Maternity and Parental Leave in Canada by Province: Job Protection

How long your job is protected depends on the law that covers it: your province’s or territory’s employment standards law, or the Canada Labour Code if your employer is federally regulated (which law covers you). Ontario gives 17 weeks of pregnancy leave and 61 weeks of parental leave after it, or 63 weeks for a parent who didn’t take pregnancy leave. Federally regulated jobs give 17 weeks of maternity leave and up to 63 weeks of parental leave, at most 78 together for one parent. The leave keeps your job; EI benefits, or QPIP in Quebec, can pay eligible parents while you’re off (EI guide). Federal, Ontario, Alberta and Yukon rules bar firing or penalizing you for the leave, with limits, and none of the laws read here requires an employer top-up.

How long is maternity and parental leave in each province?

“Not stated” means our source gives no figure, not that the rule doesn’t exist.

Pregnancy leave is for the person giving birth: Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon and the federal Code call it maternity leave, and Ontario, Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut call it pregnancy leave. Parental leave is for a parent by birth or adoption; New Brunswick’s Act heads its version “Child care”.

Where a row shows two parental figures, the lower is for a parent who also took pregnancy leave (Ontario, B.C., Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan, where it also applies after adoption leave), or the higher is what two parents can share (Northwest Territories, Yukon, federal). The combined maximum is one parent’s limit in B.C., Nova Scotia and federally, and covers leave taken for the same child by one or two employees in New Brunswick and by one or more in Prince Edward Island; Nunavut’s page doesn’t say whom its cap covers.

A child who needs more care can extend the leave. British Columbia: Can be extended by up to 5 weeks if the child needs more care due to a physical, psychological or emotional condition. Prince Edward Island: An extra 5 consecutive weeks if the child has a physical, psychological or emotional condition needing additional parental care.

The sources for every row except Yukon call the leave unpaid or without pay. Yukon’s figures come from its fact sheet on yukon.ca, updated August 2021, which leaves benefits to federal EI. The Nunavut Labour Standards Act consolidation we read is dated June 13, 2022.

Is there paternity leave in Canada?

Pay for the other parent comes from EI parental benefits, or QPIP’s paternity benefits in Quebec (QPIP guide).

Outside Quebec the other parent takes parental leave, open to “natural or adoptive” parents federally, “Birth and adoptive parents” in Alberta and “Both new parents” in Ontario, and “Both parents can take 1 full period” in British Columbia.

On being off at once, Ontario says a birth father “could be on parental leave at the same time” as the birth mother. An Alberta employer of both parents “isn’t required to grant parental leave to both employees at the same time”. Yukon: Two or more employees may take it at the same time if the employee first on parental leave cannot care for the child because of injury, illness, death or other hardship in the family. The other pages we read don’t say.

Quebec has paternity leave by name: 5 continuous weeks without pay for the father or non-birthing parent, adoptive parents and surrogacy parents named on the birth record. It can’t be shared with the person who gave birth, needs no minimum service, ends within 78 weeks of the birth and can be followed by parental leave. If you keep paying group insurance and pension contributions, your employer pays its share. Both parents also get 5 days for a birth or adoption, the first 2 paid.

Can adoptive and non-birth parents take parental leave?

Adoptive parents are named in the parental leave rules of the federal Code, Alberta, B.C., Nunavut, Ontario and Quebec, among others. Ontario’s parent includes an adoptive parent before the adoption is final and “a person who is in a relationship of some permanence with a parent of the child and who plans on treating the child as their own”. In Quebec, both parents in a same-sex couple qualify when the birth certificate or adoption judgment names them. Saskatchewan adds 19 weeks of adoption leave for an adopted child’s primary caregiver, followed by parental leave. EI parental benefits are open to adoptive parents too.

How long is maternity leave in Ontario?

Ontario gives 17 weeks of pregnancy leave if you started the job at least 13 weeks before the due date, whether or not you actually worked those weeks. Parental leave is 61 weeks after pregnancy leave, or 63 otherwise, once you’ve been employed 13 weeks, and time on layoff, vacation or sick leave counts.

A birth parent ordinarily starts parental leave when pregnancy leave ends; other parents start within 78 weeks of the birth or arrival and needn’t finish within it. Your employer “cannot decide when the employee will begin pregnancy leave”, and if you’re still pregnant after 17 weeks the leave runs to the birth. Returning to work, even part time, ends the leave, unlike EI, which lets you earn some wages (working while on maternity leave).

What are the rules for federally regulated jobs?

• A pregnant employee can take up to 17 weeks of maternity leave, starting as early as 13 weeks before the expected birth date.
• Maternity leave falls in the period that begins 13 weeks before the expected birth and ends 17 weeks after the actual birth.
• Each natural or adoptive parent can take up to 63 weeks of parental leave, in one continuous period, within the 78 weeks after the child is born or comes into their care.
• Parents who both work for federally regulated employers can share parental leave for up to 71 weeks in total.
• Maternity and parental leave together can't exceed 78 weeks for one parent, or 86 weeks when the parental leave is shared.
• You give your employer written notice at least 4 weeks before the leave starts.
• When you return, your employer must give you your former position or a comparable one in the same location with the same wages and benefits.
• The Code doesn't require the employer to pay you during maternity or parental leave; EI pays benefits instead.

