Employment is generally insurable only if it takes place in Canada, except in limited and narrow cases. For example, employment outside of Canada is insurable if (Regulation 5 of the Employment Insurance Act):

1. the employee ordinarily resides in Canada;

the possibility that employment abroad may qualify for unemployment benefits

2. the employment is outside Canada, or partly outside Canada, for an employer who is resident or has a place of business in Canada;
3. the employment would be insurable if it were in Canada; and
4. the employment is not insurable employment under the laws of the country in which it takes place.

Two recent court cases reviewed the applicability of this rule, as follows:

• a May 3, 2019 Tax Court of Canada case (Gendron vs. H.M.Q., 2018-1532(EI)) found that the taxpayer’s employment in the Netherlands under a secondment agreement would have been insurable in the Netherlands and, therefore, failed condition (d) above; and
• a May 9, 2019 Tax Court of Canada case (Herta vs. H.M.Q., 2018-4301(EI)) found that, while the taxpayer’s employment in the United States required social security contributions, the taxpayer could never receive unemployment benefits from United States social security and, therefore, still satisfied the condition (d) above.