Maternity and parental leave and benefits
Important Information: This webpage reflects the information based on CBI 205.461 - Maternity and Parental Allowance, effective 1 April 2025.
1. Preparing for maternity and parental leave
Welcome to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) maternity and parental leave section where we celebrate the CAF’s support for expecting and new parents. It is important to be informed of all the benefits and top-up allowances you may receive while on leave without pay (LWOP) or Exemption from Duty and Training (ED&T).
The CAF recommends that you start to prepare for your maternity and/or parental leave 12 weeks ahead of your Maternity / Parental leave ED&T start date. You may not have access to the DND network (DWAN) while on leave. You will not receive your regular paycheque while on LWOP or ED&T. You may be eligible to receive Employment Insurance (EI) or Quebec Parental Insurance (QPIP) benefits and a top-up of up to 93% or 55.8% (whichever is applicable) of your pay and other allowances IAW CBI 205.461 while on leave. Note that other allowances mean one or more of the following other allowances: CBI 10.14.02 (Foreign Service Premium), CBI 10.15 (Post Living Allowance), CBI 10.16 (Post Differential Allowance), CBI 205.453 (Canadian Forces Housing Differential), CBI 205.4535 (Provisional Post Living Differential), and CBI 11.2.02 (Isolation Allowance Components) when a member is physically at the isolated post for which the component is paid, or is traveling at public expense under CBI 209.51 (Compassionate Travel Assistance)..
We encourage you to contact your unit Orderly Rooms (OR) and Pension Centre prior to taking leave to better understand your benefits. You should review your medical and dental benefits in case you wish to increase your coverage to include your new dependent(s) or to increase the hospital accommodation coverage towards a semi-private (Level 2) or private room (Level 3).
Note that the difference in level of hospital coverage is a higher daily rate to be applied to the cost of a semi-private or private room. This may not cover the full cost depending on the daily fees charged by your hospital. Semi-private or private rooms are based on availability and not guaranteed. It is important to action as soon as possible to ensure the desired hospital coverage is in place before the birth of your child. For more information, speak with your healthcare provider (CAF members) or consult the Public Service Health Care Plan for your dependent.
Review with Chain of Command (CoC) whether your position will need to be backfilled in your absence. If backfilling the position is desired by CoC, ensure that your replacement is ready to assume your position or responsibilities in your absence.
Types of leave
The following types of leave or exemptions are available to CAF members depending on their eligibility:
- Maternity Leave (QR&O 16.26)
- Exemption from duty and training - Maternity purposes (QR&O 9.09)
- Parental Leave (QR&O 16.27)
- Exemption from duty and training - Parental purposes (QR&O 9.10)
- Leave without pay and allowances (QR&) 16.25
On this page
- Maternity Leave
- Exemption from duty and training (ED&T) - Maternity purposes
- Parental Leave
- Exemption from Duty and Training (ED&T) - Parental purposes
- Leave without pay for personal reasons for parental purposes
Maternity Leave
Applicable to:
Officers and non-commissioned members (NCM) of the Regular Force or the Reserve Force on Class “B” or “C” Reserve Service are entitled to maternity leave on request if they have been pregnant for at least 19 weeks.
Extension Criteria:
Maternity leave can only be extended if:
- the member has not yet started their period of maternity leave, and one or more new-born children are hospitalized; or
- the member having started but not ended their period of maternity leave, returns to duty while one or more new-born children are hospitalized.
Allowance:
Members are entitled to maternity allowance up to 93% of their pay and other allowances if they meet all of the entitlement conditions under CBI 205.461(2) (Application).
Maximum Weeks:
- EI: up to 15 weeks
- QPIP: up to 18 weeks
ED&T Maternity purposes
Applicable to:
Officers and non-commissioned members (NCMs) of the Reserve Force on Class “A” Reserve Service are entitled to maternity leave on request if they have been pregnant for at least 19 weeks.
