OTTAWA—New mothers and fathers who are poised to go on parental leave before the end of the year will be able to spread federal benefits over a longer period of more time starting next month. As is, the federal parental leave program pays out benefits for up to 17 weeks for new mothers and allows parents to split an additional 35 weeks. Once either receives the first dollar of parental leave benefits, the choice is locked in. Anyone on the 35 weeks of parental leave before the new measures officially come into effect won’t be able to switch and take off the extra time. All the parental leave changes won’t affect Quebec, which has its own parental leave program.

Source: thestar November 09, 2017 12:56 UTC