The Liberal Party announced a number of campaign promises this week, including making maternity and parental benefits tax-free, introducing a 15-week leave for adoptive parents, strengthening the old-age security benefit and increasing the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan survivor’s benefit. If re-elected, the Liberal government said it will work to establish guaranteed paid family […]
With the federal election about a month away, Canada’s political parties are rolling out their election platforms, making a host of promises to improve health care, employment insurance, the minimum wage and pension legislation. If elected, the Liberal Party of Canada, New Democratic Party and Green Party of Canada are all promising to implement a national pharmacare program. […]
The federal Conservative Party is promising to make employment insurance maternity and parental benefits tax-free. The party is proposing a 15 per cent tax credit for any income earned under the two EI programs. “Parents should be able to put their energy toward those critical first few months, and not have to worry so much […]
When fathers take paternity leave, it can actually benefit the health of new mothers, according to a study by economists at Stanford University. The study looked at the effects of a 2012 Swedish law that allows fathers to take up to 30 days off work, as needed, the year after the birth of a child, but […]
About two-thirds (65 per cent) of U.S. employers are now offering parental leave for employees who’ve worked at their organizations for less than a year, according to a new survey by WorldatWork and PTO Exchange. The survey, which collected responses from more than 500 WorldatWork members, found more than half of organizations said they’re now […]
Last year, the University of Toronto added breastfeeding-friendly spaces for female faculty, staff and students. While women are welcome to breastfeed anywhere on campus, the new spaces are in quieter areas close to amenities. The new spaces are the work of the university’s Family Care Office, a division of the human resources department, in collaboration […]
Beginning June 30, Target Corp. will extend its backup care offerings to hourly and salaried employees at all U.S. stores and distribution centres. The program will include 20 days of in-centre childcare or in-home child- and elder care. The enhancements are intended to pick up where traditional parental leave policies end so employees can support their families, according to a press release. “Our […]
Whose jobs are put most at risk by artificial intelligence and automation? Common wisdom says it’s men, particularly blue collar men whose jobs are primarily manual labour, such as factory workers put at risk by robotics or truck drivers put at risk by the advance of driverless cars. However, the truth is more complicated. Many […]
DowDuPont Inc.’s specialty products division is adopting a comprehensive parental leave policy, which offers four weeks of paid leave for new parents, including adoptive and same-sex parents. “For birth mothers, the four paid weeks are in addition to an enhanced paid maternity leave which has been extended to 12 weeks,” said the company in a press […]
The ways that Canadians partner up is changing, leading to questions about how different types of families access parental benefits. “When we think about Canada, and we think about families, we think about diversity,” said Nora Spinks, chief executive officer of the Vanier Institute of the Family, in a webinar on Tuesday. “And we want to make sure […]