PARENTAL LEAVE: QUEBEC MOVES AHEAD(Oct. 20, 2005) Parents in Quebec are about to get a leg up on the rest of Canada. On March 1, 2005 the governments of Canada and Quebec agreed that Quebec can run its own parental leave program. That program -- the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan -- will replace the federal Employment Insurance plan as of Jan. 1, 2006. The Quebec plan offers maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits which are more generous than those elsewhere in Canada. Ottawa will contribute $750 million a year to help fund the plan, but Quebec workers will also pay higher premiums to cover their higher benefits. In effect, the arrangement sets up a two-tier system in Canada, starting in 2006, with Quebec parents getting better benefits than parents in the rest of the country. CURRENT EI PROGRAM The current Employment Insurance (EI) program is run by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. Under EI, women who give birth get 15 weeks of maternity leave and 35 weeks of parental leave. Adoptive parents get only 35 weeks of parental leave. (The discrepancy is a bone of contention in the adoption community.) While on leave from work to care for the new family member, you can collect 55% of your average insured earnings -- up to $413 a week (after a two-week waiting period). To get the benefit, you need to have worked 600 hours (and have paid EI premiums) in the previous 52 weeks. Self-employed workers do not qualify for benefits. The 35 weeks off can be taken by one adoptive parent or shared between two at the same time, to a total of 35 weeks. You could also take a few weeks off, then return to work, while your partner takes the remaining time. BETTER PLAN IN QUEBEC The Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) is notably superior to the federal plan. It has no minimum number of working hours, no waiting period before payments start, a minimum income of $2,000, and a maximum insurable earnings (in 2005) of $56,000. QPIP offers higher rates of pay and the option of taking a shorter period of leave but at higher pay. Moreover, self-employed workers are eligible. QPIP also provides for the indexation of benefits for low-income families. The plan's benefits are:
A birth mother can get benefits for 50 weeks: 18 weeks of maternity benefits at 70%, plus 32 weeks of parental benefits, with the first 7 weeks at 70% and the remainder at 55% of income. QPIP can accommodate those wishing to take shorter leave time at higher pay. There are two options for the length of leave -- the basic plan at the rates given above, and a special plan with shorter leave time (e.g. adoption leave of 28 weeks) but pay at 75% of income. Employers, salaried workers and self-employed workers will all pay premiums to the plan. ELIGIBILITY RULES To be eligible for QPIP benefits, a person must:
If your child was born or adopted before Jan. 1, 2006 you're not eligible under QPIP. Instead, you should apply under EI. Quebec parents already getting EI benefits on January 1, 2006 will continue to do so, at the rates specified by EI. The Quebec government had first decided to offer its own parental benefit program in 1996 but was unable to agree with Ottawa on a separate program. Only in March 2005 were the provincial and federal governments able to reach a deal allowing Quebec to go ahead on its own. In a related development, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Oct. 20, 2005 that Ottawa's maternity and parental benefit programs are constitutional. Reversing a Quebec Court of Appeals decision, the Supreme Court said that the federal government has the constitutional right to expand the Employment Insurance system so as to pay birth and adoptive parents when they take time off work. It said parliament has the right to adapt the EI plan "to the new realities of the workplace." The Supreme Court said the goal of EI maternity benefits is "the replacement of the employment income of insured women whose earnings are interrupted when they are pregnant." As a result, "the provision relating to maternity benefits represents a valid exercise of the federal jurisdiction over unemployment insurance." The Supreme Court judges said that the same applies to the provision for parental benefits. SOURCES Quebec Parental Insurance Plan, www.rqap.gouv.qc.ca/Index_en.asp "Ottawa's parental benefits
constitutional, court rules",
The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Oct. 20, 2005, "Supreme Court backs federal
right to provide parental benefits under EI", Macleans,
October 20, 2005, Employment Insurance: Types of Benefits, www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/gateways/topics/tyt-gxr.shtml, 800-206-7218
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ABOUT ACCBased in Ottawa, the Adoption Council of Canada is a federally chartered, charitable organization which aims to inform and educate Canadians about all aspects of adoption, and encourage the adoption of children needing permanent homes. Interested in domestic adoption? Consult Canada's only national photolisting web site, "Canada's Waiting Kids", http://www.canadaswaitingkids.ca, run by the Adoption Council of Canada. It shows photos and profiles of children in the care of Canadian child welfare agencies and waiting for permanent adoptive families. For definitions of adoption terms, go to http://www.adoption.ca and click "Glossary". Source: Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca Copyright 2006 Adoption Council of Canada. Reproduction permitted, if credited "Source: Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca". Please make a request to reprint, so we can track where ACC news items are used. Send your request to acc@adoption.ca. |
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