With your employer’s consent, you can interrupt the leave to work while your newborn or newly adopted child is in hospital; if your employer refuses or doesn’t answer within a week, you can extend the leave by those weeks. Maternity leave still ends within 52 weeks of the birth and parental leave within 104 weeks, even when parental leave is paused for another leave.

Do you qualify, and how much notice do you give?

Nova Scotia’s guide says employees “do not need a certain length of service”, and Quebec’s maternity and paternity leave apply whatever your service. In Alberta, someone with under 90 days “may still be granted leave”, but the employer doesn’t have to.

Late notice:

• Saskatchewan: without four weeks’ written notice, the 19-week maternity leave drops to 15 weeks.
• Manitoba: maternity leave stays without the four weeks’ notice, but within two weeks of stopping work your employer must get a medical certificate giving the due date; parental leave can be shortened by the notice not given.
• Alberta: missing it for medical reasons or something about the birth or adoption doesn’t cost the leave, if you give written notice as soon as possible (for maternity leave, with a medical certificate, within two weeks of your last day or as soon as possible).
• Nova Scotia: as much notice as you can if you’ve worked there under four weeks, the baby comes early, for a medical condition or an unexpected adoption placement.
• Yukon: No 4 weeks' notice is needed if the employee has given birth, the pregnancy has ended, or the leave is for pregnancy-related health problems.

When can the leave start, and when must it end?

Pregnancy leave can start 13 weeks before the due date in Alberta, B.C., New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and federally; 16 in Nova Scotia and Quebec; 17 in Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Ontario. Yukon’s sheet doesn’t say. B.C.’s leave runs at least 6 weeks after the birth unless a doctor or nurse practitioner certifies an earlier return, and Alberta’s 6 unless the employer agrees and a medical certificate says it’s safe.

Parental leave must start by a deadline in three provinces:

• Ontario: The leave must start within 78 weeks of the birth or of the child first coming into your care; it does not have to be finished in that time.
• British Columbia: Parental leave can begin at any time within 78 weeks of the birth or placement: the leave must start within that time.
• Manitoba: Can begin up to 18 months after the birth or adoption.

Elsewhere it must be over by the deadline; Nova Scotia and Nunavut say the leave must be “taken within” theirs:

• Alberta: Must be completed within 78 weeks of the birth or placement.
• New Brunswick: The leave must end no later than 78 weeks after the child came into the employee's care and custody.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: Parental leave ends on the earlier of 61 weeks after it began or 96 weeks after the birth or first care of the child: it must end by then.
• Northwest Territories: The leave must be taken in the period ending 78 weeks after the birth or arrival of the child (86 weeks if more than one employee takes parental leave).
• Nova Scotia: Must be taken within 18 months after the child arrives in the home.
• Nunavut: Must be taken within the year after the child is born or arrives in the employee's home.
• Prince Edward Island: The 62 weeks must fall within the 78-week period after the birth, adoption or placement of the child: the leave must end by then.
• Quebec: no later than 85 weeks after the birth or adoption.
• Saskatchewan: Must be taken in the period from 13 weeks before the estimated date of birth to 78 weeks after the birth or placement (86 weeks for a parent other than the one who took maternity or adoption leave): the leave must end by then.
• Yukon: The leave must be completed no later than 78 weeks after the birth or adoption of the child.

The federal page doesn’t say which: Taken during the 78-week period starting the day the child is born or comes into your care; cannot extend beyond 104 weeks after that day. Illness late in pregnancy is on the sick leave page.

Can you split parental leave or share it with your partner?

Parental leave is generally one block: federally “one continuous period without interrupting the leave with periods of work”, in Manitoba one continuous period, in Saskatchewan straight after maternity or adoption leave for the same parent, and in Ontario all at once. Quebec’s can be suspended, divided or extended for health reasons, divided into weeks if your employer agrees, or mixed with part-time work by agreement.

Some laws cap two parents’ leave together. Alberta caps two employees of the same employer at 62 weeks. New Brunswick caps two employees’ parental leave for the same birth or adoption at 62 weeks, and their pregnancy and parental leave for the same birth at 78. In the Northwest Territories, Yukon and federally, the table’s second figure is the shared total; federally both parents must work for federally regulated employers.

How do the leave weeks line up with EI maternity and parental benefits?

EI pays for part of the leave on its own rules; under the Canada Labour Code you needn’t collect EI to take the leave. EI maternity benefits last up to 15 weeks at 55% of your earnings. Standard parental benefits last up to 40 weeks shared (35 for one parent) at 55%, within 52 weeks; extended ones up to 69 weeks (61) at 33%, within 78. The leave can run longer: Ontario’s guide says EI “may be payable” during the leave, and Alberta’s leave is one week longer than the EI benefit “in recognition of the waiting period”. Eligibility, amounts and standard versus extended are in the EI guide.