Extension Criteria:
ED&T for maternity purposes can only be extended if:
- the member has not yet started their period of maternity leave and one or more new-born children are hospitalized; or
- the member having started but not ended their period of maternity leave, returns to duty while one or more new-born children are hospitalized.
Allowance:
Members are entitled to maternity allowance up to 93% of a member’s pay and other allowances if they meet all of the entitlement conditions under CBI 205.461(2) (Application).
Maximum Weeks:
- EI: up to 15 weeks
- QPIP: Up to 18 weeks
Parental Leave
Applicable to:
Officers and non-commissioned members (NCMs) of the Regular Force or the Reserve Force on Class “B” or “C” Reserve Service are entitled to parental leave on request if the member:
- has the care and custody of one or more new-born children of the member;
- starts legal proceedings under the laws of a province to adopt one or more children who are placed with the member for the purpose of adoption; or
- obtains an order under the laws of a province for the adoption of one or more children.
Extension Criteria:
Parental leave shall only be extended in the following cases:
- the member has not yet started the period of the parental leave and one or more new-born or adopted children or children to be adopted are hospitalized;
- the member, having started but not ended the period of parental leave, returns to duty while one or more new-born or adopted children or children to be adopted are hospitalized; or
- the member, having started but not ended the period of parental leave, is directed to return to duty by the commanding officer because of imperative military requirements as defined under the Canadian Forces Leave Policy Manual 1.1.11.
Allowance:
Members are entitled to parental allowance if they meet all of the entitlement conditions established under CBI 205.461(2) (Application).
Maximum Weeks:
- EI:
- Standard Option: up to 40 shareable weeks
- Extended Option: up to 69 shareable weeks
- QPIP:
- Up to 32 weeks
- Up to 5 non-shareable weeks for multiple births, per parent
ED&T Parental Purposes
Applicable to:
Officers and non-commissioned members (NCMs) of the Reserve Force on Class “A” Reserve Service are entitled to parental leave on request if the member:
- has the care and custody of one or more new-born children of the member;
- starts legal proceedings under the laws of a province to adopt one or more children who are placed with the member for the purpose of adoption; or
- obtains an order under the laws of a province for the adoption of one or more children.
Extension Criteria:
ED&T for parental purposes shall only be extended if:
- the member has not yet started the period of ED&T and one or more new-born or adopted children or children to be adopted are hospitalized; or
- the member, having started but not ended the period of ED&T, returns to duty or training while one or more new-born or adopted children or children to be adopted are hospitalized.
Allowance:
Members are entitled to parental allowance if they meet all of the entitlement conditions established under CBI 205.461(2) (Application).
Maximum Weeks:
- EI:
- Standard Option: up to 40 shareable weeks
- Extended Option: up to 69 shareable weeks
- QPIP:
- Up to 32 weeks
- Up to 5 non-shareable weeks for multiple births, per parent
Adoption and paternity benefits
Members are entitled to a parental allowance if they are eligible for adoption or paternity benefits under an Act Respecting Parental Insurance and meet the entitlement conditions under CBI 205.461(2) (Application).
QPIP benefit weeks
Adoption:
- Up to 32 shareable weeks
- Up to 5 non-shareable weeks for adoption, per parent
- Up to 13 shareable weeks for welcome and support benefits
- Up to 5 non-shareable weeks for multiple adoptions, per parent
Paternity:
- Up to 5 non-shareable weeks
Leave without pay (LWOP) for personal reasons for parental purposes
Members whose parental benefit is subject to the Act Respecting Parental Insurance will not be able to access extended parental leave. LWOP for personal reasons for parental purposes is offered by the CAF so that members can enjoy additional time off for caring for a newborn or newly adopted child. However, members will not receive Parental allowance while on this type of leave.
Applicable to:
Officers and non-commissioned members (NCMs) of the Regular Force or Reserve Force on Class “B” or “C” Reserve Service residing in Quebec.
Maximum Weeks:
Up to 26 weeks
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