01In one paragraph
E.I. SOS is a paid coaching service for Canadians who were fired, quit, or had an Employment Insurance claim refused. Clients are screened by phone. Accepted clients pay $697 to $1,497 for a written case review, a question-by-question answer guide, prep for the Service Canada call, and email support through the process. The promise is "approved or refunded", with conditions. No paid competitor exists in Canada. The business sits in the empty band between free nonprofits and $2,000+ lawyers.
Year-one net is about $45K in the floor case and $378K in the base case. The one unknown that decides which case we get is the cost of a Meta lead. A $500 test answers it.
R researched with a source A assumption D decided by Shaw
02The problem
What is at stake for the claimant
- Up to $729 a week for 14 to 45 weeks. R That is $10,000 to $33,000 for a typical claim.
- 184,000 people a year are disqualified for quitting or misconduct. R
- 45.7% of decisions get reversed when the claimant asks for reconsideration. Most never ask, or ask badly. R
- Service Canada met its 30-day reconsideration standard only 25.3% of the time in FY2024-25, down from 53.1%. People wait months with no income and no guidance. R
Who pays
| Door | Situation | Search / mo | Package |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fired? Quit? | Before applying, or waiting | ~1,460 | READY $697 |
| Refused? | Has a denial letter | ~1,400 | RECOURS $997 |
| Denied twice | Wants the Board of Appeal | small | BOARD $1,497 |
English carries ~90% of problem-intent search. French searchers say "chômage", not "assurance-emploi". Both languages from day one. R D
03The offer
Changed 2026-09-02 (Shaw). No money-back guarantee and no Board of Appeal package. Two packages: READY $697 and RECOURS $997. Risk reversal is now: free screening call, "we only take files we believe we can win", pay only if we take your file, and the READY fee is credited in full toward RECOURS if Service Canada denies. The live site reflects this; the cards below are the original plan.
Coaching and preparation, never "legal advice" or "representation".
READY / PRÊT
$697
Fired or quit. Before applying, or applied and waiting.
- Written case review in 2 business days
- Application answer guide, question by question
- Investigation prep pack for the agent's call
- 45 days email support
Guarantee. Denied → we do the reconsideration free. Denied again → full refund.
RECOURS
$997
Has a denial letter. 30 days to ask for reconsideration.
- Decision-letter review: which section, what was missed
- Evidence plan: witnesses, documents, timeline
- Reconsideration request drafted with the client
- Prep for the agent's call. 90 days email support
Guarantee. Denied at reconsideration → full refund, or full credit to BOARD.
BOARD OF APPEAL
$1,497
Denied at reconsideration. 30 days to appeal.
- Full appeal file, written submissions, evidence bundle
- Hearing prep: mock questions, what the panel weighs
- Email support through the hearing
No refund guarantee. Baseline success at this level is about a third. Free assessment of next steps if denied.
Add-ons and payment
- Rush review in 24h: +$149. Employer ROE dispute letter: +$199.
- Two instalments 30 days apart on any package, card on file.
- Expected mix 70 / 25 / 5. Blended ~$812 per client. A
Guarantee conditions (checkout + agreement, both languages)
- File accepted after our screening call.
- Client gave true and complete facts. A misrepresentation found by Service Canada voids it.
- Client followed the written plan and met the deadlines.
- Refund within 10 business days of the written denial for the covered stage.
What the product is not. Not legal advice. Not representation. Not a way to change the story. True facts, framed right, evidence gathered, deadlines met. That is the whole product, and it is also the legal line.
04Why we win against "free"
The real competitor
About twenty Quebec nonprofits (MASSE / CNC network), CLEO and Steps to Justice in Ontario, Éducaloi, legal-aid clinics, and unions. All free, all ranking on page one. One of them, LASTUSE, publishes interview prep for $0. R
Lawyers charge $300+ an hour and do not sell EI work. Reconsideration and appeals are free to file. That is why the paid category does not exist. R
Our answer, on the first screen
- Speed. Written review in 2 business days. Nonprofits have waiting lists.
- One-on-one. Your file, your facts, your answer guide.
- Inside knowledge. Someone who sat on the other side of the call for 14 years.
- Anywhere, both languages. No income test, no membership.
- Approved or refunded. Nobody free can say that.
