Applying for an employment insurance in canada before or after vacation?

my gf is about to leave Canada for vacation in the Philippines. Can she apply for an employment insurance before her vacation or after her vacation. Is it true that you cannot leave Canada if you are under E.I?

Only under very rare circumstances can you leave Canada if you are on EI. These are limited to things like funerals, family emergencies etc. If you leave the country for a vacation you are not "ready, able and willing" to work as you attest to when you do your reports. Saying yes to that is committing fraud, and if caught you will have to pay back the EI, and may have the number of hours required go up for your next claim.

If she applies after her vaction, she MUST let EI know that she was unavailable for that time period. During those weeks, she will be inelgible to collect. If she applies before, there is a form you have to fill out that explains why she was unavailable etc. (and they want to know the HOUR you leave Canada)

People are caught a lot using the system. Esp. when you leave the country, border services do keep track of people leaving and entering. There is a check and balance system. You may not get caught at first...but in 2 years they can still come after you. Often, it is friends and family that make that "anonymous call" to Service Canada and the person gets caught. A claimant can be asked at any time to prove they were looking for work.