Length of Maternity, Parental and Adoption Leave in Employment Standards Legislation (unpaid)

Length of Maternity, Parental and Adoption Leave in Employment Standards Legislation (unpaid)

Jurisdiction	Maternity Leave⁽¹⁾ (in weeks)	Parental Leave⁽¹⁾ (in weeks)	Adoption Leave⁽¹⁾(in weeks)
Federal	17	37⁽⁴⁾	37⁽⁴⁾
Alberta	15	37⁽⁴⁾	37⁽⁴⁾
British Columbia	17	37^(3),(5)	37⁽⁵⁾
Manitoba	17⁽²⁾	37^(2),⁽⁵⁾	37⁽⁵⁾
New Brunswick	17	37⁽⁴⁾	37⁽⁴⁾
Newfoundland and Labrador	17	35⁽⁵⁾	52^(5),(8)
Northwest Territories	17	37⁽⁵⁾	37⁽⁵⁾
Nova Scotia	17	52^(3),(5)	52⁽⁵⁾
Nunavut	17	37⁽⁵⁾	37⁽⁵⁾
Ontario	17	37^(3),(5)	37⁽⁵⁾
Prince Edward Island	17	35⁽⁴⁾	52⁽⁴⁾
Quebec	18^(2),(6)	52^(2),(5),(6)	52⁽⁵⁾
Saskatchewan	18	37^(5),(7)	52⁽⁸⁾
Yukon	17⁽²⁾	37^(2),(4)	37⁽⁴⁾

Legislative references: Federal, Canada Labour Code: sections 206, 206.1(1) and 206.2; Alberta, Employment Standards Code: sections 46(1) and 50; British Columbia, Employment Standards Act: sections 50(1) and 51(1); Manitoba, Employment Standards Code: sections 54(1) and 58(1); New Brunswick, Employment Standards Act: sections 43(1) and 44.02(2) and (12.2); Newfoundland and Labrador, Labour Standards Act: sections 42, 43.2 and 43.5; Northwest Territories, Labour Standards Act: sections 31(2), 34(1) and 35.1; Nova Scotia, Labour Standards Code: sections 59(1) and 59B(1), (2) and (4); Nunavut, Labour Standards Act: sections 31(2), 34(1) and 35.1; Ontario, Employment Standards Act, 2000: sections 47(1) and 49(1); Prince Edward Island, Employment Standards Act: sections 20(1) and 22(1), (2) and (2.1); Quebec, An Act respecting labour standards: sections 81.2, 81.4 and 81.10; Saskatchewan, Labour Standards Act: sections 23(3), 29.1(2.1) and 29.2(2); Yukon, Employment Standards Act: sections 36(2) and 38(1) and (6).

Eligibility requirements: To qualify for maternity or parental leave, an employee must normally have completed a specific period of continuous employment. However, some provinces—British Columbia, New Brunswick and Quebec—do not require a specific length of service. Ontario requires 13 weeks of service; Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Prince Edward Island require 20 continuous weeks; and Saskatchewan requires 20 weeks in the 52 weeks preceding the requested leave. The federal jurisdiction permits an employee to take the leave after six months of continuous service, and Manitoba after seven months. Alberta, Nova Scotia and the three territories require 12 months of service. In addition, in all jurisdictions, a medical certificate must be provided or may be requested by the employer, and an employee must notify the employer, usually two to four weeks in advance (six weeks in Alberta), of his/her intent to take maternity or parental leave.

Notes:

(1) A number of jurisdictions allow maternity and/or parental leave (for natural or adoptive parents) to be extended under certain circumstances, such as late births or health problems of the mother or child.

(2) In all Canadian jurisdictions except Manitoba, Quebec and the Yukon, the combined duration of maternity and parental leave cannot exceed 52 weeks.

(3) In the case of an employee who has taken maternity leave, the maximum parental leave is 35 weeks.

(4) The Alberta legislation stipulates that there is no requirement to grant parental leave to more than one parent at a time if both parents of a child work for the same employer. In the Yukon, parents who share a parental leave cannot normally take their leave at the same time, whether or not they work for the same employer. In the Federal jurisdiction, Alberta, New Brunswick and Yukon, parental leave may be taken by one parent or shared between two parents but the total combined parental or adoption leave cannot exceed 37 weeks. In Prince Edward Island, parental or adoption leave may be taken by one parent or shared between two parents but in either case the combined leave cannot exceed 35 weeks of parental leave or 52 weeks of adoption leave.

(5) A majority of jurisdictions, namely British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan (with respect to parental leave) permit both parents to take the full parental or adoption leave. In the other jurisdictions, parental leave can normally be shared between parents.

(6) Effective January 1, 2006, an employee is entitled to a paternity leave of not more than 5 uninterrupted weeks without pay at the time of the birth of his child. This leave must be taken at the earliest in the week in which the child is born and end no later than 52 weeks after the birth.

(7) In Saskatchewan, an employee who is entitled to maternity or adoption leave may not take more than 34 weeks of parental leave.

(8) In Newfoundland and Labrador, an eligible employee is entitled to 17 weeks of adoption leave, to which can be added 35 weeks of parental leave. In Saskatchewan, the primary caregiver of an adopted child is entitled to 18 weeks of adoption leave and 34 weeks of parental leave. The other parent may take up to 37 weeks of parental leave. In both provinces, an eligible adoptive parent may therefore take up to 52 weeks of cumulative leave.

Labour Law Analysis

International and Intergovernmental Labour Affairs

Labour Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

January 11, 2006