Remember though if you use EI benefits you have to pay into them for the rest of the time you are self employed. Also it would be 55% of your income that means the taxable portion so if you made 30,000 but after deductions you only made 14,000 you only get EI on that portion! So If they divide that monthly cut in half you are looking at probably just over 500 a month but thats only if you made the 14,000. So do the math on if the EI is worth it might be worth it to put money into a high interest savings account. Also you have to pay your portion of EI plus the employer portion which is 1.4 times the employee amount. Also I believe you have to pay into for a year before you can claim. I haven't looked that closely into so it could still totally be worth it. You can always call the gov't and they should be able to give you some info on it