Changes to the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) – Impacts on Maternity and Parental Benefits

Introduction

Replacing the bulletin issued on September 28, 2021, this document provides updated information on changes to the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) and considerations for the associated core public administration (CPA) collective agreements.

**Asterisks denote changes from the previous information bulletin.

QPIP has introduced several changes to their maternity, paternity, parental, and adoption benefits, including: ·

• An increase to the period within which paternity, parental or adoption benefits may be taken; and,
• Increases to the number of weeks of various types of QPIP benefits.

For more information about these changes, please consult the following links:

• Québec Parental Insurance Plan | (gouv.qc.ca)
• A practical guide: Québec Parental Insurance Plan, 2022 (gouv.qc.ca)
• Tables of Benefits | Québec Parental Insurance Plan (gouv.qc.ca)

Considerations for core public administration (CPA) collective agreements

Pursuant to the provisions of applicable CPA collective agreements, employees living in the province of Québec and covered under QPIP :

• have access to both options for parental leave without pay (i.e., standard or extended options)
• have access to only Option 1: Standard parental allowance (“top-up”)

In addition, please note:

• Employees who are covered by QPIP are entitled to a maximum combined, shared, maternity and standard parental allowances (“top-up”) of up to 57 weeks for each combined maternity and parental leave without pay.
• The total number of weeks of QPIP benefits available to employees residing in Québec now exceeds the number of weeks of parental allowance (“top-up”) available under CPA collective agreements. Given this, there may be weeks when an employee is on parental leave without pay or leave without pay for the care of family, during which they would receive QPIP benefits but are not eligible for the parental allowance.

**

• An employee who is covered by QPIP who elects to take extended parental leave without pay may choose to receive their standard parental allowance (“top-up”) within the standard (i.e., 52-weeks) or extended period (i.e., 78-weeks) which begins on the day the child is born or comes into the employee’s care, to the maximum combined, shared, maternity and standard parental allowances (“top-up”) outlined for Option 1 – standard parental allowance.

For more information, please refer to the CPA collective agreements as well as the following Human Resource Information Notices:

• Changes to Maternity and Parental Provisions for Public Service Alliance of Canada groups (EB, PA, SV, TC) - Canada.ca
• Changes to Maternity and Parental Provisions - Canada.ca

For those collective agreements that do not provide for an extended parental leave without pay option, employees will need to request leave without pay for the care of family. In turn, organizations are encouraged to grant leave without pay based on the same considerations used for allowing parental leave without pay. Employees who choose the extended parental leave without pay or leave without pay for care of family and who are consequently absent for more than one year will maintain their incumbents’ rights to their position as they would have if they had chosen the standard parental leave without pay option.

Individuals should review their options carefully and choose the option that best suits their needs.

All questions should be directed to your departmental corporate labour relations or corporate compensation officials. If required, designated departmental officials can redirect inquiries to: Interpretations@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Original signed by

Daniel Cyr
Senior Director, Compensation and Collective Bargaining Management
Employee Relations and Total Compensation
Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer