Parental Sharing Benefit

As of March 17, 2019, parents can receive extra weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits so that they can share the joy and work of raising their children more equally.

These extra weeks are available to parents of children born or placed with them for the purpose of adoption on or after March 17, 2019, as long as they share parental benefits.

When parents apply for and share parental benefits, they may be eligible for one of the following:

• 5 extra weeks of parental benefits when choosing the standard option; or
• 8 extra weeks of parental benefits when choosing the extended option.

This means that parents can now share up to 40 weeks of parental benefits with the standard option and up to 69 weeks of parental benefits with the extended option. However, one parent cannot get more than 35 weeks of standard or 61 weeks of extended parental benefits, requiring the other parent(s) to take some time off in order to receive the extra weeks.

No additional weeks of parental benefits are available for parents of children born or placed for adoption before March 17, 2019.

For more information or to apply, visit the Employment Insurance Maternity and Parental Benefits page.