Parental Benefits

Parental EI is payable only to the biological, adoptive, or legally recognized parents while they are caring for their newborn or newly adopted child. To receive parental benefits, you must sign a statement declaring the newborn’s date of birth or, when there is an adoption, the child’s date of placement for the purposes of the adoption and the name and address of the adoption authority.

For biological or legally recognized parents, Parental EI can be paid from the child’s date of birth and can only be paid within the 52 weeks after the week the child is born or, in the case of adoption, within the 52 weeks after the week the child is placed with you.

For adoptive parents, parental benefits can be paid starting from the date the child is placed with them for the purpose of adoption. In cases where the child is not legally adoptable, parental benefits could be payable from the date you attest that you consider the placement a permanent one and that it is your intent to adopt the child placed with you at the earliest opportunity. In these circumstances, the Commission may, at any time, request proof certifying that the child for whom you are claiming parental benefits has been placed with you by a recognized authority and that the placement was not merely a temporary one.

How many Parental Benefits weeks can I receive?

The basic rate for calculating EI parental benefits depends on the option you choose:

Standard parental benefits are paid at a weekly benefit rate of 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings, up to a maximum amount. This means that you can receive a maximum amount of $562 per week for up to 35 weeks. Effective March 17th, 2019, parents who shares the standard parental benefits will be eligible to obtain an additional of 5 extra weeks of benefits. If no sharing of benefits exist, individual parent may not receiving additional weeks.

You may collect the standard parental benefits within 52 weeks of child’s birth or adoptive arrival week.- Read more

Extended parental benefits are paid at a weekly benefit rate of 33% of your average weekly insurable earnings, up to a maximum amount. For 2018, this means that you can receive a maximum amount of $337 per week for up to 61 weeks. (The amount of $328 can be increased if you are eligible to receive the Family Supplement).  Effective March 17th, 2019, parents who shares the extended parental benefits will be eligible to obtain an additional of 8 extra weeks of benefits. If no sharing of benefits exist, individual parent may not receiving additional weeks. 

You may collect the extended parental benefits within 78 weeks of child’s birth or adoptive arrival week.- Read more

If specific conditions are met, the parental benefits period may be extended to allow the claimant more time to collect weeks of entitlement.

Both parents must choose the same option (standard or extended) and it cannot be changed once the claim begins. Each parent must indicate how many weeks they want to receive in their online EI application. Parents can receive benefits both at the same time or separate time.To read more details, please visit Service Canada website.

*NEW – Extra weeks for parents who share Parental Benefits – Read more

How much EI weekly benefit amount will I receive?

The basic rate for calculating EI maternity benefits is 55% of your average weekly insurable earnings, up to a maximum amount. As of January 1, 2019, the maximum yearly insurable earnings amount is $53,100. This means that you can receive a maximum amount of $562 per week. Current maximum is $562 per week and is paid out every two weeks through direct deposit.

Please refer to our EI benefit amount estimation page for more details. You may receive higher EI benefits (Family Supplement) if you are low-income family. Read more.

How many hours do I need to qualify?

You need to accumulate a minimum of 600 cumulative hours in the past year, from the day you stopped working, to meet the basic qualifying hours.

How long do I have to wait to receive my first Parental benefits payment?

The typical wait time to process an EI claim is up to 28 days. You should receive a first letter mail (within 1 week), providing you with an access code and instructions to create your Service Canada online account. There will be a 1 weeks non-paid weeks before your first Parental benefit week begins. If you have registered for direct deposit, you should expect your payment to arrive roughly 1 month after your application. 

If you are sharing the Parental benefits with the mother of the child, you will not need to serve the 2 weeks waiting period since it has been served by the other E.I. claimant.

Do I need to complete EI report?

The online application will asked if you would like to be exempted from E. reporting. If you checked “yes” you will not have to bother completing your bi-weekly EI report. However, if you have made earnings during your benefit period, you have to manually call Service Canada E.I. service line (1-800-206-7218) and press “0” to speak to a live agent to manually deduct your earnings from your EI benefit from the specific week(s) you made earning. 

Please contact us if you have question about a specific situation you are encountering.