Maternity and parental leave in Canada 2026: 15 weeks of EI

How EI maternity and parental benefits fit together

Benefits come in two blocks. Maternity benefits are for the person who gave birth and cannot be shared. Parental benefits follow and can be split between parents, in one of two versions you choose up front:

• Standard: up to 40 weeks shared, one parent taking no more than 35, at 55% up to CAD 729 a week.
• Extended: up to 69 weeks shared, one parent taking no more than 61, at 33% up to CAD 437 a week.

There is no separate paternity benefit. The second parent's time comes from the shared pool, and sharing is what unlocks the extra weeks: 5 more under standard (40 instead of 35) and 8 more under extended (69 instead of 61).

At the cap, a birth parent taking maternity plus the maximum individual standard parental weeks receives 15 x 729 = CAD 10,935 plus 35 x 729 = CAD 25,515, or CAD 36,450 over 50 weeks. On extended parental the total is 10,935 + (61 x 437) = CAD 37,592, spread over 76 weeks.

Leave rules in Canada at a glance

Job protection is a separate law

EI decides how much the parent is paid. Whether the job is held open, and for how long, is set by the federal labor code for federally regulated employers and by each province's employment standards law for everyone else. We did not confirm those job-protected leave lengths on official pages for this update, so they are not stated here.

That applies to Ontario too. A parent in Toronto claims EI maternity and parental benefits exactly as one in Calgary would; Ontario's own statute sets how long the employer must keep the position. Quebec is the one province with a different benefit plan: its residents use the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan rather than EI.

What parental leave costs an employer

The direct cost is the premium, not the benefit. In 2026, employers outside Quebec pay EI at 1.4 times the employee rate of 1.63% on up to CAD 68,900 of insurable earnings, a maximum of CAD 1,572.30 per employee a year. In Quebec the employer EI maximum is lower, CAD 1,253.98, because QPIP covers parental benefits; the employer pays QPIP at 0.602% on up to CAD 103,000.

The indirect costs are what you plan for: covering the work for as long as 76 weeks of benefits, any salary top-up your own policy promises (the rules read for this page do not require one), and keeping benefits running if your plan allows it. The employer cost index puts Canada's contribution rates next to other countries.

Sick days, vacation and holidays

For federally regulated employers, the federal labor code (section 239) gives up to 10 days of paid medical leave a year at the regular rate: 3 days after 30 days of continuous employment, then 1 more at the start of each month, with unused days carried to January 1. Medical leave in total can run up to 27 weeks, of which only those 10 days are paid by the employer, and EI sickness benefits are separate.

Federal vacation is 2 weeks after 1 year with 4% vacation pay, 3 weeks after 5 years (6%) and 4 weeks after 10 years (8%), plus 10 general holidays. Provinces set their own sick, vacation and holiday rules for most workers; we have confirmed only the federal ones.

Leave for an EOR employee in Canada

When an employer of record employs your Canadian hire, it remits the EI premiums that fund the benefit and handles the employer paperwork the claim needs. You pay salary only while the person is working, plus the EOR fee. Ask before signing whether that monthly fee continues during leave, whether benefits continue, and who pays any top-up. Published EOR prices run from $99 (Native Teams, whose help center says EUR 99) to $699 (Oyster) per employee per month (checked October 16 and 18, 2026); Deel lists $599.

See the Canada EOR guide for an all-in monthly cost, ranked EOR providers, and EOR fees compared. For pay levels, see the Canada minimum wage by province and average Canadian earnings.