Apply for EI maternity and parental benefits through Service Canada — the 15-week maternity stream, the standard and extended parental choice, the 600-hour rule, and the four-week application deadline.
Applies in: CA
Apply online through Service Canada as soon as you stop working, and choose your parental option before the first payment. Employment Insurance (EI) maternity and parental benefits pay part of your earnings while you are away from work because you are pregnant, have recently given birth, or are caring for a newborn or newly adopted child. Maternity benefits last up to 15 weeks and belong only to the person who is pregnant or has recently given birth. Parental benefits are shared between parents under one locked choice: standard, at 55% of earnings up to $729 a week, or extended, at 33% up to $437 a week. You need 600 insured hours of work, and if you apply more than 4 weeks after your last day of work, you may lose benefits.
This guide covers the maternity and parental streams only. It does not cover EI regular benefits, which are a separate claim with different rules. The live guide on starting an EI application walks the regular-benefits claim; this guide does not repeat it.
Maternity and parental benefits are two different benefits inside one EI claim. You can apply for both at the same time.
| Benefit | Who it is for | Maximum weeks | Rate | Weekly maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternity | The person who is pregnant or has recently given birth | Up to 15 weeks | 55% of average insurable weekly earnings | Up to $729 |
| Standard parental | A parent caring for a newborn or newly adopted child | Up to 40 weeks shared between parents; no one parent more than 35 weeks | 55% | Up to $729 |
| Extended parental | A parent caring for a newborn or newly adopted child | Up to 69 weeks shared between parents; no one parent more than 61 weeks | 33% | Up to $437 |
These figures are as stated on the Service Canada page, Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: What these benefits offer. The page carries no benefit-year label next to the weekly maximums, so confirm the current maximum on the Service Canada page before you rely on a figure.
Service Canada asks you to show all of these, according to Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: Eligibility:
If you are not a Canadian citizen, you may still be eligible if you have a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN). If you received EI benefits in the past 52 weeks, you may not be eligible for the maximum number of weeks of maternity or parental benefits, but if you have worked enough hours since your last claim, you may be able to start a new claim. Service Canada encourages you to apply and let it decide, rather than deciding for yourself that you do not qualify.
Maternity benefits are available regardless of gender identity, according to the same eligibility page. If you have health complications during pregnancy, you could be eligible for EI sickness benefits or for maternity benefits earlier, but you must meet the conditions for each benefit separately.
The timing windows are different for the two streams, according to Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: Eligibility:
Parental weeks do not have to be taken consecutively, but they must fall inside the 52-week or 78-week window that matches the option you chose.
When you apply for parental benefits, you must choose between standard and extended. Your choice sets both the number of weeks and the weekly amount. You cannot change between standard and extended parental benefit options once a week of parental benefits has been paid to you, or if a payment has been made to the other parent when benefits are shared, according to Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: What these benefits offer.
If you share parental benefits, each parent must choose the same option and submit their own application. If parents do not choose the same option, the choice on the first application received is used to determine the parental benefit option for all parents. Parents can receive their weeks at the same time or one after another.
Sharing adds weeks that a single parent cannot use alone. The maximum rises to 40 weeks for standard parental benefits and 69 weeks for extended, but one parent still cannot receive more than 35 standard weeks or 61 extended weeks. The remaining 5 standard weeks or 8 extended weeks are available on a use-it-or-lose-it basis: if taken, they can only be taken by the other parent or parents. Service Canada's own example makes the arithmetic plain: a birth parent who takes 15 weeks of maternity plus 35 weeks of standard parental benefits receives 50 weeks in total, and the other parent can apply for up to 5 weeks of standard parental benefits.
Apply as soon as possible after you stop working. If you apply more than 4 weeks after your last day of work, you may lose benefits. The steps below follow Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: Apply.
When you apply for maternity benefits, you can also apply for parental benefits at the same time. This saves you time later. If you applied for parental benefits at the same time as maternity benefits, you do not need to apply again. Parental benefits can start the week your child is born or placed with you for adoption.