Quebec: QPIP pays maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits instead of EI (QPIP guide).

Self-employed parents: Self-employed people can register for EI special benefits (maternity, parental, sickness and caregiving), but must wait 12 months after registering before they can claim. See EI for the self-employed.

What happens when you go back to work?

Ontario: “the same job the employee had before the leave began; or a comparable job, if the employee’s old job no longer exists”, paid at least as before, and at the higher wage if the job’s pay went up. Alberta says “same, or equivalent, job”, Manitoba your old position or a comparable one with no less pay and benefits, Yukon “the job they had before they left or to a comparable position” and Quebec your “regular position”; the federal rule is above. Saskatchewan: the same job after a leave of 60 days or less, a comparable job “with no loss in pay or benefits” after a longer one.

Ontario lets you stay in the employer’s pension, life, accidental death, extended health and dental plans, with the employer paying its share of premiums unless you say in writing you’ll stop paying yours. Seniority keeps counting in Ontario; Alberta treats you as “continuously employed” for years of service.

Federally regulated jobs: Federally regulated employers can't penalize, dismiss, suspend, lay off, demote or discipline you for applying for or taking a leave. Pension, health and disability benefits generally continue if you keep paying your share, and you keep building seniority.

British Columbia: In B.C., your employment counts as continuous during a leave under the Employment Standards Act, so you still get raises and your employer keeps paying into benefit plans. You can return to your job or one like it, and your employer can't fire or lay you off, or change your job conditions, without your written agreement.

More is in the leave overview.

Notice before returning:

• Alberta: Written notice at least 4 weeks before returning to work, or that you won’t return; without it, or if you don’t report the day after the leave, the employer needn’t take you back unless something unforeseen caused it.
• Saskatchewan: four weeks’ written notice after a leave over 60 days, and no return until the employer gets it.
• Coming back early: two weeks’ or one pay period’s written notice, whichever is longer, in Manitoba; four weeks’ notice (written, for maternity leave) or an agreement in Yukon.

Can you be fired or laid off on maternity or parental leave?

The federal and B.C. protections are above. Ontario employers “cannot penalize an employee in any way” over the leave, and Yukon’s must not end your job or change its conditions during it. Alberta bars firing or laying off someone entitled to or on the leave unless the business is suspended or closed, and then the worker must be taken back if it restarts within 52 weeks after the leave.

The limits: Ontario needn’t reinstate someone dismissed “for reasons that are totally unrelated” to the leave, and Manitoba says a job can go for reasons “completely unrelated to the leave”, though the employer must show the leave played no part. Alberta adds that employers can’t discriminate against, fire or lay off you, or make you resign, because of pregnancy or childbirth, and points to its Human Rights Commission.

See severance pay, wrongful dismissal, the leave overview and reprisal complaints.

Does your employer have to top up maternity leave?

None of the leave laws read here requires one: the federal Code “does not provide for paid parental leave”, and Alberta employers pay nothing during the leave unless a contract or collective agreement says so. An employer may offer one: “Employers can offer supplemental payments”, Service Canada says, and Manitoba notes employers “can, and often do, give greater benefits”.

For EI not to deduct it, your EI plus the top-up can’t exceed your normal weekly earnings (100% of gross salary), and it can’t be used to reduce banked sick leave, vacation credits or severance. Plans needn’t be registered with Service Canada, and one may require, for example, that you return to work for at least 6 months afterwards. Whether you get one depends on your contract, collective agreement or employer policy.

What if the pregnancy ends early?

A late loss can still bring pregnancy or maternity leave:

• Ontario: none if the miscarriage or stillbirth is more than 17 weeks before the due date; within that period, leave ending at the later of 17 weeks after it began or 12 weeks after the loss.
• Alberta: If a pregnancy loss occurs within 16 weeks of the estimated due date, the employee is still entitled to maternity leave (not parental leave), ending 16 weeks after it begins.
• Saskatchewan: a loss up to 20 weeks before the estimated birth still allows 19 weeks.
• Quebec: from week 20, unpaid maternity leave of up to 20 weeks; before it, up to 3 weeks.
• Nova Scotia: after completing week 19, up to 16 consecutive weeks unpaid.
• British Columbia: up to 6 consecutive weeks from the day the pregnancy ends.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: pregnancy leave covers a still-birth or miscarriage; If not entitled to parental leave, it ends at the later of 17 weeks after it began or 6 weeks after the birth, still-birth or miscarriage.

In Ontario and Alberta a loss brings no parental leave. Other rows’ pages don’t say. Bereavement days for a pregnancy loss are on the bereavement leave page.

Related pages

• EI maternity and parental benefits, QPIP
• Job-protected leave, saving for a maternity leave, bereavement, caregiver and sick leave