Chen and Matt adopt a child and share parental leave

Chen and Matt’s story

Chen and Matt adopt a daughter and plan to share 69 weeks of extended parental leave. They are not eligible for maternity benefits, as these are only available to individuals who are away from work because they are pregnant or have recently given birth.

They are together for the first 5 weeks and then Matt goes back to work. For the next 64 weeks, Chen and Matt alternate their weeks at home with their daughter.

• Chen takes a total of 40 weeks of extended parental benefits
• Matt takes a total of 29 weeks of extended parental benefits

Chen and Matt discover parental benefits

Chen and Matt want to take 69 weeks of leave. They explore options to make the most of their time at home with their daughter. They compare the number of weeks and amounts between the Employment Insurance (EI) standard and extended parental benefits. While they want to choose the extended EI parental benefit, they need to think about whether it will give them enough money.

They use the Employment Insurance Benefits Estimator to help with their planning and review the information on EI parental benefits to compare their options.

They welcome their child and take turns on leave

Chen and Matt chose 69 weeks of extended parental leave.

Chen plans to use 25 weeks right after their daughter arrives. Sometimes, Chen and Matt are on leave together, and other times, one stays home while the other goes to work.

Since Matt applies first and he is the one serving the one week waiting period (WP). During that period, he can't work or earn any money, so he stays home with Chen and their daughter. After that period, he stays home for another 2 weeks before going back to work.

They decide that it is better for Matt to keep working while Chen stays home and collects more weeks of the extended EI parental benefits.

Once his first period of leaves is done, Chen returns to work for a special project while Matt stays home with their daughter. Before the end of their 69-weeks of extended parental benefits, they plan 4 weeks together.

* The waiting period is the first week of your leave. It counts as part of your leave, but you don't get any benefit payments.

Conclusion

Chen and Matt are happy with their decision to share extended parental benefits so they can spend more time at home with their daughter. This plan lets them balance their family time and work, even though the amounts are lower than standard benefits. Matt’s job makes it possible for them to enjoy this special time together before going back to work full-time.

Smart tips

• If you live in Quebec, visit the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan for more information about maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits.

• The waiting period is a one-week period at the beginning of the benefit period when you won't receive payment. It's similar to a deductible for other types of insurance and it’s also included in parental leave. If you're sharing parental benefits for the same child, only one parent needs to serve the waiting period.

  Exceptions for not having the waiting period:

  • If you receive paid sick leave from your employer after stopping work
  • If multiple people claim benefits for the same child, they can skip the waiting period at first. However, a waiting period applies if they switch to a different type of benefit later
  • If benefits have been paid under a provincial plan, such as the Québec Parental Insurance Plan

  Find out more details on Employment Insurance (EI) waiting period (WP).

• Each parent must choose the same option (ex: standard or extended parental) and submit their own application for EI parental leave. Although you don't have to take weeks of parental benefits consecutively, you must take them within specific periods starting the week of your child's date of birth or the week your child is placed with you for the purpose of adoption.

  These periods are:

  • Standard parental: within 52 weeks (12 months)
  • Extended parental: within 78 weeks (18 months)

  Some of the items you will need to provide online are:

  • your Social Insurance Number (SIN) and the SIN of the other parent
  • your banking information to sign up for direct deposit
  • the date your child was placed with you for the purpose of adoption and the full name and address of the agency handling the adoption

  You may need to mail or drop off hardcopies at a Service Canada Centre for your paper record of employment if your employer doesn't issue electronic ones.

  Find out more details on Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits.

• You can use the Employment Insurance Benefits Estimator to determine which type of EI benefit might be right for you, and to get an estimate of the potential weekly benefit rate and maximum number of weeks. It will also suggest next steps to apply.