Friday, March 29, 2024

New Canadian parents can take 5 extra weeks of shared parental leave starting tomorrow

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The new federal program allowing parents to take an extra 5 weeks of shared parental leave will come into effect starting Sunday, March 17th.

According to Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, the program will allow new parents to receive extra weeks of parental benefits in an “effort to encourage more parents to share the work of raising their children more equally.”

The Employment Insurance parental sharing benefit adds five weeks to the existing 35-week standard option, and eight weeks to the 61-week extended option.

This move was announced in the 2018 federal budget and is intended to shift the “disproportionate” responsibility of child care away from primarily women, and to make sure that new mothers have the option to return to work sooner if they so choose.

“The introduction of the new five-week parental sharing benefit is welcome news for Canadian families. This additional leave will encourage all parents to be engaged in full-time caregiving for their infants, helping to create greater financial security for women, and stronger bonds between fathers or second parents and their babies,” said Maryam Monsef, Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality.

“By encouraging a more equitable distribution of child care within the home, this new parental leave benefit gives families more flexible child care options and advances gender equality both at home and in the workplace.”

The extended leave will be available for all new parents, including adoptive or same sex couples, of a child born or placed for the purpose of adoption on or after Sunday, March 17, 2019.

The federal government has also promised corresponding changes to the Canada Labour Code to ensure that all private sector employees feel free to take advantage of this new benefit without fear of losing their jobs.

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Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

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