Page 36 - A Canuck's Guide to Financial Literacy 2020
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               receiving the income. The benefits can begin as early as 12 weeks before your due date but
               must stop 17 weeks after you’re given birth.

               The benefits are for a maximum of 15 weeks with a maximum amount of $573 per
               week.

               As mentioned above, the maternity benefits end 17 weeks after the due date. At that point,
               the parental benefits may start for an additional 35 or 61 more weeks, discussed below. It’s
               recommended that when you’re applying for maternity benefits, you apply for parental
               benefits as well in order to save time.


               Parental Benefits

               When you apply for maternity benefits, it’s recommended that you apply for parental
               benefits as well for continuity. When it comes to parental benefits, you have two options. Be
               aware that you can’t change your option once chosen.


                  1.  Standard Parental Benefits – Benefits can be received for up to 35 weeks and the
                     maximum for 2020 is $573 a week.
                  2.  Extended Parental Benefits – Benefits can be received for up to 61 weeks and the
                     maximum for 2020 is $334 a week.



               Sharing Parental Benefits


               Parental benefits are eligible to be shared among spouses. Sharing parental benefits
               increases the number of weeks and time off. As of March 2019, couples can take 40 weeks
               off for standard parental benefits and 69 weeks for extended parental benefits.

                  1.  Sharing Standard Parental Benefits – Benefits can be received for up to 40 weeks,
                     5 more weeks added
                  2.  Sharing Extended Parental Benefits – Benefits can be received for up to 69 weeks,
                     8 more weeks added


               Example of Maternity and Standard Parental Benefits


               Vanessa recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy. For the first 15 weeks, she is taking
               maternity leave. After 15 weeks, she hopes to take standard parental leave with her spouse
               Todd. Vanessa will take 30 weeks of parental benefits while Todd will take 10.



               Taxes


               Maternity and Parental Benefits are taxable income. Upon payments, taxes will be
               automatically deducted from your pay and you will receive a T4E slip to your online Service
               Canada account.
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