Self-Employed Quebecers get parental leave. The rest of you are screwed.
by Jenn Hardy on Nov 23 at 6:00 am
Well, it’s next to impossible to get a midwife, and very difficult to get a GP or obstetrician, but there are a couple great things about having a baby in the province of Quebec . On the top of my list: if you are self-employed, you actually get parental benefits.
If you work for yourself anywhere else in Canada and need a little help once baby is born, frankly—you’re screwed.
I phoned Service Canada to find out about applying for maternity Employment Insurance. I laughed when she told me I had to have started paying into EI’s program for at least a year before being able to receive any benefits.
“So, I should have planned this pregnancy at least a year in advance?” I asked her. Her answer was yes. “To the date?” I laughed again. While this pregnancy wasn’t an accident, it surely wasn’t timed based on how much money I had nestled away. And I’m sure that’s the reality for most people.
Especially women who put what they make back into operating their own business!
After I stopped laughing into the phone, I said to the woman at Service Canada, “But I live in Quebec, does that make a difference?”
She seemed relieved I lived in Quebec—it meant she didn’t need to deal with another pregnant woman’s tears.
“Oh yes, a big one,” she said. Then she gave me the phone number and URL for the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan.
While I won’t be making 100% of the civil servant paycheck some of my Ottawa friends will when they’re on leave, I’ll be receiving a heck of a lot more than the Ontario friends I have who are self-employed. My baby’s self-employed father will even get some pat leave. (Wouldn’t we be in a fine mess if we lived anywhere but Quebec!)
There are many options available to self-employed Quebecers who become parents. Depending on what the couple decides, mom can take all the benefits, dad can take all the benefits, or the two parents can share them. If there are two moms or two dads in the picture, the same thing goes.
You can receive between 55% and 75% for three to 25 weeks, depending on the plan you choose.
Does it sound too good to be true? Ask me in a few months.
Photo by SparkCBC on Flickr.
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