Section 2 — Employment Insurance Act: Definitions

In this Act, affidavit means an affidavit sworn or affirmed before a commissioner of oaths or any other person authorized to take affidavits; ( affidavit ) benefit period means the period described in sections 9, 10, 152.1 and 152.11; ( période de prestations ) benefits means unemployment benefits payable under Part I, VII.1 or VIII; ( prestation ) board of referees [Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 240] claimant means a person who applies or has applied for benefits under this Act; ( prestataire ) Commission means the Canada Employment Insurance Commission; ( Commission ) common-law partner , in relation to an individual, means a person who is cohabiting with the individual in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year; ( conjoint de fait ) confirmed delivery service means certified or registered mail or any other delivery service that provides proof of delivery; ( service de messagerie ) documents includes money, securities, books, records, letters, telegrams, vouchers, invoices, accounts and statements (financial or otherwise); ( documents ) dwelling-house means the whole or any part of a building or structure that is kept or occupied as a permanent or temporary residence and includes a building within the yard of a dwelling-house that is connected to it by a doorway or by a covered and enclosed passageway, and a unit that is designed to be mobile and to be used as a permanent or temporary residence and that is being used as a residence; ( maison d’habitation ) employee’s premium means the premium that a person employed in insurable employment is required to pay under section 67; ( cotisation ouvrière ) employer includes a person who has been an employer and, in respect of remuneration of an individual referred to as sponsor or co-ordinator of a project in paragraph 5(1)(e), it includes that individual; ( employeur ) employer’s premium means the premium that an employer of an insured person is required to pay under section 68; ( cotisation patronale ) employment means the act of employing or the state of being employed; ( emploi ) employment benefits [Repealed, 2022, c. 10, s. 387] employment support measure means a measure established under section 59; ( mesure de soutien à l’emploi ) insurable earnings means the total amount of the earnings, as determined in accordance with Part IV, that an insured person has from insurable employment; ( rémunération assurable ) insurable employment has the meaning assigned by section 5; ( emploi assurable ) insured person means a person who is or has been employed in insurable employment; ( assuré ) interruption of earnings means an interruption that occurs in the earnings of an insured person or a person to whom Part VII.1 applies at any time and in any circumstances determined by the regulations; ( arrêt de rémunération ) labour dispute means a dispute between employers and employees, or between employees and employees, that is connected with the employment or non-employment, or the terms or conditions of employment, of any persons; ( conflit collectif ) long-tenured worker [Repealed, 2016, c. 7, s. 207] Minister means the Minister of Employment and Social Development, except in Parts IV and VII; ( ministre ) overpayment of benefits does not include a benefit repayment as described in Part VII; ( versement excédentaire de prestations ) prescribed means prescribed by the regulations or determined in accordance with rules prescribed by the regulations; ( Version anglaise seulement ) provincial law means the provisions of any Act of the legislature of a province authorizing, or entitling a person to, the payment of benefits under a plan established by or under that Act; ( loi provinciale ) rate of unemployment means the rate of unemployment as determined from time to time in a year; ( taux de chômage ) regular benefits means benefits payable under Part I and Part VIII, but does not include special benefits or benefits by virtue of section 24 or 25; ( prestations régulières ) special benefits means benefits paid for any reason mentioned in subsection 12(3) or 152.14(1); ( prestations spéciales ) umpire [Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 240] week means a period of seven consecutive days beginning on and including Sunday, or any other prescribed period; ( semaine ) year means a calendar year. ( année ) If the use of rates of unemployment produced by Statistics Canada is required under this Act or the regulations, the Commission shall use those most recently produced at the time it is appropriate or necessary for the Commission to make a final determination in respect of those rates or involving their use. A document or other communication under this Act or the regulations may be in electronic form and a reference in this Act or the regulations to a form, record, book, notice, request, demand, decision or any other document includes a document in electronic form. In this Act and the regulations, references to claims for benefits include questions arising in relation to those claims, and references to action on a claim include determining questions in favour of or adversely to claimants. For the purposes of section 145, the Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations for establishing how many weeks of benefits a claimant was paid, in order to take into account benefit reductions or deductions in the calculation or payment of those benefits.