Canada’s Members of Parliament will now be eligible to take a 12-month, fully paid parental leave.
On Wednesday the House of Commons unanimously approved a parental leave program that will enable MPs to take up to a year away from the chamber without penalty. Pregnant MPs will also not be penalized for missing work in the four weeks before their due date.
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The leave applies to parents of newly born and newly adopted children.
While Canada allows eligible new parents to share up to 18 months of partially-paid leave after the birth of a child — along with a new use-it-or-lose-it leave for non-birthing parents — MPs until now have not been able to do the same.
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Members of Parliament do not pay into Employment Insurance and as such, have not qualified for parental leave.
New parent MPs have been allowed to take 21 days of medical leave but after that, have been docked pay if they do not show up for work in the House of Commons.
Any time off in addition to the medical leave was to be negotiated with the party leadership.
The new parental leave rules will take effect immediately.
— With files from Global News reporter Amanda Connolly