Baby loss and miscarriage support in Canada: leave and help

A relatively new entitlement, and a narrow one

Canada added a dedicated pregnancy loss leave to the Canada Labour Code in 2024, and it is more generous than what many countries offer. It is also narrower in reach than most people assume, because the Canada Labour Code covers only federally regulated workplaces. This page sets out the federal entitlement, then the very different picture under provincial law, using Ontario as the worked example.

Leave related to pregnancy loss under the Canada Labour Code

Section 206.51 of the Code gives an eligible employee a leave of absence of up to eight weeks if the pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth, and three days in any other case.

Who is eligible is drawn broadly. It covers an employee whose own pregnancy does not result in a live birth, an employee whose spouse or common-law partner's pregnancy does not result in a live birth, and an employee who intended to be the legal parent of a child that would have been born had another person's pregnancy resulted in a live birth. Partners and intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement are included, not just the person who was pregnant.

Stillbirth is defined in the section as the complete expulsion or extraction of a foetus on or after the 20th week of pregnancy, or after the foetus has attained at least 500 grams, without breathing, heartbeat, pulsation of the cord or voluntary muscle movement afterwards.

The paid part

If you have completed three consecutive months of continuous employment with the employer, you are entitled to the first three days of the leave with pay at your regular rate of wages for your normal hours of work, and that pay counts as wages for all purposes. So for a loss before 20 weeks, the entitlement for someone with three months' service is three paid days.

When it can be taken

The period during which the leave may be taken begins on the day the pregnancy does not result in a live birth and ends 26 weeks after that day. The leave may be taken in one or two periods, and the employer may require each period to be at least one day long. For a pregnancy of more than one foetus, only one leave may be taken, and a pregnancy that does not result in a live birth includes one that ends without a live birth in respect of at least one foetus.

Provincial law is a different picture

Most Canadian workers are provincially regulated, and section 206.51 does not reach them. Each province and territory sets its own rules, several have introduced their own pregnancy loss leave provisions, and the durations and thresholds are not aligned. There is no honest single answer for the country, so look up your own employment standards branch.

Ontario, as a worked example

Ontario's approach is different in structure and worth understanding, because it is counterintuitive.

An employee who has a miscarriage or stillbirth more than 17 weeks before the baby's due date is not entitled to pregnancy leave. If the miscarriage or stillbirth happens within the 17-week period preceding the due date, the employee is eligible for pregnancy leave, and the latest date for starting it is the date of the loss.

Where pregnancy leave applies, it ends on the later of two dates: 17 weeks after the leave began, or 12 weeks after the stillbirth or miscarriage. Ontario's own worked examples show what that means. Someone who began pregnancy leave 15 weeks before the due date and had a stillbirth on the due date can stay off for up to 12 more weeks, a total of 27 weeks. Someone who had a miscarriage one week into a leave that began 15 weeks before the due date gets 17 weeks in total.

Ontario is also explicit about a further limit: an employee who has a miscarriage or stillbirth, or whose spouse or same-sex partner does, is not eligible for parental leave. So the pregnancy leave route above is the whole of it under the ESA.

If you stop work because of a birth, stillbirth or miscarriage, you have two weeks after stopping to give your employer written notice of the day the leave began, and the employer may ask for a medical certificate stating the due date and the date of the loss.

Employment Insurance after a loss

Where employment standards leave runs out or does not apply, Employment Insurance may. Section 12(3)(c) of the Employment Insurance Act sets the maximum number of weeks of benefits because of a prescribed illness, injury or quarantine at 26 weeks. Sickness benefits are the usual route after a pregnancy loss for someone who is not well enough to work, and they require medical certification.

Where a baby is stillborn, EI maternity benefits, capped at 15 weeks for a single pregnancy under section 12(3)(a), may also be available depending on the timing. Contact Service Canada rather than guessing, and do it early, because these claims have deadlines.

Where to get support

Ask the hospital whether it has a perinatal bereavement program or a social worker attached to the maternity unit; most larger Canadian hospitals do. Public health units in many provinces run or can refer to bereavement support. Your provincial health line, reachable by dialling 811 in most of the country and as Info-Santé 811 in Quebec, can direct you to local services at any hour.

What to do, and in what order

Establish whether you are federally or provincially regulated, because it decides which leave applies. If federally regulated, tell your employer you are taking leave under section 206.51 and note the 26-week window and the two-period split. If provincially regulated, check your own province's rules and give the written notice its law requires. Apply to Service Canada for EI sickness benefits if you cannot work. And ask the hospital for its bereavement service.