Friday
Sep182009
Parents of twins can now both take parental leave
Friday, September 18, 2009 
I love it when I get to share some good news as an update to an issue I posted on in the past. Back in November, I wrote about a couple who were having twins where both mom and dad wanted to take parental leave. In double the babies, double the work, double the leave, I wrote:
In Canada, parents can take up to one year of leave after a baby is born. That includes 17.5 weeks of maternity leave for the birth mother (and 5 weeks of paternity leave for the father in Quebec), as well as an additional 32 weeks of parental leave that can be taken by the mother, the father, or shared by both. If it is shared, they can take it concurrently (take 16 weeks off together) or they can take it successively (e.g. mother takes 16 weeks, then father takes 16 weeks or some other combination).
However, the amount of leave that you get does not change depending on the number of babies that you have at the same time. That means that parents of twins or other multiples get the same benefits as parents of a single child. They don’t get to have both parents stay home for the whole year, they don’t get to have one parent take two years off. Essentially, the program treats a single birth and a multiple birth the same way.
The post went on to talk about an Ottawa couple that was fighting that policy because both of them wanted to be able to take leave after their twins were born. They took their case to court and...drumroll...they won! This landmark case now means that parents of multiples in Canada will both be able to take parental leave. The CBC today reported in Both parents of twins get leave: EI Board:
Moreau said the ruling is the first of its kind in Canada.
"This now means that in any situation where you have two qualified parents — so that is two people who are qualified to make an employment insurance claim — and they have two or more children, they will now be able to make two 35-week parental benefit claims, as opposed to one 35-week claim," Moreau said.
Moreau says the ruling reflects a new reality.
The article goes on to explain that the number of multiple births in Canada is on the rise in large part due to fertility treatments, so this ruling will impact an ever increasing number of couples.
Image credit: Ruth L on flickr
Reader Comments (13)
Wow...just heard on the news that the parents are not speaking publicly about the decision because they got tons of hate mail last time they spoke to the media.
That's terrible that they got hate mail. Great decision, though. I haven't had twins myself, but I would think having both parents there at first would be a huge help.
Great news! I haven't had twins, but I know people who have. It's an incredible amount of work to take care of more than one infant at the same time.
I am a mother of twins in Canada...and I think it's great news. Unfortunately, too late for us, my leave is ending in December, and frankly, it would have been really difficult for my husband to take leave due to his occupation. Fortunately my husband has a lot of holidays so he's been home almost 5 of the last 10 months, which has been fantastic.
It's unbelievable that they are receiving hate mail. So absurd. They paid into the system, and now they're benefiting from it. That's why it's called insurance.
Wow! Wish we could do that here in Costa Rica or in the states. Why are some people so against this? Raising one child is a lot of work, but two at the same time... that's MORE work. Thank you for posting this!
I can't believe that they received hate mail. That's so disappointing.
I've been away and so I just heard about this decision today but I think it's fantastic. Many other countries offer enhanced leaves for parents of multiples. Those who parent twins or more have my utmost respect. They have a really tough job. I would never consider begrudging them additional leave, not for a second.
That's great news!
Do you know if that permits one parent to take 2 years off, or does it have to be 1 year for each parent? (just curious)
Great milestone, thanks for sharing :)
@Johanne: I believe it is one year per applicant (i.e. per parent), but I think this opens the door to challenging the policies in other ways too.
It does - it's certainly great news nonetheless!
Bravo for Canada. I don't understand why the couple is getting hate mail. What is the problem? The parents worked, they paid into the EI, they paid taxes. It is not like they are getting a free ride. They don't get 100& of their salary, and it is only for however long. I did wonder if they thought about the long-term consequences of their actions. One parent could have taken parental leave, and when that leave finished, the other parent could take a parental leave, thus enabling the kids to have a parent at home for two years. A couple of my friends did their parental leaves this way so I know it works. This new way, both parents take the leave at the same time, the kids only get one year with their parents at home. Just something to think about.
Kudos to this couple for their hard fight. The stress of parenting multiples is profound.
unfortunately, this "Right" to have a paid maternity leave is not available to those who are independant contractors / self employed. Like midwives and doctors - or in the case of my nephew, who ran his own construction business when their triplets arrived. This big gaping hole is a real problem in Canada.
A paid maternity leave is only available to those Canadians who have an employer. However, we all pay the taxes. It isn't right.
@Kim C: That is true for most of Canada, but in Quebec self-employed people are eligible for paid maternity, paternity and parental leave under the Quebec Parental Insurance Program (QPIP). You are right that we all pay taxes. However, paid maternity leave outside of Quebec is not paid for from taxes. It is paid for from Employment Insurance. Self-employed people do not pay into employment insurance. That is why Quebec set up QPIP, which everyone pays into (both employees and self-employed people) and which everyone has access to.
Hello all, congrats to all of you that had children and may god bless them, I had twins in 2009 may 20th, when I asked the government on how many days or month am I entitled for the pat leave And the mat leave of my wife they said it was treated as 1 child, I heard people that had twins got money too from the government, like 5,000$ is that true? Can I do something withy case when my wife delivered in 2009 may 20th? I took the 2nd plan of pat leave since I didn't want to take the hit on my paycheck, we have 3 children now and I'm expecting a 4th one.
Can anybody help with any ideas? Can I benefit from anything I missed or the government has hid flwards me?