EI maternity and parental leave calculator (2026)

In 2026 you get about $729 a week on a $75,000 salary, because your earnings are above the $68,900 maximum insurable, so the benefit is capped at the $729 weekly maximum. Over 15 weeks of maternity plus 35 weeks of standard parental benefits that is $36,450, not counting the 1 unpaid waiting week. On a $50,000 salary the weekly amount is lower, $529, for a total of $26,450.

At the maximum weeks for one parent on a $75,000 salary, standard pays $729 a week for 50 paid weeks, a total of $36,450. Extended pays $437 a week for 76 paid weeks, a total of $37,592. The totals come out close: extended totals slightly higher because 61 weeks at 33% edges out 35 weeks at 55%. The real choice is rhythm, not total money: higher weekly pay for 12 months, or lower weekly pay for 18 months.

Yes. There is 1 week for which you are not paid, called the waiting period. You serve it only once for a combined maternity-plus-parental claim, and if you share parental benefits for the same child, only one parent serves it. The calculator shows the waiting week explicitly so the total is not overstated.

You generally need 600 insurable hours in the 52 weeks before your claim starts, or since your last claim started, whichever is shorter. Your regular weekly earnings must also have dropped by more than 40% for at least one week. The calculator assumes you qualify; it does not check your hours.

No. You cannot change between the standard and extended options once a week of parental benefits has been paid to you, or a payment has been made to the other parent when benefits are shared. Choose before the first parental payment, and use the comparison above to see both totals first.

Many employers top up benefits toward a percentage of your usual pay. Enter the top-up percentage in the calculator and it fills the gap up to that percentage for every paid week. Top-ups are designed so the combined amount does not exceed your normal weekly pay, so the calculator caps the top-up there.

Quebec residents do not get EI maternity or parental benefits at all; they get Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) benefits instead. On a $75,000 salary under the QPIP basic plan you get $1,010 a week for 18 weeks of maternity, then 70% for the first 7 parental weeks and 55% for the next 25, for $45,072 in total. QPIP has no waiting week, and its 2026 maximum insurable income is $103,000 instead of $68,900. Select Quebec in the calculator to switch to QPIP mode.

Under EI, when parental benefits are shared, the total rises to 40 weeks standard or 69 weeks extended, but one parent cannot take more than 35 standard or 61 extended weeks. The extra 5 standard or 8 extended weeks are use-it-or-lose-it weeks for the second parent. Under QPIP, the non-birth parent gets 5 weeks of paternity benefits under the basic plan or 3 weeks under the special plan, plus a share of the parental weeks. The calculator models one parent's claim; the FAQ numbers cover the second parent.

Under QPIP, when each parent takes enough shareable parental weeks, the family gains extra weeks: 4 additional weeks at 55% under the basic plan once each parent has taken at least 8 shareable weeks, or 3 additional weeks at 75% under the special plan once each parent has taken at least 6 shareable weeks. These bonus weeks sit on top of the per-parent maxima above. The calculator models one parent's claim only, so it does not include bonus weeks; add them to your total if both parents qualify. It also cannot model couples whose parents live in different provinces, because each parent would fall under a different system.