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Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Rosemarie Falk has introduced a private member’s bill to ensure greater parity in parental leave options.
Bill c-318 creates a new 15-week benefit for adoptive parents and intended parents through the Employment Insurance program and adjusts leave entitlement provisions in the Canada Labour Code accordingly.
“The creation of a new 15-week benefit for families formed by adoption and surrogacy will ensure greater parity in Canada’s parental benefits system,” said MP Rosemarie Falk in a news release on March 8.
“The arrival of a new child is a precious and formative time for all parents and the Employment Insurance program provides parents with critical financial support while they care for and bond with their child.
Falk says while all families are deserving of equal access to leave benefits, adoptive and intended parents are at a disadvantage under the current parental benefits system.
“The proposed benefit recognizes the unique needs and complexities of attachment for adoptive families, and by better supporting healthy attachment, the proposed benefit will help improve long-term outcomes for adoptive families and strengthen Canadian families,” she explained.
“After years of broken promises from the Trudeau government, the passage of this legislation would deliver the parental benefit parity that has long been promised to adoptive families.”
