Employment Insurance maximum insurable earnings increase affects some Clients’ Short-Term Disability plans

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The federal government announced the 2026 Employment Insurance (EI) rates and maximum amounts. Below are the new rates and the start date.

This change affects Clients’ Short-Term Disability (STD) plans where:

• the maximum benefit reflects the EI maximum weekly benefit ($729 for 2026), or
• the EI maximum earnings amount ($68,900 for 2026) is used to work out the STD benefit amount.

What you need to know

Insurer-Administered (IA) Clients won’t need to amend their contract if their STD maximum is based on the EI maximum weekly benefit or earnings. These Clients will see this change on their January invoice. Weekly benefit or earnings for disability claims starting on or after January 1, 2026 will be adjusted based on the 2026 EI maximum weekly benefit or earnings.

Policyholder-Administered (PA) Clients who prepare their own statements must include these changes in their systems and processes. They’ll also need to update their billing statement with the new applicable STD amounts.

If your Client has an STD maximum amount that is less than the EI weekly maximum of $729, please let us know whether they would like to amend their plan. We can adjust their STD benefit to reflect the new EI maximum weekly benefit amounts. If your Client uses a lower benefit amount, their plan won’t qualify for the EI premium reduction program.

Plan sponsors who want to match the EI maximum should update their booklet wording to say, “the EI Maximum benefit or earnings,” rather than show a dollar amount. This will prevent the need for annual revisions due to EI maximum increases.

Communication plan

We’ll send this Focus Update to plan sponsors on December 11, 2025.

Questions? We’re here to help.

Please contact your Sun Life Group Benefits representative.