Your 2024 Guide to Maternity Leave Benefits in Canada

Maternity leave is a set period of time a biological or adoptive mother can take off from work, while pregnant and after giving birth or adoption, to raise her newborn child. During this absence from work, you will receive paid maternity leave through the government benefit (EI) and your employer is required, by law, to hold your position while you are away. This is different from many other countries that only offer unpaid maternity leave. The amount of time you get from your employer varies by province and territory.

How (And When) To Apply For Maternity Leave

To receive the EI maternity and parental leave from the Government of Canada, you have to apply and meet a set of specific criteria, including accumulating at least 600 hours of insurable employment. You must fill out an online application that will take about 60 minutes to complete. Once you begin the application, you have 72 hours to complete it. It's helpful to have the following information ready to submit:

• Details (names & addresses) of your employers in the 12 months, as well as the dates of employment
• Your address and social insurance number (SIN), plus any other parent if you're sharing the benefits
• Your mother's maiden name
• Bank details
• The expected child’s date of birth
• If you have a newly adopted child, the date of the child’s placement and the name of the agency handling the adoption

Be sure to apply promptly after your last day of work to get the soonest start date of your benefits front he EI program. Waiting longer than 4 weeks after leaving work could risk losing eligibility for these benefits and not having an income replacement during your leave.  It’s essentially the same process that you would follow for a regular EI claim. There’s also an ei waiting period before you receive your first payment. From there, you can claim all the weeks available to you before you, as eligible parents, return to the labour force. ou would follow for a regular EI claim.

How Much You Can Get While On Maternity Leave

Your maternity and parental EI benefits will be key in planning your maternity leave finances. You can get up to 55% of your normal weekly earnings for paid maternity leave, up to $668  as a weekly maximum. The province of Quebec is more generous, and you can get up to 75% of your income there. In both cases you will be expected to pay tax on any benefits received.

These percentages of your income depend on how long you take a leave of absence. The first part of your absence will be your maternity leave and that can last for 15 weeks. Beyond those first 15 weeks, your benefit switches to parental sharing benefits, which can last either the standard 35 weeks or extended into 61 weeks. If you choose the standard length, 50 weeks in total, you receive 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings. If you take the full 76 in total, then you will receive 33% of your average weekly insurable earnings.

To give you some idea of how much monetary benefit you could receive from the government, consider the maximum yearly insurable earnings amount is $63,200 (as of January 1, 2024). That means you would get a max of $668 per week under the standard number of weeks, 35, for the parental benefit. Extended benefits would be $410 a week. Once you choose a duration, you cannot change mid-way.

Who Is Eligible For Maternity And Parental Benefits

While maternity benefits are only available to biological mothers and surrogate mothers who cannot work because they have given birth, parental EI benefits are available to both legally recognized parents or just one parent and, as a bonus, you can share parental benefits. 

For example, a mother and partner can split the 35 weeks between them. In other words, a mother can go back to work after 10 weeks benefits, and the other parent can use the remaining 25 weeks. This applies to both standard benefits and extended benefits. Adoptive parents are just as eligible to receive parental benefits.

Other Eligibility Requirements To Recieve EI

Just like other forms of Employment Insurance, those who are looking to collect materinity leave and claim parental benefits need to meet the eligibility requirements that are listed in the EI Act. These include having insurable employment, minimum hours worked and made contributions to EI.

In Canada, insurable employment is employment ei premiums are paid. Most forms of employment fall under this category, however, some casual work and even self employment don’t fall under insurable employment. 

On top of having insurable employment, you also need to have the minimum number of insurable hours. These vary, but it ranges between 420 and 700 hours (usually 600). Having these hours means that you have made the minimum required amount of contributions through payroll deductions. 

Other Types Of EI And Whether Or Not They Can Be Stacked With Parental And Maternity Benefits

In Canada, you can qualify for multiple types of EI together based on your individual situation. Here are the other types of Employment Insurance that you coudl qualify for. 

Caregiver Benefits

If you leave your employment voluntarily, you will be primarily responsible for caring for someone who is critically ill and injured then you could be eligible to collect EI benefits. There are three different types of caregiving benefits that you could qualify for. 

1. Family Caregiver Benefit For Children: if you’re caring for a critically ill person under the age of 18, then you can get up to 35 payable weeks. 
2. Family Caregiver Benefit For Adults: If you’re caring for a critically ill person over the age of 18, then you can get up to 15 payable weeks. 
3. Compassionate Care Benefits: For a person of any age who requires end of life care, you can get up to 26 weeks. 

