Fill the Record of Employment (ROE) — Canada

The Record of Employment (ROE) is a Service Canada form that employers must issue every time an employee experiences an interruption in earnings — termination, layoff, parental leave, sickness, end of contract, etc. The ROE reports insurable earnings and insurable hours over the past 53 weeks (or since the last ROE) and is used by Service Canada to determine the employee's eligibility for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits and the benefit amount.

An ROE must be issued whenever there is an interruption of earnings — defined as seven or more consecutive days without insurable earnings, or when the employee's salary falls below 60% of normal weekly earnings. Common triggers: dismissal, quit, lay-off, leave of absence (parental, sick, compassionate care), end of contract, retirement, or strike/lockout. Even if the employee is not applying for EI, the ROE is still required.

For ROE Web (electronic): 5 calendar days after the end of the pay period in which the interruption occurred. For paper ROE: 5 calendar days after the interruption, or 5 days after becoming aware of an unforeseen interruption — and the employer must give one copy to the employee and send the original to Service Canada. Failure to issue an ROE on time can delay the employee's EI benefits and trigger penalties.

Block 16 of the ROE uses one-letter reason codes: A (shortage of work / end of contract / lay-off), B (strike or lockout), C (return to school), D (illness or injury), E (quit), F (maternity), G (mandatory retirement), H (work-sharing), J (apprenticeship training), K (other), M (dismissal), N (leave of absence), P (parental), Z (compassionate care). Choose the code that best matches the actual reason — wrong codes can delay or deny EI claims.

Service Canada strongly prefers ROE Web (the online service for employers). It auto-validates, transmits in seconds, and the employee accesses it through their My Service Canada Account. Paper ROEs are only issued by employers who have not registered for ROE Web — those forms are obtained directly from Service Canada (not downloadable as a generic PDF). PDF Edit is useful for the paper version when it has been scanned, or for filling reference copies.

Service Canada does not publish a generic downloadable ROE PDF — the paper form has serialised numbers and is mailed to registered employers on request, and ROE Web (the electronic version) is not exposed as a fillable PDF. PDF Edit lets you fill any PDF you import (e.g., a scanned blank ROE), but for a fresh blank form, employers must register for ROE Web through Service Canada.

Employers register for ROE Web at canada.ca/roe-web — that becomes the primary issuance channel. Paper ROEs are ordered from Service Canada by employers without ROE Web access (request through 1-800-O-Canada or your regional Service Canada Centre). The paper ROE is a controlled multi-part form; it is not published as a freely downloadable PDF.

Yes. PDF Edit processes any document inside your browser. Employee SINs, earnings, and reason codes never cross the internet — important because the ROE contains personal data subject to PIPEDA.

Service Canada uses the ROE to verify the employee's insurable earnings (Block 15B/C) and insurable hours (Block 15A) over the past 53 weeks. These determine whether the employee qualifies for EI (minimum hours required) and the weekly benefit rate (55% of average insurable weekly earnings, capped). An accurate ROE is essential — errors typically require an amended ROE through Service Canada.