C-318 – An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (adoptive and intended parents) – gives paternal leave to the parents of adopted children or the children of surrogates.
Employment Insurance Act
Lots of text here but the result is pretty simple. C-318 changes the Employment Insurance Act to add a benefit similar to the one for new parents for people who adopt a child or have one born through a surrogate mother.
Canada Labour Code
Two big changes are made to the Canada Labour Code.
The first change is an increase to the amount of time parents of a newborn can take paternal leave for. Currently the maximum is 63 weeks, but C-318 would increase that to 71 weeks split between both parents with the maximum for either parent being 63 weeks.
The second change is adding up to 88 weeks of parental leave for new parents of adopted or surrogate children, with no single parent getting more than 80 weeks.
Helping Families in Need Act
The Helping Families in Need Act also made some changes to EI and paternal leave, and C-318 has some modifications to what it does if it comes into effect before C-318 does. The only change that’s really noteworthy here is that the Helping Families in Need Act requires you to be employed for 6 months before you get your leave, while C-318 gives it to you immediately.
Progress
On May 4th, 2023 it was determined that C-318 would require Royal Recommendation to be passed, so a government Minister needs to approve it before it goes up for its Third Reading. If you support this Bill I’d strongly suggest contacting your local MP and letting them know!
On Sept 20, 2023 C-318 went up for its Second Reading and passed with 178 in favour and 146 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 4 | 145 | 1 |
| Conservative | 116 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| NDP | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
The Liberals voted against it as they’ve just increased EI for parental leave, though its a few weeks less than C-318. They also say that they’re in the process of updating EI across the board. The MPs that broke rank and voted in favour of C-318 are Chandra Arya (Ontario, Nepean), Pam Damoff (Ontario, Oakville North—Burlington), Hedy Fry (British Columbia, Vancouver Centre), and Wayne Long (New Brunswick, Saint John—Rothesay).
C-318 came back from its committee review with a few changes which were promptly struck down by the Speaker.
The first change the committee made was to include situations where an Indigenous child is placed with a caregiver following Indigenous customs instead of through a standard adoption. The feds are expected, under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to make sure legislation is compatible with Indigenous customs. This change follows that expectation.
The committee chair decided these changes couldn’t be applied as they’re outside the scope of C-318 and additional spending requirements. (It turns out committees aren’t allowed to introduce new spending.) The chair was overruled by the rest of the committee, but the Speaker has decided to side with them and remove these changes completely.