The amount you’re eligible to receive for this benefit is a maximum amount of $668 per week. 

Regular Benefits

These benefits are meant for those who are unable to work due to no fault of their own. This is often due to mass layoffs, shortage of work, labour disputes, or seasonal layoffs. With this benefit, you can get up to $668 per week for up to a maximum of 45 weeks, depending on what province you live in. 

Sickness Benefits

If, for any reason, you’re unable to work due to illness or injury, then you could get approved for ei claim benefits depending on when your last ei claim was. You can get up to 26 weeks of paid benefits, and, depending on your situation, as long as you meet the specific circumstances, you may be eligible to receive regular benefits. 

Maternity Leave Differences in Each Province

While maternity leave is similar for each province, the biggest difference is how early they take leave, and how long they must have worked before to be eligible. The EI rules are standard, but the leave you can take unpaid depends on your province.Here are the other options. 

Maternity Leave in BC

In BC, you can get up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, after that, another 17 weeks are available for parental leave. This gives you a total of 78 weeks.

Maternity Leave in Alberta

In Alberta, maternity leave is 16 weeks. That said, you can take up to 62 weeks with parental leave. In order to be eligible though, must have worked a consecutive 90 days with the same employer.

Maternity Leave in Saskatchewan

In Saskatchewan you can start your mat leave up to 13 weeks before the child is born, and no later than the day of birth. You get 19 weeks, but you if you don’t give written notice up to 4 weeks before, it can get reduced to 15 weeks.

Maternity Leave in Manitoba

In Manitoba, Mat leave is up to 17 weeks. However, there’s also the option to take parental leave after.

Maternity Leave in Ontario

In Ontario you can take up to 17 weeks of maternity leave. That said, if you’re still pregnant after the 17 weeks, you can take more time. You do have to take all of your allotted time, all at once.

Maternity Leave in Quebec

In Quebec you can take up to 18 weeks on maternity leave. You can start this leave on or before the birth.

Maternity Leave in PEI

PEI is similar to BC. You can take up to 78 weeks consecutively of maternity leave. For paternity leave, you can take up to 62 weeks.

Maternity Leave in Nova Scotia

In Nova Scotia, you can take up to 52 weeks, or one year for maternity leave.

Maternity Leave in New Brunswick

In New Brunswick, you can take up to 78 weeks of total leave.

Maternity Leave in Newfoundland and Labrador

In Newfoundland, you can take up to 61 weeks of parental leave. There are also 17 weeks of maternity leave. This gives you a total of 78 weeks.

Low-Income Families And Maternity Leave

If your annual income is determined by the government to be less than $25,921, you may be eligible to receive what is called the EI Family Supplement. This is an additional benefit that could increase your benefit rate to as high as 80% of your average insurable earnings. Either parent can receive this benefit, but if the recipient’s income rises the Family Supplement will decrease.

Preparing Your Finances For Maternity Leave

Losing over half of your income while on maternity leave can be a big adjustment and a shock to your finances. Especially when you consider having a child comes with a lot of new expenses – diapers, clothing, toys, professional photography, car seat if you drive – just to name a few.

Whether you’re having a baby with a partner or going it alone, try to work out a new monthly expenditure plan. 

If you’re with a partner, re-adjust how you balance your financial partnership. For example, if you were splitting the rent 50/50, they can take on a bigger percentage of that expense. Also, discuss with your partner ways you can save money. One easy solution is to target your entertainment budget. With a little baby in the house, you won’t be going to the movies or the nightclubs as much anymore.

Final Thoughts

One of the most stressful parts of growing your family is sorting out your finances. While maternity or parental benefits can make a big difference in making ends meet during maternity or parental leave, it’s important to verify that you meet all of the requirements and apply with Sevice Canada in the correct amount of time. It’s also important to decide which option you’d like to claim EI parental benefits, whether you’d rather the standard parental benefits or the extended parental benefits. 

Each of these parental benefits in Canada gives you a portion of your income. With the standard benefits, you can get up to 55%, and with the extended benefits, you can get up to 33% of your standard earnings. Before you decide though, you should consider all of the factors and how they affect you when claiming parental benefits. However, it’s important to note that you need to make the decision on parental benefits when you apply. 

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