Have these ready before you start the online application:
Do not wait until you have the documents to apply. Complete and submit your online application right away. You can send the required documents after you apply.
Your employer issues a record of employment (ROE) that Service Canada uses to decide whether you are eligible and how much you will receive. Electronic ROEs are sent directly to Service Canada by employers, so you do not need to request copies. If your employer issues paper ROEs, you must request copies of all ROEs issued for you in the past 52 weeks, or since the start of your last claim, whichever is shorter, and provide them as soon as possible after you submit your application. You can view ROEs issued for you in My Service Canada Account (MSCA).
The online application takes about one hour to complete. If you do not complete it all at once, you can come back to it later using the temporary password you receive when you start. Your information is saved for 72 hours (3 days) from the time you start. If you do not submit the application within that time, it will be deleted and you will have to start a new application.
After you complete your online application, submit the required documents. You can mail them or drop them off at a Service Canada Centre.
Once your application is received, Service Canada will mail you a benefit statement with a 4-digit access code. You need this code and your SIN to follow up on your application. Receiving a benefit statement does not mean a decision has been made about your claim.
You can check the status by registering for or signing in to My Service Canada Account, or by contacting Service Canada. If your child's actual date of birth is different from the expected date of birth on your application, tell Service Canada as soon as possible, by calling 1-800-206-7218 or visiting a Service Canada Centre.
Do not file an EI maternity or parental claim if you live in Quebec. The Province of Quebec is responsible for providing maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits to its residents, through the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), according to Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: What these benefits offer. QPIP has its own qualifying rules, amounts, and deadlines, set by Quebec. This guide states none of them, because the Service Canada pages do not state them.
The Service Canada pages do not state how long the unpaid waiting period is before benefits begin, or how many days pass between applying and the first payment. They do not state the registration timing for self-employed workers who opt in to EI special benefits, or the qualifying threshold for the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan. Those figures and rules were left out of this guide rather than carried from other websites. Check the current Service Canada pages, and the QPIP pages if you live in Quebec, before you rely on any of them.
Up to 15 weeks, paid at 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, up to $729 a week, according to [Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: What these benefits offer](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html). Maternity benefits are only for the person who is pregnant or has recently given birth, and they cannot be shared with the other parent. You can start receiving them as early as 12 weeks before your due date, and you cannot receive them more than 17 weeks after your due date or the date you gave birth, whichever is later.
Standard parental benefits pay 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, up to $729 a week, for up to 40 weeks shared between parents, with no one parent receiving more than 35 weeks. Extended parental benefits pay 33%, up to $437 a week, for up to 69 weeks shared, with no one parent receiving more than 61 weeks, according to [Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: What these benefits offer](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html). Standard weeks must be taken within 52 weeks of the birth or placement, and extended weeks within 78 weeks. Once a week of parental benefits has been paid, you cannot switch between the two options.
You need 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of your claim, or since the start of your last claim, whichever is shorter, according to [Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: Eligibility](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental/eligibility.html). Your regular weekly earnings from work must also have decreased by more than 40% for at least one week. If you received EI benefits in the past 52 weeks, you may not be eligible for the maximum number of weeks.
Apply as soon as possible after you stop working. If you apply more than 4 weeks after your last day of work, you may lose benefits, according to [Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: Apply](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental/apply.html). Do not wait for documents before applying: submit the online application right away and send the required documents after.
Yes. If you share benefits, each parent must choose the same option, standard or extended, and each parent must submit their own application. Sharing raises the total available to 40 weeks for standard parental benefits or 69 weeks for extended, but one parent still cannot receive more than 35 standard weeks or 61 extended weeks. The remaining 5 standard weeks or 8 extended weeks are available only to the other parent, on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, according to [Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: Apply](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental/apply.html).
No. Quebec is responsible for providing maternity, paternity, parental and adoption benefits to its residents through the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), according to [Government of Canada, EI maternity and parental benefits: What these benefits offer](https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html). Do not file an EI maternity or parental claim for a Quebec birth or adoption; apply through the QPIP instead. This guide does not state QPIP rules, amounts, or deadlines, because they are set by Quebec, not by Service Canada.