Liberals looking at creating use-it-or-lose-it leave for fathers, Trudeau says
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is raising the idea of creating a use-it-or-lose-it, funded leave for new dads, doing so days before he unveils a spending blueprint that has been the focus of lobbying efforts for further changes to national parental leave policies.
The idea would be similar to the paternity leave policy in Quebec, which is the only province that provides funded leave for new fathers.
Quebec’s system provides up to five weeks of paid leave to new fathers that covers up to 70 per cent of their income.
The Liberals have heard from experts that the popular program in Quebec should be replicated at a federal level along with other changes to parental leave policies, including increasing the value of benefits paid out for parents who opt for an 18-month parental leave and creating a new, six-month leave option with a higher income replacement rate to help low-income families that can’t afford a year at only half salary.