Liberals pitch guaranteed paid leave for parents in child’s first year

The Liberal Party of Canada is promising to boost the Canada Child Benefit for parents of children under the age of one, to make maternity and parental benefits tax free, and to introduce a guaranteed income for parents during a child’s first year.

“A re-elected Liberal government will put more money in parents’ pockets to help them in the first year of their children’s lives,” indicated the Liberals in a release outlining the promises.

The Liberals would increase the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) by 15% for parents of children under the age of one, which would represent up to $1,000 more for families, they indicated.

The Liberals would also make maternity and parental benefits tax-exempt at source, meaning no federal tax would be taken from employment insurance payments when parents receive them.

For a parent earning about $45,000 a year, the two promises would represent about $1,800 more in benefits, the Liberals indicated. The changes would take effect in July 2020.

The Liberals also said they would work to establish the Guaranteed Paid Family Leave, intended to provide a guaranteed income through the first year of a child’s life. The leave would apply to parents “who don’t qualify for paid leave through EI or who don’t get enough, because they’re between jobs, earn little, or haven’t worked enough hours.”

The program would launch in 2021.

Also, the Liberals said they would introduce a 15-week leave for parents who adopt a child, representing $7,000 in benefits for an average family claiming the leave.

The party said the measures would cost roughly $800 million in 2020-21, rising to $1.2 billion in 2023-24.

Rudy Mezzetta

Rudy is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on tax, estate planning, industry news and more since 2005. Reach him at rudy@newcom.ca.