05How we get clients
| Channel | What we found | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Meta | Zero advertisers in the category. Untested. Legal-services CPL benchmarks $30–$150, average ~$72. R | The $500 / 7-day test decides everything. Landing page, not lead form: lead forms are cheaper but half as qualified. |
| Google Search | Zero paid ads on 20 EI SERPs. CPC $0.66–$3.00. Inventory caps at ~40 leads a month nationally. R | Run it small and capped, $500–$1,500 a month. |
| SEO | Page one held by weak domains (118 referring domains or fewer). Winnable in 6 months. R | Content site in both languages. Slow, compounding, $0 a lead. |
| Referrals | 10–20% of paid clients send one more. A | Ask at the outcome email. |
Meta ad rules R
EI coaching does not fit Meta's "Employment" special category (that covers job offers and recruitment) or "Social issues" (advocacy), as long as the creative stays transactional. No "the system is broken". No "the government owes you". No "you were fired" pointed at the viewer. State the guarantee with its conditions, never a bare "guaranteed". Nothing that looks like a government notice.
06How it runs
The funnel
- Ad → landing page → short qualification form. No uploads.
- Automated email: "a team member will call you."
- Call center calls within minutes. A 5-minute callback converts far better than a 1-hour one. Speed to lead beats cost per lead. R
- Screening script says yes or no. Target: reject 40–50% of reached leads. A "no" gets a free referral to the nearest nonprofit.
- "Yes" → sell the package, card on file, agreement signed.
- Coaching by email, by staff Alex trained. Case review in 2 business days.
- Outcome logged. Guarantee honoured, every time, without argument.
Who does what
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| Shaw | Site, ads, funnel, systems, checkout, agreements. Fronts the build. |
| Fahad | Call center: qualification calls, sales, card on file. |
| Alex | Retired, 14 years Service Canada EI. Writes the playbook. Trains the coaches. QA on the first 100 files. Escalations only after that. Name and face stay off the site. |
07Money
Cash to launch A
| Domains (6) | ~$100 |
| Meta test | $500 |
| Incorporation or DBA | $400–$1,000 |
| Lawyer review of agreement, guarantee, disclaimers (EN + FR) | $1,500–$3,000 |
| Errors and omissions insurance (quote needed) | $1,000–$2,500/yr |
| Tools stack once live (GHL, phone, email, Stripe, hosting) | ~$800/mo |
| Total to launch | $5K–$8K + month-one ads |
Per client, base case A
| Blended price | $812 |
| Card + chargebacks | ~$40 |
| Refund reserve (20% of guaranteed revenue) | ~$145 |
| Qualification calls (plan $5–$10 a lead, not $3) | ~$35–$65 |
| Email coaching | $35 |
| Meta at $40 CPL, 15% close | ~$267 |
| Contribution | ~$260–$290 |
Break-even Meta CPL: $85 at 15% close, $68 at 12%. Every $10 of CPL moves base-case net by ~$45K a year.
Year one, four cases A
| Floor | Base | Upside | Scale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What must be true | Meta fails. Search + SEO only. | Meta at $40 CPL, $15K/mo | $45 CPL, $50K/mo | $55 CPL, $100K/mo (year 2) |
| Lead → paid | 10% | 15% | 20% | 20% |
| Clients / mo at month 12 | ~11 | ~93 | ~220 | ~342 |
| Year-one revenue | ~$80K | $790K | $1.92M | $3.01M |
| Year-one net | ~$45K | $378K | $792K | $1.01M |
| Per partner, 3-way | ~$15K | $126K | $264K | $336K |
| Confidence | 80% | 45% | 25% | 15% |
Net is after ads, refunds, card, call center, coaching, tools. Before partners' time and tax.
Read the Meta test against this table
| Observed CPL | Read | Build for |
|---|---|---|
| under $40 | Meta works | Base now, Upside by month 6 |
| $40–$55 | Works if close rate is 15%+ | Base. Fix conversion before scaling. |
| $55–$75 | Only works at 20% close | Base with a strict phone script. No scale. |
| over $75 | Paid traffic loses money | Floor. SEO play, ~$15K a head. |
08Legal lines R
The product lives inside these. Sources in the 2026-09-02 legal digest.
- Paid non-lawyer help is allowed at the federal level. The Board of Appeal's own guidance says a claimant may be assisted by "a friend, a union representative, a lawyer or any other person of your choice" and pays any fees. That is site guidance, not a statute. A good fact, not a shield.
- Coaching is safe in every province. Representation is not. Preparing the client to speak and write for themselves is the lane. Speaking or filing for the client before the Board or Tribunal risks provincial unauthorized-practice rules (Quebec Barreau Act s.128, Ontario Law Society Act s.26.1). If representation ever becomes core, partner with an Ontario-licensed paralegal. Until then: the client files, the client speaks, we prepare.
- Never coach a false story. EI Act s.135 and ss.38–39 penalise "any person acting for a claimant" who helps make a false statement. The coach is exposed, not just the client. Guarantee condition 2 enforces this.
