With regard to Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits: (a) does the 12 months (and eventually increasing to 18 months) of parental leave as defined in Budget 2017 refer to (i) 12 months of parental leave in addition to 15 weeks of maternity leave for biological mothers, (ii) 12 months of parental leave which includes 15 weeks of maternity leave for biological mothers, thus equalling approximately eight months of parental leave for non-biological mothers; (b) are adoptive parents entitled to the full 12 months of EI parental leave; and (c) if the answer to (b) is negative, (i) what is the total annual estimated cost of implementing 18 months of parental leave for birth parents, (ii) what would be the additional annual estimated cost to extend 18 months of EI parental leave to adoptive parents?
In the House of Commons on October 23rd, 2017. See this statement in context.