{"id":275,"date":"2026-03-19T05:03:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/travail-autonome-quel-filet-de-securite-pour-les-travailleurs-autonomes-quebecois-en-cas-de-maladie\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T05:03:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T04:03:36","slug":"travail-autonome-quel-filet-de-securite-pour-les-travailleurs-autonomes-quebecois-en-cas-de-maladie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/travail-autonome-quel-filet-de-securite-pour-les-travailleurs-autonomes-quebecois-en-cas-de-maladie\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-employment. What safety net for self-employed Quebec workers in the event of illness?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-86794 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assurance-employe.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assurance-employe.jpg 800w, https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assurance-employe-300x129.jpg 300w, https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assurance-employe-768x331.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Beyond support for business start-ups, social protection for self-employed workers remains a major issue. In Quebec, unlike employees, self-employed workers do not have immediate access to standard sickness benefits. To make up for this gap, they must voluntarily register for special Canada Employment Insurance benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>A fragile safety net<\/h2>\n<p>This safety net, however, requires rigorous planning, since eligibility is based on three pillars: a voluntary contract, a minimum income threshold and the payment of voluntary contributions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>A voluntary contract signed via Service Canada<\/h2>\n<p>This rule means that it is not possible to register \u201cat the last minute\u201d once you become ill. It is a protection mechanism for the regime. As a self-employed worker, you are not required to pay for employment insurance. To be eligible, you must sign a formal agreement with Service Canada (via your My Service Canada Account account) stating that you agree to pay annual premiums in exchange for coverage.<\/p><div id=\"linit-599511184\" class=\"linit-dans-le-contenu linit-entity-placement\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8992136571741975\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8992136571741975\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1055921646\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Once the contract is signed, you start paying your contributions, but you cannot make a claim immediately. You must wait until a full year has passed since you signed before you become eligible to receive money. The goal is to prevent someone who receives a serious medical diagnosis from registering on Monday to apply for benefits on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<h2>A minimum net income threshold required<\/h2>\n<p>To obtain special Employment Insurance benefits (sickness, compassion or caregivers) as a self-employed worker, you must meet a specific net income threshold earned during the calendar year preceding your application. For a request made in 2026, the threshold will increase to $9,254 (based on net income for 2025. Please note that this is not the total turnover, but rather the amount remaining after deducting eligible business expenses, i.e. (the amount on which the self-employed worker pays tax, up to an insurable maximum of $68,900.<\/p>\n<h2>Payment of annual contributions<\/h2>\n<p>For self-employed workers in Quebec, payment of Employment Insurance (EI) contributions is made only once a year, directly via the federal income tax return, by completing Schedule 13. The amount due is added to the tax balance payable to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), on line 42120 and the contribution rate is $1.30 per $100 of net income, up to an annual contribution. maximum of $895.70.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>A strategic decision<\/h2>\n<p>In short, access to the federal safety net for self-employed Quebec workers is not automatic; it is a carefully considered management choice. Since a 12-month waiting period is imposed before any claim, membership cannot be a reaction to a health emergency, but must rather be part of a vision of long-term protection.<\/p>\n<p>Before signing this voluntary contract, each entrepreneur must evaluate whether the cost of annual contributions justifies the peace of mind provided by 26 weeks of coverage. In a context where provincial support programs like the STA are uncertain, this insurance remains one of the few financial defenses against life&rsquo;s unforeseen events. For more details or to start your registration, consulting the Service Canada portal remains the essential step to secure your professional future.<\/p>\n<p>Martine Dallaire, B.B.A.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"screen-reader-text\">Article navigation<\/h2>\n<div id=\"linit-2940010047\" class=\"linit-apres-contenu linit-entity-placement\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-8992136571741975\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8992136571741975\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1055921646\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beyond support for business start-ups, social protection for self-employed workers remains a major issue. In Quebec, unlike employees, self-employed workers do not have immediate access to standard sickness benefits. To make up for this gap, they must voluntarily register for special Canada Employment Insurance benefits.\u00a0 A fragile safety net This safety net, however, requires rigorous [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/assurance-employe.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Travail autonome. Quel filet de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 pour les travailleurs autonomes qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois en cas de maladie ?","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entreprenariat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linitiative.ca\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}