section 25 referral, for those of us that quit their job, it seems like we won't apply to Section 25, as we're not eligible for EI. Is this right? 

[Ozymandius24]

15 hours ago, Qwerty said:

Hi @GoBigorGoHome,

 

Thank you for writing about this topic, this is so informative for mature students with previous job experience.

Not necessarily a question for GoBigorGoHome, but for anyone that knows, my understanding is that one becomes eligible for EI if they lose their job through no fault of their own, and most mature students that are going to law school are probably quitting voluntarily to attend school. So before we even get into Section 25 referral, for those of us that quit their job, it seems like we won't apply to Section 25, as we're not eligible for EI. Is this right? 

The short answer is no you can not quit voluntarily or get fired through fault of your own, however, it's a little more nuanced than that. Regardless, the training program is for training not for a 3 year post-bachelors degree. I am pretty sure the government will not allow someone to go on EI for 3 years straight to earn a JD full time. If you were say a Health Care assistant who got let go and you were getting a Dementia Care certification over a few months to be more hirable then you would eligible. If that same Health Care assistant who got let go decided instead to go to medical school, sure as you were born, they would not qualify for EI through the training program.

P.S. If you are working during law school and you get let go through no fault of your own you still may qualify for EI. You increase the chances of this happening if you work in the restaurant industry 😀. I sadly know from experience. 😔 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Ozymandius24
Letting them know which industry has a good chance of collecting EI

[Qwerty]

Thanks so much! This is incredibly insightful. 

[GoBigOrGoHome]

On 5/10/2023 at 10:33 AM, Qwerty said:

Hi @GoBigorGoHome,

 

Thank you for writing about this topic, this is so informative for mature students with previous job experience.

Not necessarily a question for GoBigorGoHome, but for anyone that knows, my understanding is that one becomes eligible for EI if they lose their job through no fault of their own, and most mature students that are going to law school are probably quitting voluntarily to attend school. So before we even get into Section 25 referral, for those of us that quit their job, it seems like we won't apply to Section 25, as we're not eligible for EI. Is this right? 

You are correct. If you quit, you don't qualify. But if you are on a contract and it ends before law school, you qualify because you did not lose your job due to no fault of your own. 

Also I want to note that the comment above is incorrect with what programs Service Canada will issue a s. 25 for. A person can actually get a s. 25 referral for medical school if they still have weeks of regular EI left and you qualify for the program that I mentioned at the top of this thread. 

Do know that a lot of staff at Service Canada might not know what you are talking about when you ask for a referral to this program. It is called something else internally than what they have on their website. If they can't find it, have them google and find their own webpage, then they will put you on hold and find someone who is familiar.