- No inside information. Alex's post-employment duty never to use non-public program information is permanent. General knowledge of how adjudication works is fine. Internal guidance, lookups, or contacts are not. If his position was "designated" and he retired less than a year ago, he also cannot make representations to Service Canada for clients until the year passes. Coaching is unaffected.
- Guarantee and checkout must follow consumer law. Competition Act s.74.01: no success-rate claim without an adequate and proper test, and no guarantee we cannot honour. Quebec CPA distance contracts: 7-day cancellation right, mandatory contract contents, copy delivered. Ontario CPA 2002: pre-checkout disclosure and an accept / decline / correct-errors step. The 2-instalment plan lives inside these.
- Never publish an approval rate. "We only take files we believe we can win" says it without the exposure. The "99%" stays in the group chat.
- Not affiliated with Service Canada or the Government of Canada. Footer on every page. No maple leaf, no government look.
- FAQ names the Employment Insurance Board of Appeal, which took over first-level EI appeals on 2026-04-01 (verified). Any copy naming the SST as first level is wrong.
09Top risks
| # | Risk | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta cost per lead is unknown. No one in Canada has run this ad. | $500 test before any build. Read it against the money table. |
| 2 | Free help is organised and ranks. Twenty nonprofits plus legal aid. | Answer "why pay?" on the first screen. Refer rejects to them. Never fight them. |
| 3 | Refunds run above 20% if screening is loose. | Screening script with hard reject rules. Track approval rate per coach from file one. |
| 4 | Regulatory attention. First in an empty category gets examined first. | Coaching language everywhere, lawyer-reviewed agreement, transparent flat pricing, honour every refund. |
| 5 | Alex is the only source of the knowledge. | Playbook written before launch. Two coaches trained. Alex out of delivery by file 100. |
| 6 | Rules change. Temporary EI measures end 2026-10-10 unless extended. The Board of Appeal is 5 months old with no published stats. | Review the FAQ and playbook every quarter. |
10Ninety-day plan
| Week | Milestone | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Register 6 domains. REQ + CIPO name search by hand. Decide company of record. | Shaw |
| 1–2 | Alex answers the questions below. Playbook outline agreed. | Alex, Shaw |
| 2 | Landing page + qualification form (EN). Meta account under our own Business Manager. | Shaw |
| 2–3 | $500 / 7-day Meta test, both languages. Read CPL. | Shaw |
| 3 | Go / no-go on build. If go: lawyer engaged for agreement + guarantee. | All three |
| 3–6 | Playbook v1: case-review template, answer guides per separation type, prep pack, refund rules. | Alex |
| 4–6 | Screening script, reject rules, referral list of nonprofits by province. Coach training. | Fahad, Alex |
| 5–8 | Full site EN, then FR. Checkout, agreement, instalments. Email sequences. | Shaw |
| 8 | Soft launch: first 20 files, Alex QA on every one. | All |
| 9–12 | Launch at $15K/mo Meta if CPL holds. Google Search capped. SEO content starts. | Shaw |
| 12 | Review: approval rate on accepted files, refund rate, CPL, close rate. Decide scale. | All |
11Open decisions
- Company of record: new corp, Prime CS, or a DBA under an existing company.
- Partner split and who funds the launch cash.
- Name: SOS Chômage (FR) + EI SOS (EN), pending the by-hand REQ and CIPO searches. Note: sos-emploi.com exists (job-search service, not EI). Adjacent, not blocking.
- Whether to offer a cheaper pre-application tier (~$300) after the $697 close rate is known.
12Questions for Alex
Tick them off as they get answered. Ticks save in this browser only.
The product
Timelines and process
The playbook and capacity
13Key sources
- Board of Appeal launch, 2026-04-01: canada.ca backgrounder · representatives allowed: eiboa-caae.gc.ca
- Reconsideration standard met 25.3%, applications 3.2M: EI Monitoring and Assessment Report 2024-25, ch. 4
- 2026 max weekly benefit $729, max insurable earnings $68,900: canada.ca
- Just-cause grounds, EI Act s.29(c): laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · false statements s.135: s.135
- Temporary EI measures to 2026-10-10: canada.ca
- Contested separations 184,260/yr, claims 3.32M: StatCan tables 14-10-0004-01 and 14-10-0005-01 (retrieved 2026-09-01)
- Post-employment rules: TBS Directive on Conflict of Interest
- Performance claims: Competition Bureau, s.74.01
- Meta special ad categories: transparency.meta.com · CPL benchmarks: WordStream 2025
- Search demand, SERPs, competitors, naming: DataForSEO, ScrapeCreators Meta Ad Library, RDAP (2026-09-01), in RESEARCH.md