Money Sense published an article on self-employed maternity leave, taking advantage of the new legislation allowing self-employed people to register for EI. As this article points out, it would be wise to carefully map out what benefits you may or may not clam vs the contribution amounts.
For example, if you do not plan on having more children, the maternity amount is irrelevant. In this case, it would be prudent to consider what other benefits you may claim and if it’s financially worth the contributions. Other option such as critical illness and disability insurance may be more appropropriate. Please read our post on EI for self-employed people.
“I was self-employed when both of my children were born. Since I didn’t contribute to Unemployment Insurance, as it was called back then, I couldn’t claim maternity benefits. I was in the same boat as a lot of small-business owners and contract workers.
Last year the federal government decided to try and level the playing-field by offering self-employed people the option of buying into the Employment Insurance program so they can qualify for mat leave benefits, along with a slew of others including parental, sickness and compassionate care benefits.”
You can read the full article on MoneySense’s website here.